The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge absolutely
terrifies me. Not because of the cold water. Not because of the number of
idiots knocking themselves out with too heavy buckets, or any other of the
number of things that have gone wrong. Not because of the dumping ice on yourself when
it’s 95 degrees in the middle of summer is supposed to somehow be a punishment. Not even because
I’m annoyed with these videos clogging up my Facebook news feed. (Can’t we just
go back to posting cat videos, passive aggressive statements about our
feelings, and Instagram photos of our lunches?!?)
The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge terrifies me because
of the insane popularity of it. Because the sheer amount of people who are
doing it “because it’s a good cause.”
There are all kinds of debates happening
about the benefits of dumping ice over your head to raise awareness vs. just
donating the money. This is not one of those posts. Obviously the dumping of
ice over your head, video taping it, then subsequently posting it to social
media is effectively raising awareness and money for ALS. That’s awesome.
Whoever came up with the idea is brilliant – they have capitalized on the fact
that people are absolute lemmings and will do anything “for a good cause”. I also think it encourages people to donate to
charity in general, and I like that.
My apprehension is not with the concept of
the Ice Bucket Challenge. My apprehension is not with donating money to ALS. My
apprehension is with WHY everyone is suddenly so concerned with ALS and is
directing all of their charitable donations to ALS without doing the background
research.
What is ALS? What does ALS stand for? Of all the causes you can
donate money to, why are you donating to ALS? I’ve asked several people who have participated in the ice bucket challenge these questions and they were unable to answer me.
ALS stands for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis,
a
progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and
the spinal cord. The ALS association estimates around 30,000
Americans suffer from ALS (compared to the 5.2 million Americans who suffer
from Alzheimer’s, 25.8 million with diabetes, and the 7.7 million Americans who
suffer from PTSD, just to give you some comparisons.) ALS is rare. I’m not
saying that ALS isn’t important, and that we shouldn’t spend time and resources
looking for better treatment and a cure… I’m just saying that it’s a rare disease. I’m
also saying that a lot of these Ice Bucket lemmings didn’t know that. For all
they knew, ALS could have stood for Alcoholic Lesbian Society and they are
raising money to buy Jack Daniels for lesbians with drinking problems. Not that
there is anything wrong with that. I’m just saying, know before you donate.
This time it’s ALS. Next time it might not be for something so upstanding. Be
informed. Don’t just follow along blindly. It’s a slippery slope.
Some other statistics to consider.
In Africa, a child dies every minute from
Malaria. In 2012, an estimated 789,000 people died from Malaria. MALARIA IS PREVENTABLE AND CUREABLE. Over
half a million people are dying every year from a disease we have cured!
780 Million people in this world lack access
to clean water. That’s more than 2.5 times the population of the USA. 3.4
Million people die every year from water related sanitation issues.
Between 70 and 100 million sharks are killed
each year, causing drastically declining shark populations that significantly
affect marine ecosystems and endangering hundreds of species of sharks. This is
not good for the ocean. Sharks are a top predator and are vital to the
eco-system. The rapid reductions of shark populations disrupts the ocean’s
equilibrium and creates a destructive ripple effect, affecting thousands of
marine species populations, the level of oxygen in the water, and if left
uncontrolled will be devastating.
I could go on and on with other causes that
all need your donations, but hopefully you see my point. There are lots of
worthy, urgent, and varied causes that different people support for different
reasons.
My point is not, “Don’t donate to ALS.” My point is MAKE INFORMED DECISIONS. Research the facts. Consider what
is important to you, what is urgently needed in society, and how you can best
allocate the money you have for charitable donations.
Think before you act.
When I look at the Ice Bucket challenge I see
millions of dollars raised for a good cause (YAY!!) through smart marketing and the use of social media. But I also see Sheeple. People unable to think for themselves. Followers.
Lemmings. Those with no cognitive abilities of their own. This is what
terrifies me. Thousands of people blindly dumping ice over their heads to
support ALS, a disease, a cause they know nothing about, simply because society
told them to. Bill Gates, Jimmy Fallon, and Taylor Swift did it so I should too!
Cristiano Ronaldo did it in his underwear! *Sexy*
If you’ve analyzed all of your motivations, done
your research, and you still want to donate to ALS research, that’s great! It’s
a horrible disease that needs a cure and I’m sure your donations are greatly appreciated
by the people who suffer from the disease, their families, and the scientists
who research the disease.
But don’t just do it because everyone’s doing
it. Do it because you’ve thought about
it and you believe it’s the highest and best use of your time and money.
I’m not doing the Ice Bucket Challenge and
I’m not donating money to ALS research. I’ve thought about it and I feel my
money is better spent elsewhere.
But don’t listen to me. Think for yourself.
Pick a cause and do something about it. Make a direct impact by involving your social
network and make a difference. If your cause is ALS, that’s great. If it’s
Malaria, AIDS, Clean Water, Sex Trafficking, Christian missions in Cambodia, Doctor’s Without
Borders, Homelessness, Literacy, Sea Turtle Rehabilitation, … whatever… that’s
great too. Dump ice over your head, shave your eyebrows, strip naked and run
down Main Street and raise awareness for your cause. Be aggressive. Be
creative. But most of all, be informed.
Do it because you’ve thought about it, you understand the cause, and
you want to help, not just because it’s the popular thing to do.
