Raising Awareness
Raising Awareness is supposed to mean “to educate.” Today, the people or groups who flock to this term use it to cover a negative with a thin layer of good. Ignore the man behind the curtain. The ends justify the means. “No, we are doing good.”
A good example comes from an anti-cancer non-profit organization with the fundamental goal of raising awareness. At all their events, they pass out brochures describing how to check for this malady, which is how they raise awareness. Their crusades include pricy dinners, auctions, talks, and charity runs like “Race for the Cure.” Of course, these events have lavish booths loaded with branded clothing/merchandise for sale.
Sounds good. Right? Let’s say you have cancer and need financial help. Or you have a drug that requires money to get approved. Maybe you are a scientist who needs money to research new treatments. Perhaps you are sad about having cancer and would like somebody to talk to. They do nothing except for well-publicized treatments for the friends of the top members or gifts to companies where the top member sits on the corporate boards.
What do millions of dollars in donations ultimately provide? Their only tangible outcome is brochures that raise awareness. Are they hiding this fact? Not at all. Their main slogan is “raising cancer awareness.” What about that “race for the cure?” That’s a marketing term, not a result.
In my opinion, the trivial benefit of making brochures outweighs their extreme harm. In fact, they are worse than cancer because they take money away from genuine cancer research and people who need help.
This blog seems to be a crusade to harm this group. I admit my anger toward this group but have not named them, so this is not a crusade. Instead, I want to point out that words are powerful, and this power can be used for good or evil.
Now, hold on. My astute followers would point out that I used this term in two recent blogs. Quite true, and I did it for a reason. Words are simply words, and it is up to us to apply meaning. I intentionally used this term to prove I could rise above my negative opinions. No, it did not feel good, but I overcame my negativity.
Does this mean I am a terrible person (by my definition) for using this term? After all, I use this term to solicit interest for personal gain. Hmm. Trapped by my ethics. Perhaps I need to raise my awareness?
You’re the best -Bill
April 22, 2020 Updated January 16, 2025
A good example comes from an anti-cancer non-profit organization with the fundamental goal of raising awareness. At all their events, they pass out brochures describing how to check for this malady, which is how they raise awareness. Their crusades include pricy dinners, auctions, talks, and charity runs like “Race for the Cure.” Of course, these events have lavish booths loaded with branded clothing/merchandise for sale.
Sounds good. Right? Let’s say you have cancer and need financial help. Or you have a drug that requires money to get approved. Maybe you are a scientist who needs money to research new treatments. Perhaps you are sad about having cancer and would like somebody to talk to. They do nothing except for well-publicized treatments for the friends of the top members or gifts to companies where the top member sits on the corporate boards.
What do millions of dollars in donations ultimately provide? Their only tangible outcome is brochures that raise awareness. Are they hiding this fact? Not at all. Their main slogan is “raising cancer awareness.” What about that “race for the cure?” That’s a marketing term, not a result.
In my opinion, the trivial benefit of making brochures outweighs their extreme harm. In fact, they are worse than cancer because they take money away from genuine cancer research and people who need help.
This blog seems to be a crusade to harm this group. I admit my anger toward this group but have not named them, so this is not a crusade. Instead, I want to point out that words are powerful, and this power can be used for good or evil.
Now, hold on. My astute followers would point out that I used this term in two recent blogs. Quite true, and I did it for a reason. Words are simply words, and it is up to us to apply meaning. I intentionally used this term to prove I could rise above my negative opinions. No, it did not feel good, but I overcame my negativity.
Does this mean I am a terrible person (by my definition) for using this term? After all, I use this term to solicit interest for personal gain. Hmm. Trapped by my ethics. Perhaps I need to raise my awareness?
You’re the best -Bill
April 22, 2020 Updated January 16, 2025
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