Ice Bucket Schmice Bucket

I’ve seen a new trend lately. Starting off slowly, but growing in frequency, articles of derision/annoyance/disappointment toward the recent ice bucket challenge meant to raise awareness for ALS.

The world does a pretty good job of grinding us down, it doesn’t need our help. There’s no need for people to passively aggressively insinuate the participants of the ice bucket challenge on their FB feeds are missing the point/sheeple/cheap. (If you are upset by what you are seeing in your FB feed, I’d invite you to read this).

A campaign to raise awareness has done just that. People are talking about ALS like I’ve never seen, I myself didn’t know that ALS was the same thing as Lou Gehrig’s disease until a few weeks ago. It’s also accomplished to raise 9x what it normally raises during a similar time frame (source). I’ve seen a myriad of year over year claims that vary widely, but I’ve yet to see one that says ALS is raising less money than this same time last year.

Before you express disgust/contempt, let’s ask how disgusted these charities have been with the influx of incremental capital. If they’re not bothered by it, what right does anyone else have to be? It’s not our call to decide who should be offended by something and decide to speak up on their behalf when they have no qualms. Let’s put the role of umbrage by proxy to rest. If the people you are offended for aren’t offended…..let it go (words included).

We should be less concerned about poking holes into something and wanting to be able to say “See I told you that was dumb/that wasn’t going to work/that was bogus” first. The moment when creative ideas are met with more people willing to tear it down than build it up will be a sad moment in human history. Small ideas can have huge impacts. Yes they can. We should be encouraging people to dream and take risks rather than seek shelter on the banks of the “I told you so” shore. I know it’s safer there, but you see so much more if you dare to venture into uncharted waters.