Stupid Boi held Captive!

As some of you may know, I am in Chicago for training. I have to say that it is possible one of the better trainings I have been too. But, I am not talking about that.

I was in the elevator today and I look up and there is a small screen displaying different things; poems from 5th graders at local elementary schools, ads, little useless facts. (i.e. Did you know that the dye used to make things green is really toxic to the environment. So much for going Green, Huh!) I digress. I noticed that the company put a little saying across the bottom that says “you are watching captive network”.

So, you know I am not one of the great philosophers of our time…I mean I am no Margret Cho…but, I try. I thought about this on my way up the elevator. We are captive most of our lives. Yes, we have the freedom of thought, but how many of you actually think outside the box?

I run into a lot of problems with this. I do not believe that “Public Health Model” is in fact the most effective model. I think it falls into the category of what’s good for the gander is good for the goose. This is simply not true. I do understand that our hands are often tied by government, etc. This brings me back to my point! We are held captive by prevailing thought and not really evidence based rationale.

Even with the evidence based rationale, we are captive to show our numbers in the way they want us too. I would love to sit back and apply for a grant and be able to bring in the one person whose life was changed because of the work we did. That just wouldn’t work. WHY? Because we have to disseminate money to the people who are make the “Biggest” impact on the “Largest” group of people. (Utilitarianism in the most basic form)

Let us take for instance, Greenpeace and Mister Splashy Pants. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mister_Splashy_Pants) The whole story boils down to showing that one whale can change the lives of millions of other whales. Simply by personifying one creature Greenpeace created real social change in Japan.

One human can change the lives of millions by having a unique thought. Creating that thought is something we do all the time. It takes action to make that thought valuable in the eyes of the community. Someone, thought about the public health model, now it is widely accepted by most everyone in the U.S. and dare I say the world. (Except me) There is a model for everything.

Taking the HIV Crisis with the public health model, probably went a little something like this: (according to the Centers for Disease Control)

1)Define the Problem: Gays are dying, Junkies are dying…HIV Virus Discovered.
2)Identify risk and protective factors: Sex, Sharing Needles/ Abstain, use condoms, needle exchange.
3)Develop and Test prevention strategies: Create a test, create a rapid test, implement testing, and define effective behavioral interventions.
4)Assure widespread adoption: Condom use=safer sex, using clean needles=less risk of HIV transmission,
5)Create Policy: Make the schools teach Abstinence only education, create laws that make it illegal to carry needles….WAIT WHA?

Now, I know that this is a VERY OVER SIMPLIFIED VERSION of this model, and there are other great programs out there that DO make a difference. It is just an illustration of how we can become captive to a process. That captivity stops us from being…excuse the catch phrase…Innovative.

Innovation has to come at a price. It comes with the inability to truly be free, unless there is some private funding out there that is willing to give it a chance! (but even then you have to prove it works based on standards set by “society”) Something I learned today; sometimes it takes a captive audience to get your point across!

XOXO,
Stupid Boi