Trends, trends, trends...
Somebody asked me recently why I think Livestrong bracelets are stupid. I'm about to tell you, so listen (read) carefully.I love Lance Armstrong. I think he's awesome. I always TiVo specials about him, I watch the Tour de France and root for him, yadda yadda. Just like everybody else, I think it's amazing how he overcame cancer and came back to win seven consecutive Tours. A lot of people admire Lance, especially athletes. He's a cool guy.
So in case you live on Mars, Lance is the one who started the whole Livestrong craze. And I call it a craze because that's exactly what it is. Everybody wears the yellow bracelet, which isn't a bad thing in theory - the Livestrong bracelet stands for the fight against cancer, which is definitely a good cause. Proceeds from the bracelets (and other Livestrong products) go to cancer research, and you never know if you're gonna be the next person depending on the funding of said research.
A year or so ago, I started seeing some people wearing these yellow bracelets, which at first didn't really strike me as odd until I realized that everybody and their mother's dog was suddenly wearing one. Once I figured that out, it took me a couple of days to catch a glimpse of what was written/engraved on the bracelet. ...Livestrong? So I asked somebody who was wearing one. "What's Livestrong?" Their reply: "Uhh.. living... strongly...?" Oh, right, because that makes sense. Who doesn't want to live strongly? So why would you make a bracelet craze for something so utterly not unique? I asked several other people, and their responses were pretty much the same.
So I googled it. And it turns out that Livestrong wristbands represent unity in the battle against cancer and hope for all those who are living with cancer. Cool... if only the dude wearing the wristband knew that.
Different item, same principle: promise rings. It's a ring that girls (sometimes guys even) wear on their ring finger to symbolize that they're waiting until marriage to have sex. Mostly worn by Christians, but Christians aren't immune to the craze-following mindset.
Promise rings turned into a trend for a reason. They stood for something good, something pure, and people figured they could make some money off of a ring that says "True Love Waits" on it. It started as something that you wore because you believed strongly in what it represented, but then it became a trend and it lost something. Girls started wearing them because their friends were wearing them, and soon enough Christian girls were more or less expected to wear a promise ring.
I wear a ring on my left ring finger that says "Faith" on it; I can't even tell you how many times people have said, "Is that your promise ring?" No, it's my middle name. I don't wear a promise ring. "Why?" Because promise rings are next to meaningless now that everybody wears them. I don't even want to think about how many of my promise-ring-friends wound up not keeping that promise.
WWJD bracelets. Same principle as the promise ring, except that the WWJD craze from the late 90's has passed now. That's why I wear a WWJD bracelet, because it stands for something good and it has regained its dignity, per se, now that it's not a trend anymore. The only people who wear them nowadays are people who truly want to live their lives in a Godly way, as a living testament to Him.
My conclusion? People are like sheep. They follow each other, even if they have no idea what they're doing. They want to blend in, because they think they'll be accepted if they do. Maybe they will be, but I wouldn't count on it. Think for yourself, and if you wear a Livestrong bracelet, make sure you know what it means besides "Living.. uhh... strong."
posted by Smelly Melly @ 9:52 PM
7 comments
7 Comments:
i've never been one to embrace trends, at least not consciously. the livestrong bracelets kinda bugged me too.. my mum ended up getting some of those ONE bracelets recently, though, and I *would* wear one of those, since I know what they stand for (cf. http://www.one.org/) -- and i wouldn't have put a banner on my site either if I didn't know what it stood for. the general rule should be that if you wear a symbol, be cognisant of what it stands for, or don't wear it, because a symbol is meant to express one's beliefs, and if the belief is not there -- why wear it? :)
Glad to hear it, Greyor. I followed that link, and it's not bad. I like, for starters, the emphasis they at least seem to place on helping others help themselves. I'm not a big fan of throwing money at anyone, and I can't say that it's ever done any good.
I have to say, however, that no portion of the US budget is going to have much of an effect at all on the AIDS epidemic in Africa. Not 1%, and not 10%. But that doesn't mean that the idea of coming together to try to fight it is a bad one. It just needs a better focus than trying to acquire funding from the government.
At the heart of the AIDS epidemic lies education—or lack thereof. And let's face facts: in a generation or two, a huge portion of the African population is going to die young, of AIDS. There's not much we can do about that, short of finding a cure—and who knows, maybe one day, one fine day, we actually will? But until then, it's those who do not yet have AIDS that we can help, and it is on them that we should focus. And that's all about education. And I don't mean just educating people about AIDS. I mean educating them, period, completely.
Now, while education does need funding to function, that's not really what is lacking. Nor is it something that the US government should necessarily be responsible for. The funding can be had, and dare I say that we'll actually find more of it if we look to ourselves, rather than expecting the government to ante up.
But education requires more than funding. It requires teachers. If we really want to help them, we should educate them, and education needs educators. And to accomplish the lofty (and very admirable) goals of One.Org, it will require more than a handful of teachers. Thousands? Tens of thousands? Hundreds of thousands even? Perhaps even more?
Many Christian missions organizations make literacy education a part of their outreach (the thought process essentially being that if we're going to translate the Bible for them, we should make sure they're able to read it!). But who's to say that a secular organization with a focus on general education couldn't be formed that could equal even the largest Christian mission in size and scope, and be funded in the same way? The missions approach is simply a way of organizing for a stated goal of bringing the Gospel to those who have not yet heard it. But that approach need not be restricted to missions.
I think it would be awesome to see a non-profit organization formed for the sole purpose of educating the uneducated in the world. It could be funded in the same way that foreign missions are funded, except that it would have a much larger supporter base, because it is not tied to any one religion. I believe it is a cause that millions and millions of people would support, non-Christians and Christians alike!
And education would solve so many of those tough problems. Education is key to overcoming AIDS.
And, as a by-product, education also happens to be the most important factor in making democracy a viable option in third world countries. Currently, it is not (although it still remains the best of a bunch of inadequate solutions). But that's another subject altogether.
All that said, the ONE bracelets are a worthy cause, and one worth supporting. And in fact, as long as one actually does know what they're about, wearing a ONE bracelet gives you the chance to explain to others what it's all about.
i'm thinkin about your WWJD holdin the pres at the festival merengue concert in the capital... hahahahaha, that was classic!
hey fool, i wasn't gettin all legalistic about the wwjd bracelet and the pres, i was laughin cause i remember all of us laughin about the pic we took in the capital and you had your bracelet on with the can of pres, lol, that was one of the freakin hilaroius moments. i don't know why we all thought that was so funny, it just was. and i know you weren't breakin the law... but hookin up with the guy who was right by you at the concert in the capital is breakin the law!!! HAHAHA just kiddin fool, just kidding. that night was a crazy one. anyway... thanks for your kind words about all that happened... it was just crazy. i don't know, i don't even really understand why i'm so sad. partly because i really did love her mom and she played a big role in my life this summer... and the other part is because i think about laura and her bro and how now they don't have a mom. that just shatters my heart. your words did help me out a lot and ease some of the pain. i love ya fool. tuuuuu saaaabbbbeeeeee!
you are hilarous. thanks for making my night
you're welcome... i guess?
p.s. hilarious has a second "i" that you missed.
Post a Comment
<< Home