Prevention is the best cure. You may have heard this statement or similar at one point in your life. Indeed, prevention is a very effective line of defense against many problems and diseases we see around us. However, prevention cannot be efficiently applied without proper and sufficient knowledge. This knowledge can range from an individual to a global society level. Can you think of examples of what would fall under this umbrella of prevention? There are hundreds if not thousands of societal ills that could be possibly prevented with proper knowledge. Here I would like to focus on the cultural aspects that prevent us as individuals from attaining clear knowledge for proper prevention. In particular, what I like to coin as Cancer Culture.
Before moving forward, I do want to state that there are situations wherein no amount of knowledge can/will prevent harm and/or disease from befalling us. I have to make this clear. Sometimes these afflictions are meant to touch us and it is up to us to seek support in the way that is most effective to each of us individually. What I do want to focus on though are the things we can control. So why have I stated Cancer Culture? And can we prevent cancer?
It is my stance that most of what we do as part of our culture in fact is unhealthy for us individually and societally. Continuously following some aspects of our culture will inevitably increase our chances of being afflicted with cancer, hence the terminology Cancer Culture. If we take steps to learn and prevent ourselves from falling into the river of culture, then we can possibly save ourselves from falling off the waterfall that awaits us. The waterfall of pain and disease. With that said, YES, we can prevent cancer. The what and how will be presented in upcoming posts. In the meantime, keep the spirit of critically thinking alive within you before going with the flow of cultural and societal trends.
