Lots of stuff presented as “public health” is not.
Is it a product cult or MLM? Is it just some PR operation? Are they providing effective strategies and information or just wasting a lot of time?
There may indeed be different paths and approaches that people want to take with things, but the problem is that it’s not always clear what you’re getting into when you get involved in some issue group, and things are not always what you hope, or what they seem. And of course there’s the non-profit industrial complex, reputation washing, or even astroturfing. Are you joining people who are doing civic engagement? Is it a product cult or MLM? Is it just some PR operation? Are they providing effective strategies and information or just wasting a lot of time? We know that in climate organizing, people are continually drawn off into diversions, believing that tech will save us (it won’t), or that things that are harmful are supposedly good actually (they’re not), or just massive infiltration operations.
Over time I’ve heard so many stories, and have experienced this myself, where people expect they’re getting involved in a social group or an activist group or even a support group, or meeting people interested in the same things, but then it winds up just being somewhere people round people up to help hype something or target market to us. A lot of free labor out there is being exploited under the ruse that it’s some kind of activism, or worse, the only kind of advocacy you can do. But then people are expected to promote products, and even told if they don’t promote some product that they’re doing harm. I’ve heard from people who say they, or groups they’re in, have been approached with people asking things like, “Why don’t you provide information on X product’s benefit for covid?” because they don’t realize that these people are not promoting that product because it’s not a legitimate thing, because it’s not proven safe and effective, or maybe it’s complete bullshit. Legitimate advocacy projects would likely not have time, resources, or interest to get into the business of product reviews.
Over the past couple years I’ve seen attempts by some people seen as movers and shakers in public health advocacy trying to dictate that everyone needs to “get on board” with all sorts of pseudoscience and allow promotion of all these products in all places, or be attacked. It’s incredibly hard to moderate forums and comments areas because the product pushing is relentless and will fill up any space where it’s allowed. But make no mistake - allowing it is a choice that the admins make, and you may not be privy to their reasons for that. There's also this idea that we all need to get under one umbrella and convince everyone to agree on everything before you can make any progress in society - despite the fact that's never been the case about progress that’s been made. Careful coalitions and strategic coordination should not require enforced groupthink. If someone’s got different ideas than what I want, I leave them to it and move on. Just because some organization or outlet agrees with me on one thing, doesn’t mean I have to embrace everything else they’re interested in, or promote them, or even like them.
I remember listening to Ed Zitron’s podcast debut Better Offline back in February 2024 and he starts out by saying, in so many words, that a lot of tech products are shitty because the economy all around it is hyper focused on growth as the priority. And at the time I noted that I think that’s the problem with non-profits, activist groups, social forums and even support groups seem to be focused on getting as many people as possible signed up, no matter what. It’s like our whole society is just about racking up subscribers, or just followers for clout chasing in the attention economy.
You don’t need 500 friends or thousands of followers to make a difference. Just a few people can really make a difference for a whole community. But not if they’re busy elsewhere or thinking someone else will do something. Just because someone else recognizes a problem, doesn’t mean they want the same solutions. I personally try to find other people who center humanity in organizing.
And you can write your reps yourself. Prioritize based on what you want.