In defense of fundraising against suicide, polio when democracy is under threat

Photos: Gerald Farinas.

The political scene right now is a whole other level of intense. When you’ve got folks talking about the Trump administration and Trumpism like it’s the only thing that matters, everything else starts to feel like small potatoes.

People look at you sideways for talking about the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention or today, Rotary International's polio eradication campaign, and they tell you straight up that every last ounce of energy, money, and effort needs to go toward political fights instead.

Thing is, I’ve gotta push back on that. Because if we drop the ball on human suffering just to win the war against Trumpism, we might end up winning the game while losing the whole point of playing.

Diseases don't care about election cycles

Polio and mental health crises don't take a breather just because there's an election coming up or folks are arguing over who is in the White House.

A virus like polio doesn't give a damn about executive orders or congressional majorities; it just looks for a weak spot in vaccination coverage and goes right after kids.

And depression or suicidal ideation? That stuff hits quietly and relentlessly, no matter who is sitting in the Oval Office.

If we let these public health campaigns slide until political stability magically shows up, the damage is done for good.

We are this close to wiping out polio for good. If we back off now in the places where it's still hanging on, the virus bounces right back (it kinda did in the U.S.) wiping out decades of hard work and millions of dollars.

Suicide prevention depends on hotlines, community support, and keeping the conversation going. A lapse in funding or attention right now means real people don't get the help they need, and you can't undo that with a political victory.

When we stand up for these causes, we're acknowledging the basic truth that human biology doesn't wait around for political calendars to clear up.

Politics is the tool, not the prize

We have to look at the premise behind the whole argument that politics has to eclipse everything else—this idea that beating a political movement is the ultimate good.

But why do we even care about politics in the first place? Why do we care about elections and governance?

Ideally, we do at AFSP or Rotary International care about politics because we want a society where folks can live safely, stay healthy, and keep their dignity.

Politics is just a tool, a framework built to protect communities and look out for the vulnerable. If we throw the actual people we’re trying to help under the bus for the sake of political strategy, we've got things totally backwards. We end up blowing off the very human lives that give our political ideals any meaning in the first place.

Think of it like a house fire. If a place is burning down, fighting the blaze is priority number one. But while the firefighters are doing their thing, you can't just turn off the life support systems of the folks inside.

The whole point of fighting for a better political future is to make sure people can actually thrive. Neglecting health and humanitarian crises now just completely undermines that goal.

Why narrow it to polio when healthcare is under siege?

Some critics might look at all of this and argue that focusing strictly on polio feels way too narrow for an organization like Rotary, especially right now when vaccines and basic healthcare infrastructure are being actively dismantled all around us.

I was asked today why we’re not fighting for all vaccines or why we’re not championing all of healthcare, arguing that narrowing our scope to just one disease is a disservice when the entire public health safety net is taking a beating.

But the reality on the ground is much broader than a single campaign name suggests. As Rotarians, we do advocate for all of that, all of it. Vigorously at the United Nations, in the U.S. Capitol, and across state legislatures. We push for robust public health systems, maternal and child health, and broad disease prevention every single day.

Polio is not the ceiling of our vision; rather, what it does is helps paint a picture of what could happen, showing the absolute power of eradication with sustained funding and effort for all disease.

We use polio as a vehicle to get people thinking about the other vaccine-oriented eradication measures out there, proving that when the global community sets its mind to wiping out a scourge, we can actually get it done and apply those same lessons everywhere else.

Action in our own backyard: The Purple Pinkie brew

You want to see what this looks like when the rubber hits the road? Just look at what happened yesterday and today.

The Evanston Nouveau Rotary Club, under the stellar leadership of President Tom Woods and his magnificent team, teamed up with Sketchbook Brewing Co. in both Evanston and Skokie to host sales of our innovative Purple Pinkie beer. It’s a brilliant nod to the purple ink mark given to children after they get vaccinated against polio, and this creative brew has already caught the attention of Rotary Clubs worldwide. That’s how you turn a global mission into local community action, bringing folks together over a pint to support a massive cause without missing a beat.

Compassion is the real pushback

There’s also a heavy cost when politics eats up our entire civic identity. When political tribalism demands that every other kind of charity gets shoved aside, it shrinks our capacity for empathy. It trains us to look at our neighbors through a totally partisan lens, asking how they vote before we even bother asking what kind of pain they're going through.

On the flip side, getting behind breast cancer research or suicide prevention actually bridges those gaps. Those efforts remind us that we're all fragile and that we've gotta look out for one another.

They demand cooperation across party lines, giving folks a common ground where Democrats, Republicans, and Independents can roll up their sleeves and work side by side. In a town or a country this divided, keeping that kind of cross-partisan compassion alive is a vital form of resistance all on its own.

Walking both paths

Standing up for outfits like the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention or Rotary International isn't an argument against getting involved in politics. It's just about having some proportion and perspective.

As the immediate past president of the Evanston Nouveau Rotary Club, I've seen firsthand that we can care deeply about where our country is heading, show up for civic life, and cast our votes, while refusing to turn our backs on the folks who rely on medical and humanitarian lifelines.

The real test of a community's grit is whether it can weather a political storm without losing its humanity. By standing up for these life-saving campaigns, you aren't distracting anyone from a big political moment! You’re reminding the people around you why that political moment even matters in the first place.