Assumptions: the seeds of social cancers

The cancer for me are assumptions like "there is little anyone can do to stop it".

Once that assumption is accepted by someone it becomes fact. And that fact then manifests itself as an action, which in turn becomes a behaviour  which is ultimately still based on only an assumption.

Finally this assumption driven behaviour which by this point has through rehearsal and habit turned into a mentality, is eventually what gets referred to as being "a cancer".