KONY 2012

Doctors without Borders contributes to population growth without a corresponding economic growth, thus expanding the problem of poverty and hunger in less-developed countries. It would be more responsible to donate to Engineers without Borders, who work improve to infrastructure which facilitates economic growth.

Made this post in other thread


the visible problem with invisible children
2
11
2006
Invisible Children (IC) swept the university campuses of America last year. The group wanted to mobilize college students to be aware of what happened in Uganda in recent years, the atrocious acts of Joseph Kony and his rebel group, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). I heard about Invisible Children for the first time when I was researching Uganda. I was immediately fascinated by their website. It’s very well done, but I noticed one thing. It lacked real information. If you haven’t seen the film or know nothing about their purpose, let me catch you up to speed with my version. Three clueless college kids head to Sudan with no plans and no idea about what they’re going to find. They’re looking for a “story”. They leave Sudan and make their way into Uganda. They find some bad stuff going on there. So they made a MTV-esque DVD about what was happening there. They wanted to draw attention to what they found.

So far, this sounds good. However, there is a major, major problem. I’m going to compare what IC is doing to an analogy that I thought of this past summer when I was Uganda thinking about this issue. Imagine that today you heard about what happened in NYC and Washington DC on September 11, 2001 for the first time. You were shown a video of footage from that day. You saw the planes hit the towers, you heard President Bush’s address, you saw the Pentagon wreckage, you watch in horror as you see people plunge to their death, jumping from the burning towers. Now imagine that you are inspired by this disaster. You want to something to help. What if you went to NYC today, expecting to see piles of rubble to clean up? What if you went, expecting that there would be thousands of people in the streets crying, looking for loved ones? But what would happen when you arrived and discovered that there was none of this, but a whole host of other problems?

And back to Uganda. Uganda is no longer experiencing violence from the LRA. Yes, I said it. It’s an uncomfortable truth, but it is a truth. For about the last year, since before IC hit the scene, Kony and his troops have been pushed into Congo, into the Garamba National Forest there. He’s sick, starving, and on his last legs. For the first time, Uganda is in the middle of real peace talks and the rebels have laid down their arms and are assembling to make peace. Why? This is happening because Joseph Kony was defeated. The Uganda People’s Defense Force (UPDF) has beaten them back and Kony was sitting in Congo starving to death. Since March 2002, the UPDF has been allowed to carry out raids against the LRA into Southern Sudan and has even crossed into Congo, to the distress of most of the African community. Nonetheless, Operation Iron Fist, as this military offensive was called, has freed many child soldiers and sex slaves and brought them back to Uganda. The rebels again became very violent in 2003, but since 2004, the Ugandan government has been repeatedly beating the rebels and weakening them. Uganda is no longer allowed to enter Sudan or Congo to fight the LRA.

Invisible Children was founded in 2004, with the film crew filming in Uganda in 2003. Watching Invisible Children is watching old news. Will watching it alert you to what has occurred in Uganda? Yes, but it will not let you know what is happening there today.

Invisible Children is too late. It has taught us that MTV type media can get university students interested in a world crisis, the problem is it took too much time. Night commuting, outlined as one of the major problems in northern Uganda by the film, is practically non-existent now. Why? Peace is coming to the region. According to UN reports, children who still are commuting at night are not doing it because of safety concerns, but because they want to enjoy the amenities that NGO’s are offering in the towns, like Gulu, Kitgum, and Lira. At the peak of the commuting, there were between 30,000 and 40,000 children commuting. Now, estimates are below 10,000.

The scars of the 20 year conflict are everywhere in northern Uganda. I walked through internally displaced person (IDP) camps. I smelled, I listened, I saw, I touched, I tasted. I experienced Uganda. I saw people whose lives had been radically changed. I placed my hands on a woman whose lips had been cut off by the LRA. I walked with children whose parents had been killed. I sat on the foundation of a hut burned down by the LRA. I talked with people whose relatives had been abducted. I walked over land guarded by the UPDF. The landscape, the people, and the country itself has an immense burden to deal with.

Uganda has problems today. Their government is ridden with corruption. There are people still living in fear in IDP camps, afraid that violence will again return to their land. The education system is inadequate and many do not have the chance to go to school. For those who do work their way through the school system, there is a good chance that there will not be a job for them when they get even a university degree. Why doesn’t anyone want to do something about these problems? Why will thousands of people participate in IC’s Global Night Commute but not take the time to actually find out what is going on in Uganda today?

There have been many inspired to do more than just watch a DVD and sleep downtown for a night. However, that’s where we run into another problem. This summer, IC had a bunch of college students in northern Uganda wasting time and money. There were almost 30 people who were in Uganda this summer connected with IC and even more who were inspired to change the world and fly around it. That also sounds somewhat heart warming. Self centered American kids are flying around the world to change it. The catch is they don’t know what they are doing or where they are going. They are blindly making a problem worse by throwing thousands of dollars at something they don’t understand.

When I traveled into Southern Sudan, you could sense something was different there. There is a greedy spirit there that you can feel. Foreign aid had ruined South Sudan. People do not want to work, they want handouts. An entire generation has been cared for by the UN and other NGO’s. They are fed, clothed, protected, and sent to school without having to do anything. I walked through the market there and saw UNICEF tarps and blankets for sale. I could also buy Samaritan’s Purse shoe-boxes, filled with all sorts of American goodies. I thought back how I thought it was a good idea for me to send a shoebox filled with soap, toothpaste, bouncy balls, and a washcloth to a faraway land. What I realize now is that sending things, whether money, objects, or people to a place that I have no information on is a bad idea.

The problems that Uganda faces today cannot be fixed by hundreds of uneducated Westerners going there to “help”. As you read this article, think about how much you really know about the political situations in Uganda and throughout Africa that contribute to long lasting problems.

Africa as a whole needs to break free from foreign aid. Almost half of Uganda’s yearly budget is made up of foreign aid. I think that many of Uganda’s problems stem from its reliance on foreign support. If you want to read more on that, check out a Ugandan journalist named Andrew Mwenda. The aid to African nations is increasing the corruption there and encouraging these nations to continue this dependence on foreign nations and it does not encourage them to become totally self sufficient. When asked what rich nations should do to help Africa, Mwenda said,

So what is the solution? I’ve now written the first negative article I can find about Invisible Children. I also have suggested that we should think about cutting foreign aid and debt relief to African nations.

If you’ve seen the old news that Uganda has to offer and are disturbed, I encourage you to do some research and find out what is really going on in Uganda. I spent months before I went to Uganda researching the country. I talked to many people on the phone or with Skype, I emailed countless others, I read books, I monitored the news. If you want to find out what the situation is really like, find out. Don’t blindly fly yourself to a developing country like a Western idiot. I would also suggest finding out more about organizations that you support that work in foreign countries. Find out what their relationships are like with the local people and find out how they are grooming local people to take over their group. No aid organization should plan to be somewhere forever. If they do, they are not focused on solving the problem they are there to address.

Do not be fooled by slick video editing. Sleeping outside in downtown Pittsburgh will not help anyone who is still night commuting in northern Uganda. Perhaps you are now aware that there is a problem, perhaps you know that there is more to this world than just your country, your state, and your little hometown. What you may not know is that the US government is not going to get involved if it doesn’t benefit the American people. Remember Rwanda? It is up to you to figure out how to deal with this knowledge and the knowledge that your warm and fuzzy thoughts are not going to be the solution to this.

As of today, Uganda is still in a tedious peace process with the LRA, with both sides accusing each other of violating peace agreements. The good news is that they are still in the peace process and they’re doing it without the help of a foreign country that will attempt to benefit from the talks. Instead, using Rick Machar and South Sudan is helping to build ties with all those in that region. The LRA and the UPDF have now signed a second peace accord and hopefully this one will result in successful peace.

As I have written this over the past couple of months, I’m disappointed that I cannot offer a real solution to this problem. I wish that I had the answers for Uganda and those of you who are interested in doing something to help the people there. Unfortunately, I feel that I have done little more than to highlight problems there and then problems with our response to their problems. I learned so much while I was there, but I still have a lot that I can learn.







THIS SHIT IS FUCKING RELEVANT TO YOU FUCKS WHO DON"T KNOW WHAT THE FUCK IS GOIN GON>

i could not agree more with this wall.

jesus fuck its about time this shit is rising to the surface of the media. child soldiers and the shit they do isnt fucking new it has been going on for almost 20 years in mass amounts, and has been present since a long ass time ago (i cant quite remember so my bad).

don't get me wrong here, this is really important and action must be taken, and by action i don't mean a "like" and a "share" on facebook. it is just bad that we are only catching on now.

this kony movement needs to be extremely large scale and must raise billions in order for anything to happen. most people are only seeing the short term and are thinking that the only objective is to pull the children from the military, but schools and businesses must be set up and the millions displaced from their homes must be relocated to a better environment. on top of that the mental and physical rehab centers must be amped up and prepared for the long haul to deal with the influx of fucked up kids coming in spending really long times there so they may be returned to society.

sorry for the long post i just started rambling

tl;dr fuck off and read my shit... or don't

i'm sure they're both valid organizations and "responsibility" doesn't factor into it. one's for engineers and economic growth, one's for doctors and medical aid (something i'd personally rather support).

people are taking action because awareness has been raised. many of us have remained ignorant to the shitstorm in Uganda and neighbouring countries.

Luckily, the majority of NS is either under the age of 18 and/or extremely arrogent, ignorant and fucking moronic, so they're opinion doesn't mean much.

This.


Sure the video is about this problem in africa, with these children and with kony, but the entire purpose of the video is much bigger than one problem. Its about social media and the power it has. In the video itself, it says its an experiment. its testing to see how powerful social media has become and if the world of a billion people on the internet will do anything.

All you fucking kids causing bullshit in this thread, watch the video again, actually pay attention, use you're little under developed brain to critically think about what its really about. It has nothing to do with the problem in the video.

oh spencer....

Yes, Spencer Kuhlman is one of the arrogent, ignorant, fucktards that is over 18.

eheath, I do thank you for being on the same page as me for once.

This video and this cause is just step number one. The things we can do and places we can go from here is unimaginable and I can't wait to see where it all ends up. But firstly, I can't wait to see the front page of newspapers around the world, the headline reading, "Kony- Caught."

Did you learn that at WWCC?

lol none of those apply to me Class 1 skier Andrew.



you can think skeptics are being as "ignorant" as you want, but fact of the matter is America is filled with a bunch of assholes. if we really cared about the rest of the world people will still be talking about this video in two weeks...which they won't. there are way WAY bigger issues facing the human race right now than a single dictator; regardless of what horrible things he's done.


and i didn't need 70 girls posting a singe video on their Facebooks to show me the power of "social media"...Dramatic Chipmunk showed me how quickly a video can go viral years ago. but i'm stoked you guys pay enough attention to my FB profile to call me out directly! that means a lot.

hi

hey have you seen this?

or this?


fuck you sir!

Invisible Children:

"KONY 2012!"

Average Internet dweller:

"OMG I DIDN'T KNOW WE HAVE TO DO SOMETHING HERE TAKE THIS MONEY FOR THE CAUSE"


Six months later...


Invisible Children:

"Damn, I guess what we did about the Kony situation didn't actually matter, but hey, thanks for the money!"


Avergae Internet dweller:

"What's Kony..?"

As I said before, I think you missed the point of the video.

they're not focusing on this subject alone. yes, kony is one problem of hundreds that the world needs to solved, of course there are others. It just happens the guy who has been pushing for this kony issue is the one who created this video.

This video will spawn other movements, just like this one, to bring problems to the attention to the general public. This Kony 2012 movement is just like any other movement that has happened in the past, they're just doing it in a different way. For example take "(Red)" the foundation to raise awareness of AIDS in africa has been around for what, 10 years? Its just like Kony 2012. (Red) started a movement, raised awareness, but in ways that were modern 5 years ago (fucking weird that social media wasn't a "modern" thing 5 years ago).

This video is much bigger than this one issue with kony. It is experimenting and most likely proving how powerful social media is, its showing that people can be heard.

Spot on, sir.

I don't think I've laughed this hard over something on NS in a long time.

your ignorance and overall lack to critically thinking enraged me, but now all I want you to do is understand. Weird how pity works.

"raising awareness"
how to feel like you're doing something without actually doing something.

It's one thing for a bunch of girls on FB to post this video, but when celebs start getting involved and government officials start taking notice, its going to move past fb. I know everyone on here just thinks this whole thing is a bunch of stupid teenage girls post on fb, but its not.

again, i'm pretty sure the government already knows. this isn't news, it's not some big secret that was recently exposed.

i understand the point of the video, i've watched it multiple times now today. i posted the FIRST RESPONSE within minutes of it being posted as a joke. i will admit to it being a very immature one and i doubt i would have done it if i had actually viewed more than the first :03 before clicking reply. the point of my argument (if you even want to call it that) is people are all show and no go. it will be big for a while, they'll raise some money, and then it will fade to black just like Haiti, Darfur, ect.

That's not the point. Of course the government knows. The point is to educate the people who don't know aka 16 yr old girls on fb. But, this also includes the 20-35 year old bracket that the majority have no idea about any of this. This video is about learning, this movement is about awareness.

let me take you back to 6 minutes ago

I think the main thing that I see coming from this video is the true power of social media being tested, very interested to see how it goes.

This exactly. the "kony 2012 movement" will eventually be forgotten but the idea itself will not. This alone might be one of the fastest, impulsive (most initially powerful) movements the world has ever seen. Don't brush that off as some trend that only fb sluts are jumping on, this may change the way revolutions or major changes in the world come about. Just my two cents

You know what really pisses my can, is when people bitch and complain, about US involvment in other countries, and how they shouldn't be playing "World Police" and the last time the US had military involvement in Africa during civil war attacks they were protested and hated on for it. Now everyone wants the US to get involved in Africa. No matter what way you look at it people will bitch and complain. The US military cannot afford involvement in Africa or let alone care about whats going on. Take a look at North Korea, there are 100,000's of child slaves and yet its never put into light by the media. We are pulling out of the middle east for a reason man, there is a slim to no chance of the US government funding any big time missions to go to Africa, they've tried before (1990's) . IF the government really cared NATO could have this guy killed in under a week. Raising awareness on facebook will not do shit, if you want to really get involved and do something, maybe go to Africa and fight for freedom not sit behind a computing and reblog.

You naive, cause-driven hipsters make me laugh.

Yet, this whole issue sickens me, because none of you truly give a fuck about the daily occurring atrocities that take place in africa, or anyone who is affected by them. This is a prime example of one of the major underlying issues in society today, which is that we must be rewarded with praise by others in order to want to do something that involves others gaining positively from our actions. You all put on a front and pretend to want to help others under the watchful eye of peers and strangers alike, hoping that you are rewarded with a pat on the back. You will all forget about this entire thing once the initial fad dies down and there's no one left to impress with your ideological facebook bullshit which, frankly, makes a mockery out of a serious issue.

On a lighter note, i think we all need to cut the guy some slack. He has single-handedly caused unemployment rates in africa to drop drastically. He receives worldwide ridicule for simply promoting christian ideals, yet i can guarantee not one of you will take a second glance at the suddenly abandoned Ugandan children who were once part of something bigger than themselves, now lacking food, clothes, and shelter. Unless there's a viral video about it of course.

Semi related: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/10/04/101004fa_fact_gladwell

Change is made through action, not sharing videos on Facebook. Don't expect to see progress through ideas alone. Physical revolution is necessary and if you're actually passionate enough about something you live it. Internet activism is juvenile and haphazard.

StartFragment

Excuse myharsh language and offensive tone, but please, shut the fuck up and take aseat.

Tunisia,Egypt, and Libya all have a strong middle class with access to Facebook andsocial networking. It wasn't people halfway across the world saying "Yea, I’mgoing to tell all of my friends about this and cry and shit" thatoverthrew Gadhafi and other corrupt authority figures, it was 18-25 year oldmiddle class Egyptians, Tunisians, and Libyans connecting and organizingstrategic protests against their government.

Can Africansorganize like that using their cellphones and social media to protest? No.Widespread poverty.

Is theregovernment accountable and can be protested against? No, because it doesn'tfucking exist, and if you try and protest they will come out of the forest andcut you're family limb from limb with a machete and then shoot you in the face.

Is thisat all like the Arab spring? No.

Will socialnetworking help Africans besieged by the LRA? Does it have any REAL power? Fuckno.

The Americanmilitary is going to start a war with African nations, It’s a horrible factthat Blondie and other people in this thread don’t understand or even realize.Joseph Kony is just the tip of the iceberg. Then the US’s intervention willultimately conflict with China’s interest of controlling the African nation’snatural resources, which can escalate to a serious conflict between the world’stop superpowers, essentially dooming the rest of the Globe into WWIII.

So you,American citizen: Stop skiing, smoking weed, and listening to dubstep. This isa serious historical event unfolding in front of your eyes. Go back to schooland try and make the future of humanity less disappointing by reading somebooks.

EndFragment

that about sums it up.

that being said, i think this is one of the must effective viral political campaigning strategies i've ever seen. this video has fucking exploded in the last 24 hours, and KONO 2012 website crashed a few times due to traffic. cynical as the population of the internet may be, the video is accomplishing exactly what it aimed to do, reach as many people as possible and trigger conversation. even the shit show in this thread is testament of that. 4/20 should be interesting, if anything because now the baked people wandering the streets will be high and attempting to be political....

now, continue with the shit show.

"Raising awareness" is a term used by liberals to describe activity designed to give them and their peers a sense of moral superiority whilst allowing them to conveniently forget that they haven't actually achieved anything of any material benefit to anyone. They can thus belittle those who fail to engage in the "cause" with labels such as "ignorant" and "out of touch".

You can try and pidgeonhole a lot of shit under the two-sided and obsolete system of liberal vs. conservative all you want, but "raising awareness"?


Give me a fucking break.

I don't know if this has been mentioned yet, but the blog questioning KONY2012, visible children.tumblr.com has been blocked by Facebook.

My take is that it's a very well made video and campaign, that is going to be massive (well, is already massive), but it's cause seems to be essentially to rally people behind the US government doing something they are already doing. The troops are already there, I haven't read anything about there being a threat of removal.

I like the idea of using social networking to create change, raise awareness etc, I just don't see KONY 2012 as the best cause to be rallying behind.

well thats a mistake

S U O M I changed his name over kony, must be important

threads

holly shit I was reading through this thread yesterday before going to bed and it only had 2 pages

stop kony !

Prove this kid wrong.

WOW i remember when they came to my school a couple years ago to talk about this! And for that condescending wonka meme, it really doesnt matter if they know completely whats going on as long as they "make kony famous" then thats at least helping.

I saw this invisible children stuff back in 9th grade. it is a good cause. it has good principles, but from what is going on in central africa it is nearly impossible to stop something that has been going on for thousands of years. i think everyone should contribute but it cannot be stopped

Watching my generation mindlessly post a vimeo video on their facebook, twitter, and other social networking sites and then sleeping outside in cities one night in belief that it will save enslaved children in Uganda and possibly stop a Ugandan warlord makes me lose faith in my generation as well.

I agree, from the other thread:

While I'm reeeeeally doubtful that anything will come from this, the video has probably closer to 2-3 million unique views and I seriously doubt that most of them are even putting a dollar in their name towards this "cause".

If this thing does take off, and other viral explosions for good causes exploded similarily in the future, it's a very good thing and a deserving precedent. However, I do believe that not many will even participate in the events or support the cause with the merhandise and donation, as it's much easier to click "Share" and feel entitled than to actually hand out some dough and rally for something.

Am I willing to bet that this thing will blow over? No. There's always a chance for greatness.

Always bet on Duke.

.

I love the elitism that the supporters of this video have developed. I could have asked almost anyone I know on facebook about this 24 hours ago, and not one would have known what or who the LRA is. Yet now everybody is an expert who's devoted to stopping it, and think you're a terrible person if you don't.