KONY 2012

[Zulthus]

No, this doesn't belong in the Politics section.


There's been something going around the internet lately, a campaign to stop a rebel leader in Uganda. The movie was pretty moving and I definitely support it. Give it a watch yourself, it seems like something that should be spread.

[Warhound]

Just got done watchin this about an hour ago, and to tell the truth I never knew about him up until that video. Its very moving and I like how they spread the news of it in a "Viral" fashion. I would have never known until my friend posted it on Facebook, shows how much I pay attention.

[Crazyduckling]

I actually had to work with some of the people from this organization within the last year (I dont remember if it was last fall or spring). I am part of my university's auditorium tech staff, so I watched one of their earlier films.

Its a good cause, but when I watched it (their older film), they gave me a big 'wtf' moment when they talked about how they spent some of their money. It basically went like this: "So we got this really nice office, and eventually we were broke. We decided to use the money that we didn't have to buy an entire fleet of new 12 passenger vans, and all of them had custom paint jobs."

Obviously not a direct quote, but I was left thinking: "They could have used that money for better things...like their goal."

[Vash02]

Originally Posted by Crazyduckling

I actually had to work with some of the people from this organization within the last year (I dont remember if it was last fall or spring). I am part of my university's auditorium tech staff, so I watched one of their earlier films.

Its a good cause, but when I watched it (their older film), they gave me a big 'wtf' moment when they talked about how they spent some of their money. It basically went like this: "So we got this really nice office, and eventually we were broke. We decided to use the money that we didn't have to buy an entire fleet of new 12 passenger vans, and all of them had custom paint jobs."

Obviously not a direct quote, but I was left thinking: "They could have used that money for better things...like their goal."

Their financial statements say only about 35% of donations actually goes to africa.
Dont be BS'd about their 80% figure, 'awareness' campaigns count as fundraising in my book.

Thats not to dissuade from the goal of killing/capturing (lets face it, its going to be much easier to kill him) Kony. Just dont use this group to help achieve it through.

[Sirisian]

Watched the video earlier. Second time hearing about the problem. Extremely disturbing. Would be a good use of the US forces in securing Uganda's borders for them and destroying all threats while training their forces. I remember hearing about the 100 people they sent earlier and thought it was kind of insufficient. I mean you'd think with proper satellite photography and other tools they'd be able to locate the guy. It can't be that easy hiding an army of 500 to 3000 people.

[Warborn]

Originally Posted by Sirisian

Watched the video earlier. Second time hearing about the problem. Extremely disturbing. Would be a good use of the US forces in securing Uganda's borders for them and destroying all threats while training their forces. I remember hearing about the 100 people they sent earlier and thought it was kind of insufficient. I mean you'd think with proper satellite photography and other tools they'd be able to locate the guy. It can't be that easy hiding an army of 500 to 3000 people.

Maybe after the elections. If Obama were to commit to this in any big way, the right wing media would spin it the same way they spun death panels. Just look at how Rush Limbaugh interpreted the 100 guys sent as military advisors to Uganda: "Obama Invades Uganda, Targets Christians"

Any significant military action would immediately become "Obama is waging war against Christians at home and abroad!", and just as people ate up the "Obama wants to let doctors kill your grandmother!" without doing any actual research into it, so too would that become a new rallying cry in the 2012 general election.

[Accuser]

Originally Posted by Sirisian

Would be a good use of the US forces in securing Uganda's borders for them and destroying all threats while training their forces.

Double-plus good brother, Oceania salutes your devotion.

I'm pretty sure one government office or another put out a memo reading something like:
31 year "President" of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni, has faced allegations of corruption and vote fraud which have culminated in armed conflict. Continuing our traditional role as a peacekeeping leader, we will be able to suppress armed dissent against his regime and curry favor for our economic interests in a way that other nations will be unable to.

But how are we going to convince the American people to increase military involvement in Africa? China is quickly advancing its business interests there and we want to dominate the continent's commodities (particularly new-found oil reserves) going forward. We've gotten some degree of military buildup under the American people's radar using the Islamic extremist rhetoric, but a greater military presence is required to dominate the region's resources.

Sadly, "the Communists" are no longer around to justify invasions and regime changes. But we are still able to overstate the threat of WMDs in the Middle East. Fortunately, no one remembers statements like "We know where they are. They're in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south and north somewhat." or "It is unknowable how long that conflict will last. It could last six days, six weeks. I doubt six months." So since we have a new face as President and a few years behind us, we're free to use similar rhetoric once again. Unfortunately, no sub-Saharan nation has a peaceful nuclear program for us to accuse of weapons research.

Therefore, this office will be relying on sympathy-based techniques such as those used during the first Gulf War (see Nayirah). To this end, several soon-to-be notorious figures are available to present to the public. Domestic psi-ops will begin by turning American sentiment against Joseph Kony. Follow-ups will include a massive increase in news coverage of African conflict. Finally, Mr. Museveni will welcome American peacekeepers and a permanent American military presence in Uganda.

[Baneblade]

I saw the video on FB, I didn't even know his name before that, but I knew who he was and what he did.

[Vancha]

I haven't watched the video, but I gather it's about Kony and his child army, how he kidnaps children, rapes people, mutilates and kills people etc. Is that about right?

I've found the whole thing quite distasteful so far. It's the most manufactured "cause" I've ever seen. If people were told about this individually, they wouldn't give a damn any more than they give a damn about every other injustice that continues to be perpetrated in Africa, but because it's become a "thing", people are jumping on the bandwagon.

[Firefly]

Internet slacktivism at its best. Three days from now no one will give a shit about this, and nobody will have lifted a finger other than to share it on their Facebook page... just like "change your profile picture to your favourite cartoon character to raise awareness about child abuse!" Oooh, my Cobra Commander picture made you aware of Li'l Timmy getting the shit kicked out of him or perhaps diddled by Father O'Murphy?

Call me a skeptic.

Nobody gives a shit about Africans, not even other Africans. Nick Nolte had a line in "Hotel Rwanda" that sums it up best about how the Western world treats Africa but I'm not gonna repeat it because I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea and lump me into the "hateful bigot" category with Traak.

When anyone actually does something about this besides post on the internet, let me know. My faith in humanity might twitch a little towards the "perhaps we can be redeemed" peg.

[Whalenator]

I try to get in my fair share of humanitarian service with my local catholic parish every Sunday. We do a good job... We feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, renovate old churches. I get acquainted with unfortunate. They're fun people. I can safely say I've missed a bus or two having in-depth conversations with people whose original intent was just to come up and ask for some change.

But I've never gone abroad for my service. I've traveled on vacation to Mexico and beyond, of course, but when on vacation people tend to bed in the more affluent areas of a country. It's a bit of a sheltered situation, almost looking for a miniature version of your own culture with a little bit of change or flair just so you know you're in another country.

God though, this video is just too sad. I used to be on my school's debate teams, and we often had psuedo-united nations meetings to practice our debate skills and discuss the world's problems. It was fun, but at the same time a bit depressing. Global Warming. Human Trafficking. Territorial Wars. ANYTHING about the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Sad, sad stuff. Now what's more important; hundreds of thousands of lives being abused and starved in central Africa... or Planetside 2? (Don't answer that question)

I just makes you wonder.
It really does.

not to be a debbie downer or anything

[SKYeXile]

Fucking shits been going on for years, oh look a news flash...apparently Africa is fucked up, oh thanks youtube.

[Garem]

Originally Posted by SKYeXile

apparently Africa is fucked up, oh thanks youtube.

No it's not. Parts of it are in trouble obviously, but most of Africa is doing okay and getting better all the time.

Even if I were to assume everything you said was right, you're still crass and foolish to give such petulant criticism to this massive group of people bringing awareness of an important civil rights issue, even if it isn't perfectly tailored to your preferences or doesn't delve into the gritty details.

Vash, you're also wrong. You don't understand the scope of Invisible Children. Do a little research before making claims of critics you saw on Facebook. About a third of the donations go towards... a third of their major program divisions.

There are real criticisms to make. I'm not crazy about the MTV-esque shock-umentary style, but hey, I'm very well educated on the subject. Some people need flash to grab their attention, and if it serves a good purpose I'm willing to overlook a minor annoyance. There have been allegations that the IC leaders are making $85,000 a year or so, too, which is of course up for criticism.

Just make sure you know what you're talking about before you jump on the cynics or supporters bandwagons. It also wouldn't hurt to have a good grasp on modern Africa outside of the DRC, Central African Republic, and Uganda as well as a basic understanding of African history during the last 100 years. A little international relations knowledge dashed on top would be nice.

Nobody who knows what they're talking about takes Afro-pessimism seriously, Somalian and maybe the DRC as exceptions. If you seriously think, "lol it's africa, they're backwards and fucked up and not our problem" then I pity your ignorance and/or inhumanity.

@ Firefly, of course people actually do something. I've raised and spent about $8000 (I'm a grad student, I don't MAKE any money ) and spent countless hours (4 weeks in sum actually IN Africa) in helping to found and partake in an AIDS orphans/medical mission into rural Kenya. I couldn't have gone without financial supporters from my community. Then there are guys like this, who are fucking beasts: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Childers . Yes, people do things based upon their convictions. Some more than others. And often they are prompted to do so by being informed by Youtube videos, word of mouth, or social media. :gasp:

[SKYeXile]

Originally Posted by Garem

Nobody who knows what they're talking about takes Afro-pessimism seriously, Somalian and maybe the DRC as exceptions. If you seriously think, "lol it's africa, they're backwards and fucked up and not our problem" then I pity your ignorance and/or inhumanity.

is that what i said?

[Firefly]

Originally Posted by Garem

@ Firefly, of course people actually do something. I've raised and spent about $8000 (I'm a grad student, I don't MAKE any money ) and spent countless hours (4 weeks in sum actually IN Africa) in helping to found and partake in an AIDS orphans/medical mission into rural Kenya. I couldn't have gone without financial supporters from my community.

Well bully for you! Clearly you wouldn't be in the group that I was mocking and scorning.

The key word in all that should have been "some people". In fact, not even "some". Less than some. The majority of people post bullshit on Facebook and assuage their guilt by sharing/liking a video and saying "omg i cant believe this!!!11!". So you would be in the less-than-some class.

My entire point was this: the disingenuous factor makes me sick. If people aren't going to do something, spare us all the histrionics and the tugging of heart strings. It makes people like me think less of those who say "what a tragedy!" and then go back to eating their bucket of fried chicken in the suburbs before retiring to the couch to watch reality TV.