godlikemadman
God Among Men
OK, this took forever to type but I think it's a good read. Take the time to hear me out. I'm not trying to offend anyone or say that IC is a total scam. But you need some perspective.
Yesterday morning: KONY 2012 is the greatest thing to ever happen ever and everyone should get super-involved and send Invisible Children monies and stuff and wear bracelets and post statuses and put up signs and feel good and stuff. Next to no dissent.
My reaction: shock and confusion that this situation wasn't a bigger deal in the modern world, slightly skeptical thoughts about why this isn't all over the national news, but suppression. I'd heard of Kony and a scaled down version of his atrocities before but I'd never realized that they continued to this day. Happiness to find an org actively doing something about it. Admittedly I originally didn't do much research into IC at first.
Yesterday afternoon: More of the same. People spreading the video around like wild-fire, Facebook blowing up, people only just finding out about Kony and his atrocities and eager to make a difference because it's the cool thing to do and it's a good cause and damn how come I never heard of this situation before. A few people turning a critical eye to the video and its claims but for the most part, overwhelming support.
My reaction: still relatively oblivious to any criticism of the org. I thought it was wonderful that these people were actively doing something about what was going on while at the same time not suspecting at all any potential for corruption in IC. Still no research done on the situation. The video had enthralled me and pulled me in hook, line, and sinker. I wished I could do more to help and fantasized about activism and spreading the word. I saw one or two statuses criticizing KONY 2012 but didn't really look into them or take them into stride. Still, the idea had been planted.
Yesterday evening: Larger population of wary, critical people on social media, pointing out flaws in KONY 2012's video and how it might not be such a great idea to blindly donate tons of money to a situation that doesn't have much relevance anymore in the target country, Uganda. Claims of corruption in the IC leadership and lack of actual impact begin arising. Still a large majority of IC supporters and donators.
My reaction: beginning to do some research. Someone had posted a link regarding the financial recipients of the charity's funds. After doing a little reading, I was again shocked to find that rather than doing very much actual on the ground support, the group was in reality spending a majority of its income giving back to the founders and paying for filmmaking production and propaganda. However the cause still seemed relevant and so I was under the impression that propaganda, especially a piece as moving and well-done as the 30 minute video being tossed around, was a good thing, and that no charity was completely free of corruption. My view of IC was still relatively positive, as the cause was noble and the message was spreading. Still, thunderclouds loomed.
Overnight: Anti-KONY 2012 blogs get written, revealing links are found and shared, research is done. The things I had read about the evening before as well as a host of new information regarding the actual situation in Uganda and Kony's actual whereabouts and recent actions emerges from the dark recesses of the internet. People begin spreading these new links in the wee hours of the morning.
My reaction: I'd put Kony in a small dark recess in the back of my mind by this point and had a few more pressing matters to attend to. I didn't sleep well and so I decided to walk around for a bit. Kony, for the time being, could wait. I tried not to think about him.
This morning: People become hipsters. It's now the cool thing to be a skeptic and point out the flaws in IC's leadership and funding. Less and less positive hits for KONY 2012 are posted, replaced by a plethora of warnings and seeming condemnations of IC. People become disillusioned. The links of last night are now everywhere. Facebook is now a veritable swamp of KONY. Kony is everywhere. I guess this is good for IC: their campaign of getting Kony noticed has certainly worked. However, the opinion of IC has dropped relatively dramatically since the day before. Nevertheless, everyone is talking about it. Literally everyone.
My reaction: Facebook is a swamp so I decided to take a hiatus from it for a bit. Y'know. Visit some museums, enjoy the day, do something fun. After returning to Facebook I find it is still a swamp. So I read my way through the swamp. People's opinions are fun to read. Tells you a lot about them.
I personally think that KONY 2012 is a marvelously executed social experiment. Take an African warlord that the public is not really aware of, make a video showing people just how bad he is (even if slightly belated), and let the fun commence. It's fascinating to watch people blindly support something one day and turn completely around the next after learning a few facts about the responsible organization. I found even myself following these patterns, being drawn in by this organization to support this cause I was unaware of two days ago, only to become disillusioned and disappointed when I learned the true nature of the situation later and trying to rectify my blind support by overcompensating by being negative about KONY 2012.
Kony is a bad man. There is no doubt about that in my mind. He must be brought to justice. IC is doing a great thing by bringing awareness to his crimes. Awareness alone, however, is not sufficient. As my dad always says, "Vision without action is hallucination." And with an incorrect vision of the actual situation, we can hope to accomplish absolutely nothing. Kony moved out of Uganda years ago. Uganda has its own problems now without misinformed Americans trying to do social work for a nonexistent threat. If Kony is not a threat in Uganda anymore, why are the few funds that make it through to Uganda and the social work done through Invisible Children even going to Uganda? The Kony threat is gone there. It's now elsewhere in Africa. Kony was arrested already, and charged with crimes against humanity. He was even sentenced. However, he escaped and is now on the run. That was in 2006. IC is propagating that he has not yet been arrested and that awareness must be raised, when in fact awareness is essentially useless. IC is not addressing Kony's moving problem. Nevertheless, Uganda is undoubtedly a poor nation and indeed needs all the financial help it can get. False advertising, however, is wrong.
tl;dr version: People are getting too caught up in the KONY 2012 hype. They need to do some serious research before blindly advocating a cause. I dont want it to seem like I dont care about Kony or his atrocities but simply spreading the word isn't going to do much. Positive action in the regions that matter, such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo and nations north of Uganda is vital. Kony does not need awareness: he has already been arrested, put on trial, and convicted for crimes against humanity. He escaped, however, and is the target of a manhunt. Awareness of Kony is not necessary. Awareness of the current situation of the central African nations, especially Uganda and Dem. Rep. of Congo, however, is.
Yesterday morning: KONY 2012 is the greatest thing to ever happen ever and everyone should get super-involved and send Invisible Children monies and stuff and wear bracelets and post statuses and put up signs and feel good and stuff. Next to no dissent.
My reaction: shock and confusion that this situation wasn't a bigger deal in the modern world, slightly skeptical thoughts about why this isn't all over the national news, but suppression. I'd heard of Kony and a scaled down version of his atrocities before but I'd never realized that they continued to this day. Happiness to find an org actively doing something about it. Admittedly I originally didn't do much research into IC at first.
Yesterday afternoon: More of the same. People spreading the video around like wild-fire, Facebook blowing up, people only just finding out about Kony and his atrocities and eager to make a difference because it's the cool thing to do and it's a good cause and damn how come I never heard of this situation before. A few people turning a critical eye to the video and its claims but for the most part, overwhelming support.
My reaction: still relatively oblivious to any criticism of the org. I thought it was wonderful that these people were actively doing something about what was going on while at the same time not suspecting at all any potential for corruption in IC. Still no research done on the situation. The video had enthralled me and pulled me in hook, line, and sinker. I wished I could do more to help and fantasized about activism and spreading the word. I saw one or two statuses criticizing KONY 2012 but didn't really look into them or take them into stride. Still, the idea had been planted.
Yesterday evening: Larger population of wary, critical people on social media, pointing out flaws in KONY 2012's video and how it might not be such a great idea to blindly donate tons of money to a situation that doesn't have much relevance anymore in the target country, Uganda. Claims of corruption in the IC leadership and lack of actual impact begin arising. Still a large majority of IC supporters and donators.
My reaction: beginning to do some research. Someone had posted a link regarding the financial recipients of the charity's funds. After doing a little reading, I was again shocked to find that rather than doing very much actual on the ground support, the group was in reality spending a majority of its income giving back to the founders and paying for filmmaking production and propaganda. However the cause still seemed relevant and so I was under the impression that propaganda, especially a piece as moving and well-done as the 30 minute video being tossed around, was a good thing, and that no charity was completely free of corruption. My view of IC was still relatively positive, as the cause was noble and the message was spreading. Still, thunderclouds loomed.
Overnight: Anti-KONY 2012 blogs get written, revealing links are found and shared, research is done. The things I had read about the evening before as well as a host of new information regarding the actual situation in Uganda and Kony's actual whereabouts and recent actions emerges from the dark recesses of the internet. People begin spreading these new links in the wee hours of the morning.
My reaction: I'd put Kony in a small dark recess in the back of my mind by this point and had a few more pressing matters to attend to. I didn't sleep well and so I decided to walk around for a bit. Kony, for the time being, could wait. I tried not to think about him.
This morning: People become hipsters. It's now the cool thing to be a skeptic and point out the flaws in IC's leadership and funding. Less and less positive hits for KONY 2012 are posted, replaced by a plethora of warnings and seeming condemnations of IC. People become disillusioned. The links of last night are now everywhere. Facebook is now a veritable swamp of KONY. Kony is everywhere. I guess this is good for IC: their campaign of getting Kony noticed has certainly worked. However, the opinion of IC has dropped relatively dramatically since the day before. Nevertheless, everyone is talking about it. Literally everyone.
My reaction: Facebook is a swamp so I decided to take a hiatus from it for a bit. Y'know. Visit some museums, enjoy the day, do something fun. After returning to Facebook I find it is still a swamp. So I read my way through the swamp. People's opinions are fun to read. Tells you a lot about them.
I personally think that KONY 2012 is a marvelously executed social experiment. Take an African warlord that the public is not really aware of, make a video showing people just how bad he is (even if slightly belated), and let the fun commence. It's fascinating to watch people blindly support something one day and turn completely around the next after learning a few facts about the responsible organization. I found even myself following these patterns, being drawn in by this organization to support this cause I was unaware of two days ago, only to become disillusioned and disappointed when I learned the true nature of the situation later and trying to rectify my blind support by overcompensating by being negative about KONY 2012.
Kony is a bad man. There is no doubt about that in my mind. He must be brought to justice. IC is doing a great thing by bringing awareness to his crimes. Awareness alone, however, is not sufficient. As my dad always says, "Vision without action is hallucination." And with an incorrect vision of the actual situation, we can hope to accomplish absolutely nothing. Kony moved out of Uganda years ago. Uganda has its own problems now without misinformed Americans trying to do social work for a nonexistent threat. If Kony is not a threat in Uganda anymore, why are the few funds that make it through to Uganda and the social work done through Invisible Children even going to Uganda? The Kony threat is gone there. It's now elsewhere in Africa. Kony was arrested already, and charged with crimes against humanity. He was even sentenced. However, he escaped and is now on the run. That was in 2006. IC is propagating that he has not yet been arrested and that awareness must be raised, when in fact awareness is essentially useless. IC is not addressing Kony's moving problem. Nevertheless, Uganda is undoubtedly a poor nation and indeed needs all the financial help it can get. False advertising, however, is wrong.
tl;dr version: People are getting too caught up in the KONY 2012 hype. They need to do some serious research before blindly advocating a cause. I dont want it to seem like I dont care about Kony or his atrocities but simply spreading the word isn't going to do much. Positive action in the regions that matter, such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo and nations north of Uganda is vital. Kony does not need awareness: he has already been arrested, put on trial, and convicted for crimes against humanity. He escaped, however, and is the target of a manhunt. Awareness of Kony is not necessary. Awareness of the current situation of the central African nations, especially Uganda and Dem. Rep. of Congo, however, is.
