Kony 2012 [ Video Inside ]

[Rypien37]

I love how all these people are jumping onto this like crazy.

This kind of stuff has been happening for many years, and a lot of other horrible atrocities like this happen every day. You just don't see it on TV.

I bet in a week 95% of the people posting this stuff will forget about it.

[Patchey]

[WillyFox]

It had me when Jacob was crying. I died a little inside

[لني]

As much as the idea of the campaign is certainly great, I'm sure many of you would quickly think otherwise given Invisible Children's sketchy history.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invisible_children#Criticisms

Great cause, but nothing will ever change. Invisible Children nets huge assets just by oversimplifying an extremely complicated situation in Uganda. Not to mention that by supporting this organization, you would be supporting an organization that advocates direct military intervention. I think we all know how that ended up last time.

Oh yeah, and foreign aid has drastically ruined the Ugandan economy in recent years:

http://www.worldpress.org/Africa/2074.cfm

I'm seeing a lot of misguided people here just jumping into something they don't really know about.

[لني]

[drdeath]

Osama 2001 went so well

[Nosaj]

This Kony thing is retarded.

1. The video over simplifies the situation and calls for military intervention without addressing larger issues such as government corruption, excess in foreign aid, and lack of basic human necessities. Westerns love a villain to hate on.

2. It turns a very serious matter into an internet fad. Half of my friends can't tell the difference between Joseph Kony and Carl Weather and I doubt any of them will remember this next year.

3. Awareness? Government pressure? If the US already have military advisers on the ground in Uganda, I'm willing to bet that Obama already has very clear plans.

4. I'm sick of people feeling that we have the right to walk into a foreign nation and somehow liberate them. This is white man's burden 2.0 and does little to encourage stability in the long run.

Slactivism is one of the worst things to come out of online social networks. Give this a read: http://visiblechildren.tumblr.com/, he words it much better than I did.

[Blackberries]

For an interesting supplement one should watch machine gunpreacher, with gerard butler. Its about a badass biker who finds god and goes to africa to build an orphanage, but ends up having to Protect th e kids from konys lra army. And its based on the true story of sam childers.

[CanuckinEdm]

http://28.media.tumb...zp2doo1_500.jpg

[FeStealth]

For an interesting supplement one should watch machine gunpreacher, with gerard butler. Its about a badass biker who finds god and goes to africa to build an orphanage, but ends up having to Protect th e kids from konys lra army. And its based on the true story of sam childers.

[Raph]

Awesome comic FeStealth.

[Satan's Evil Twin]

KONY 2012 responds to the critiques present here and elsewhere.

CRITIQUES

Thank you for reading this and doing further research about Invisible Children (IC) and KONY 2012. In response to this explosion of interest about the KONY 2012 film, there have been hundreds of thousands of comments in support of the arrest of Joseph Kony and the work of Invisible Children. However, there have also been pieces written that are putting out false or misleading information about these efforts.

This statement is our official response to some of these articles and is a source for accurate information about Invisible Children's mission, financials and approach to stopping LRA violence.

Invisible Children's mission is to stop LRA violence and support the war-affected communities in East and Central Africa. These are the three ways we achieve this mission; each is essential:

• 1) Make the world aware of the LRA. This includes making documentary films and touring them around the world so that they are seen for free by millions of people.

• 2) Channel energy from viewers of IC films into large-scale advocacy campaigns to stop the LRA and protect civilians.

• 3) Operate programs on the ground in LRA-affected areas that provide protection, rehabilitation and development assistance.

As you will see, we spend roughly one third of our money on each of these three goals. This three-prong approach is what makes Invisible Children unique. Some organizations focus exclusively on documenting human rights abuses, some focus exclusively on international advocacy or awareness, and some focus exclusively on on-the-ground development. We do all three. At the same time. This comprehensive model is intentional and has proven to be very effective.

We are committed, and always have been, to be 100% financially transparent and to communicate in plain language the mission of the organization so that everyone can make an informed decision about whether they want to support our strategy.

Read the meat and potaters here.

[Nosaj]

KONY 2012 responds to the critiques present here and elsewhere.

CRITIQUES

• 1) Make the world aware of the LRA. This includes making documentary films and touring them around the world so that they are seen for free by millions of people.

• 2) Channel energy from viewers of IC films into large-scale advocacy campaigns to stop the LRA and protect civilians.

• 3) Operate programs on the ground in LRA-affected areas that provide protection, rehabilitation and development assistance.

[Satan's Evil Twin]

Do you realize how vague each of those goals are?

I'll give them point #1, because getting people aware is cheap and easy. Then what?

This group advocates lobbying governments to install a military presence in Uganda. Let's ignore the massive amounts of potential backlash from this and say they succeed in taking out Kony. This does little to address the crushing poverty and government corruption in the region. Instability in Africa is not the result of some crazed thug, it's because the people who live there are unable to support themselves.

[Miss Korea Bob.Loblaw]

Do you realize how vague each of those goals are?

I'll give them point #1, because getting people aware is cheap and easy. Then what?

This group advocates lobbying governments to install a military presence in Uganda. Let's ignore the massive amounts of potential backlash from this and say they succeed in taking out Kony. This does little to address the crushing poverty and government corruption in the region. Instability in Africa is not the result of some crazed thug, it's because the people who live there are unable to support themselves.

This campaign takes away focus from the real issue. If you want to support a real cause, donate to Doctors Without Borders instead of liking a video on Facebook.

[Nosaj]

In their defense, that's not what this whole campaign is about, and there's probably other charities and organizations that focus on the things you just mentioned, so don't try to criticize an organization for what they don't do. Just try to see whether their goals will have positive results.

Again, I don't think IC is trying to solve "instability in Africa". They're trying to "stop Kony". Honestly, I'm not even quite sure about all of this, but I think their ultimate goal is to wipe out the LRA, by any means possible. They're going to try with the top-down approach by taking out their leader first.

I'm still wrestling with whether Kony should be taken out by a foreign special forces, or get snuffed out by the local military. I think IC raised a good point by saying that without the support of the local army, they're powerless. Trying to restructure a foreign military is out of the question, so they're trying to cooperate with a sketchy military force.

Something that really puts me off is the US-centric theme. Essentially, IC doesn't need our political support as Canadians, but they'd like to have our money. We'll see what happens.

[لني]

For an interesting supplement one should watch machine gunpreacher, with gerard butler. Its about a badass biker who finds god and goes to africa to build an orphanage, but ends up having to Protect th e kids from konys lra army. And its based on the true story of sam childers.

[لني]

This is what I find so twisted about this whole campaign. People are willing to throw money as this militant cause with so little understanding of the situation.

I do not believe that mob rule should be the standard for dealing with renegades and criminals.

[Miss Korea Bob.Loblaw]

This is what I find so twisted about this whole campaign. People are willing to throw money as this militant cause with so little understanding of the situation.

I do not believe that mob rule should be the standard for dealing with renegades and criminals.

[Dellins]

Kony and the LRA have been ERADICATED and have been INACTIVE in Uganda since 2006; there is now a peace process in place. Of the money that gets donated to Invisible Children, only 31% goes on their charity work. The rest goes to film making. But this 31% of your money, that you either directly give to them or help them raise through sharing their video, goes toward causes like funding Uganda’s military and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (both of which have done despicable things, such as using rape as a weapon of war).

The organization behind Kony 2012 — Invisible Children Inc. — is an extremely shady nonprofit that has been called ”misleading,” “naive,” and “dangerous” by a Yale political science professor , and has been accused by Foreign ­Affairs of “manipulating facts for strategic purposes.” They have also been criticized by the Better Business Bureau for refusing to provide information necessary to determine if IC meets the Bureau’s standards.

http://www.foreignaf...e-lra?page=show

http://www.guardian....riminal-justice

http://www.vice.com/...ony-2012-or-not

http://rachelheldeva...-2012-resources

http://visiblechildr.../we-got-trouble

http://www.scarlettl...e-next-chapter/

http://blog.joerenke...y-2012-exposed/

http://web.archive.o...2010-06-02.html

More like, actually socially aware humanitarians are frustrated at the sheer ignorance and stupendous quickness with which our generation can be brainwashed into thinking they're doing something good and REFUSE to fact-check their beliefs because it weighs heavily upon their heartstrings.