8 replies to this topic

[007jamesbond]

time some take and watch this video



the word should be spreaded

[DamnCoffee]

Watched this last night. Horrific what goes on in the third world.

[Pussfeller]

A good cause, but a dodgy charity. See http://visiblechildren.tumblr.com/

[Chief of SIS]

I actually bought an action kit yesterday. However, the idea behind it is not one that is perfect. It is under the notion that stopping Kony stops the LRA. That's pretty false. The consequences would be great though. It would have a similar or greater effect to the the LRA like that of the killing of Osama did to al-Qaeda. The difference is that one is a transnational terrorist group while the other is a national militant organization. The two aren't equal.

I did donate. It's great that this is getting attention. It really needs to. No such thing as bad publicity in this case. However, if you are looking at donating, also consider donating to a side charity that directly goes to the people of Uganda.

[Captain Tightpants]

A good cause, but a dodgy charity. See http://visiblechildren.tumblr.com/

That blog reeks of the cynical responses that I've seen all across the internet - as if by finding flaws in Invisible Children's structure and/or cause, people will feel less guilty about ignoring it. Of course, that in itself is a cynical response to cynical responses, but at least I admit that I'm questioning the motives of the author, rather than pretending that I'm the only one with the intellectual integrity to detect the supposed idea that KONY 2012 was only created for the purposes of making Jason Russell and his friends look good. Mostly, I think the main reason why people have responded poorly to the video is because they don't want to have to see it plastered all over Facebook and Twitter, because that might make them feel guilty about something.

But at least the author of Visible Children applauds the charity for detailing their methods.

[SecretAgentFan]

First of all, we can all agree that murderers like Kony must be stopped.

And I´m one of those people who always think: what can we do about such matters? I´m too lazy and afraid to actually go out and protest - also I don´t think that this will change anything. Of course, if everybody thinks like that nothing will get changed.

The idea to raise awareness by making people like Kony as known as celebrities, however, is a brilliant one IMO. So, in that way, I applaud the effort and the method to use social networks like facebook. Until now, I´ve never heard of Kony. Now I do. So in that respect, this initiative has already worked.

And if politicians only need to see that many people want something then... this seems to be a great way of showing support.

However, I fear that when taking Kony (or people like him) out of the equasion others will step in. There must be a plan for the time after Kony. And this is where the problem starts again. Even if the Iraq war is different, the basic element is the same. Taking out Saddam Hussein did not improve the situation in the long run. At least it does not seem so.

Of course, as a German, I´m aware of the implications of that kind of statement. If Hitler had not been stopped... yes. He had to be stopped. But there was a huge alliance of states who brought an end to the Nazi regime and then agreed on a plan to get the country back on its feet. This succeeded. And that kind of plan has to be made for Uganda.

But right now I doubt that a huge alliance of states would actually intervene here and have the desire to change things.

Especially with the highly dangerous situation we have with Iran right now - and the impending decision about attacking it to stop its nuclear plans - the world will make and have to make this the priority.

Apart from that, I also do not think that the video should be heavily edited down. Right now, it seems to me too much about Jason Russell and his cute son. When it should be just about the plan: make Kony famous and then put pressure on politicians to make a plan.

However, just because the basic cause is an important one IMO, I would recommend and share this video with others.

[Captain Tightpants]

However, I fear that when taking Kony (or people like him) out of the equasion others will step in. There must be a plan for the time after Kony.

I think the hope is that the Lord's Resistance Army will fall apart once Kony is brought to justice. That might sound like a fool's hope, but the LRA is quite unique - it has no ideology. It does not serve any nation, and it does not promote any belief. It exists only to sustain itself. This is a problem for them, because it means they have trouble attracting anyone to join their ranks, which is why Kony resorts to child soldiers. That's just a simplified version of things, of course (they've claimed they do have a cause in the past), but I think the intention is that if Kony is taken down, the LRA will fall apart because there will be no-one to lead them.

[SecretAgentFan]

I hope that will be the case.

[DominicGreene]

Kony 2012 is practically a scam; I wholeheartedly disagree with you Captain Tightpants. The money you give to invisible children will go to the production costs to make the film and maybe 10% will go to Uganda. What are they trying to achieve with this film? To throw more pointless money at a corrupt government? How is this even our business - it isn't. I'm not saying it's not good to help, I'm saying the helping will do nothing. In this case, we shouldn't be helping - THE US GOVERNMENT DOESN'T HAVE THE RIGHT TO DO SO. Politicians probably just want to raise attention to Uganda so that they get can more oil; the government won't do something without getting their half. The only way Uganda will be able to solve these problems is by themselves. A girl who is from Uganda even spoke out against this video (you should take a look);



Reactions to the film by people who saw the film in Uganda,



The fact that anyone would actually support makes me just wonder how ignorant our societies in the west really are.

Edited by DominicGreene, 15 March 2012 - 06:48 PM.