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Kony 2012
Brian
Detroit, MI Moderator
I didn't mean to watch the entire 30 minutes, but this really is a remarkable project:
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Really, it is amazing and a smart idea to spread the word like that. If I know anything, it's that people my age (around 19) love to post on Facebook, Twitter, etc. They also love to protest. So I predict this plan going very well.
Hopefully this can bring people together.
I really wish there would be some kind of website so people can go to, and have a list of organizations to participate in.
But not financially, physically.
Alot of people don't have $$ but are willing to invest time.
I have a lazy Sunday from time to time, i'd like to go out and spend my day doing something good, working for something.
But i cannot find anything, all i can find is places and names to give money to.
not only that, what if i wanted to give a month of my life, or years of my life to work full time to some causes? Move to whatever European country and work full time helping out.
This is actually very difficult to do.
Nothing exist of the sort.
There are a few positions available at the un or something like this but those are highly competitive. It's like applying at a great investment bank.
They receive thousands of applications from more and more qualified people.
For instance, my wife is a lawyer graduated from the best university of Canada, her dream was to work to help people in some international organization, doesn't care about making tons of money, she applied many position but never got any answer whatsoever.
There are plenty of people who want to help, but nothing to facilitate it.
So all this help potential is wasted.
i think it is a great idea.
my post was a rant about helping out in general about whatever causes, international and local.
You can Start here
(because of you, so you can feel good about having made a difference)
planning to put the posters in the windows of my apartment (which is very well located for many people to see them).
View Larger Map
sorry about the rant, i guess it was not the right thread/forum for it.
http://thedailywh.at/2012/03/07/on-kony-2012-2/
perhaps i shouldn't have bought that kit after all...
BUT, why is all the attention on him? He is surely not the worst one out there. This campaign against him strikes me as strange when a far madder and far more evil villain in Syria is committing genocide against his own people. Why no calls from humanitarian liberals to have Assad dispatched? His regime is on the ropes and has murdered tens of thousands in the past year.
Let's be honest though, 100 "military advisers" is a half-measure and would not be sizable enough to eradicate the LRA.
EDIT: And let's be honest, "arrest?" Please, you all know as well I do that Kony would be shot dead by the Ugandan military if caught.
And as others have noted, offing just Kony would probably not do much to eradicate the LRA. Just as OBL's end was not the end of Al Qaeda.
war is clearly not the answer.
This tumblr post (and the whole blog in general) represents my stance - it's a noble enough cause at its heart, but has many flaws and reeks of the "White Man's Burden" and imperialism: http://visiblechildren.tumblr.com/post/18890947431/we-got-trouble
I also found the campaign - although very media-savvy - to rely a lot on emotional manipulation. All those shots of babies being born with ethereal music, focusing on his blonde son, etc. I mean, children being abducted and forced to kill isn't a good thing AT ALL, but if it weren't children, would people care as much?
I think it's easy to point at problems happening in other countries and say "Someone should do something about it!" and try to seem all "socially conscious" by donating and holding rallies and whatnot. But what about the problems in our own towns and cities? I'm all for supporting infrastructure development in other parts of the world (esp ones that are sustainable, where the locals get the jobs and plan their own futures), but I really think that even in the developed Western world, we need to take a look at ourselves.
Change is an inside job, after all.
As for the group itself, they're not without their fair share of controversy. For example, according to a 2011 Foreign Affairs' article, Invisible Children "manipulated facts for strategic purposes, exaggerating the scale of LRA abductions and murders and emphasizing the LRA's use of innocent children as soldiers, and portraying Kony -- a brutal man, to be sure -- as uniquely awful, a Kurtz-like embodiment of evil." And according to financial reports, Invisible Children only spends about 31% of total funds on directly helping anyone (e.g., last year they spent roughly $2.8 million out of $8.9 million directly on projects in Africa, with the rest being spent on things like salaries, transportation, awareness programs, and production costs for films). In addition, they many also help support the Ugandan government/army and the Sudan People's Liberation Army financially, both of which have been accused of committing their fair share of atrocities, including things like rape, looting, and the use of child soldiers.
In short, I like the idea of people trying to make a positive difference in the world, and I think the video is an innovative way of raising social awareness and inspiring people to get involved in a good cause, not to mention a brilliant piece of marketing; but you may want to think twice before donating to Invisible Children and/or spreading this video around. And if you do want to help but don't feel comfortable with Invisible Children, there's a host of other organizations out there to donate to. For example, The Daily What suggests Africare, AMREF USA, Children of the Nations, and Water.org, all of which have "a sparkling four-star rating from Charity Navigator, and, more importantly, no interest in airdropping American troops armed to the teeth into the middle of a multi-nation tribal war to help one madman catch another."
Mother Teresa.
Still the squeaky wheel gets the grease though, so the louder everyone gets the higher the chances are of someone actually doing something about it. Still, it would be faster, cheaper, and easier if the Kony 2012 project just used any donations it got to fund a sniper team or two and took the Warlord out. Crude sure, but better in nearly every way. As the sooner this guy and whoever sits at his table are put down, the more lives will be saved.
If you go there, IDK that they have mentioned the Kony thing specifically, the front page is probably still the Apple article. (Sidenote: I've been meaning to post an article on the illegal operations in the Apple factories ever since I read the This American Life (NPR) article, but honestly, I'm scared of the vehement Apple fans here, lol, and a part of me just doesn't feel like getting into it (it's aimed at Apple probably because they have increased their profit margin by so much recently while barely increasing pay (if at all), charge excessive amounts, but it's not limited to Apple, I should mention). But I'm surprised that nobody else has made a post about it. If anyone would like to relinquish me of this duty, feel free. If not, I might finally get my stuff together and make my own post about it because it is upsetting.)
And... I'm done threadjacking. If anyone else cares, please make another post.
But still there is something in the Idea that appeals and enchants and it has a nice ring to it... and for now its free... and it can stop Kony.
Ready? Here it comes:
Outlaw War.
See I told ya. You are already thinking "Thats stupid". But guess what its not! Think about it some more and you'll see that its really got potential.
Cheers
Victor
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kellogg_briand_pact
@KnightofBuddha Ha, ha. drolly.
I told you it would sound stupid in the beginning. But think about it.
A world wide authority with the power and resources to prosecute and convict nations and 'freedom fighters' alike for any act of war.
regular people and businesses could then file lawsuits against one or other party in a war for economic compensation for lost income of damaged collateral or physical harm.
Imagine how fast such a destructive war would end if the involved states were held accountable for the damage done in realtime!
/Victor
The problem remains, who holds the rogues accountable? And how do you enforce it?
Your theory is not a new one. It was wholeheartedly pursued during the 1920s and 1930s by Britain and France and its pursuit lead to the greatest conflagration in human history.
Rogues, be them Fascists or Theocrats or dime store thugs, will always push the limits as far as they can in pursuit of their ambitions against democracies. Deterrence is generally far more effective than "international condemnation."
That way you wouldn't have the current farce of Iran and Sudan having been member's of the UN Council for Women's Rights.
Yes that sounds good a new Federation of Nonaggression. With ethical and moral requirements for membership. So far so good but there needs to be a reward too.
What will make nations want to join? What would make them abide by the treaty and pay the fine if they break the law?
Lawbreakers are stamped as Terrorists. Their assets frozen. All trade with them forbidden. That is what killed the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka really. More so than the Sri Lanka army.
But I think you are right. How to do that to France or England?
Hrm.
/Victor
Regimes founded on violence and who base their foreign policy on intimidation and aggression...will only respond to force. They don't care about international opinion or UN resolutions. Those things are worthless to tyrants.
As a historical example, Hitler could have been easily stopped relatively bloodlessly through the mid-1930s and late 30s. But every one of his aggressions was met with denunciations, meetings, diplomacy, appeasement, finger-wagging, and utopian pacifism. He and Japan both flipped the bird to the League of Nations. He was only militarily confronted in 1939-40, and by then he was too strong to be stopped.
Dictators and rogue regimes, and brigands like Kony do not respond to world opinion, but to mailed fists. That is the only way that the worst tyrants are ever overthrown.
And I am not saying one must enforce this law peacefully nor am I saying such a federation or coalition needs to be democratic in every action. The sentence of a criminal is not put to the vote of all the people in a country is it?
Crushing someone not complying with this law using political/economic or/and military means is an ok solution with me.
That was how the Tamil Tigers of Sri Lanka were obliterated. Their doom came not when the Sri Lanka armed forces routed them out and killed them but when they were stamped as Terrorists in the international arena.
Their assets were frozen, trade and selling arms to them became forbidden.
That was what killed them.
/Victor
Pacifist will tell you that "You can not solve a conflict with violence". But that is obviously just bullox. In this world majority of conflicts are solved by violence.
But formalizing war would save a lot of civilians a load of crap.
In the old times according to the history books in Sri Lanka confilcts between different nations never pillaged nor raped bystanders. A christian priest writes about this in an report. He is ashamed of his fellow christian country mens behavior as they stoop to looting and raping but the buddhist inhabitants did not.
So no I would not mind violance to bring peace. Some police actions require violence to bring peace. Nothing wrong there.
But also it is nice to remember the ideals of Buddhism.
Buddha did not "break" his opponents he converted them. So the greatest victory on the battlefield or in single combat is to make your opponent see your point and at length become your friend.
A dead opponent is not truly beaten because he died shunning your beliefs. In a way he won too because he never gave in.
/Victor
I think before everyone starts jumping on the band wagon and supporting the hunt for this "terrorist" You should hear the other side of the story. I attached the URL for this video, this man has some solid points and he really know what he is saying. There is much worse people in Africa then Mr. Kony. The people of uganda even have a rumor that he might be dead or even out of the country. One of the main reason I don't agree with this video is that it was funded by George Bush, Cheney, Blaire and all those guys. I think it is just another way to keep their war machine moving. So, before you jump and go to purchase one of those kits, Remember on 30-35% of the money sent to the Invisible Children foundation actually gets sent over to Uganda. All of these facts are available online and in this video. i don't know how to make a thumbnail come up but I hope you watch it.
Having children kill their parents and commit horrendeous crimes to other people and other children is a way for some of these movments to tie them closer to themselves.
Why Kony is so bad compared to others I do not know.
Other (better?) ways to help maybe?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coalition_to_Stop_the_Use_of_Child_Soldiers
http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.6115947/k.8D6E/Official_Site.htm
and here is some info
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_use_of_children
/Victor