KONY 2012 - Arrest kidnapper and warlord Joseph Kony

[Elvis]

No bro, a nice video was made to convince you that he is the bro-iest of bros in all of bro world, but he is not. He is again just a bro in a long line of bros that is being used as a lightning rod for hipsters to rally against.

The video was made by activists. These activists are trying to get support for their cause.

It is true that this guy is not Hitler or Stalin or Mao.

But at the same time, he doesn't have to be.

He does not have to be Lord Voldemort to qualify.

You are correct in that he is a symbol to rally around.

And that's what I just said above.

I'm beginning to wonder what hipster really means to people like you.

A hipster is someone who doesn't actually know anything about the issue they are supposedly concerned about.

They 'wear' the 'issue' like piece of clothing. It's 'fashionable' and hence, their concern is really just grandstanding.

From the point of view of an activist, you should seek to inform your work w/ a sense of urgency. You shouldn't scale your passion according to the Holocaust or The Great Purge or The Great Famine, etc. Life will always be shitty for some people - so as the times change, you shouldn't voice your concern once 6 million people die.

Framing the conflict is important. Communicating it to the laymen in a language they understand is important.

How are you supposed to reach an audience if they don't speak in the technical language of the conflict?

It was recently that someone asked a general question about Israel-Palestine. They asked what the gist of the story was behind the conflict. Previously when they read discussions on the topic, they were confused.

This is no longer about this particular issue. It's about solidarity movements in general.

People need to be inspired. And judging by your hipster knee-jerk response to this campaign (which might contain some truth) - I think you're a glass is half-full kind of guy. Half-full with cat piss.

[Indeed]

Can't quote at the moment, but I haven't changed my argument at all. I'm simply trying to point out that anything short of a nation-building mission will have negligible results. I absolutely don't think that the American government has the resources to spend another trillion dollars on a war. Joseph Kony is a bad person. Nobody deserves to be treated that way. He should face consequences for his actions. However, the resources expended and lives lost to remove one threat, to me, are squandered if there is no improvement in the lives of these people. I think even they would agree that removing this one man and leaving them at the mercy of a different group who does similar things, is the very definition of an empty gesture conducted just to give us the warm fuzzies. I don't know how much time they have to sit around feeling grateful, if the current governing body we turn these people over to is also guilty of raping, looting, and using child soldiers. It's an empty gesture. Also, I don't understand how this is supposed to instill fear in anyone, if it's just a one-time deal. If we only come in and do this and nothing else, and they knew that our ONLY objective was to capture this one man, why would anyone be discouraged from continuing to do the terrible things they do? I just fail to grasp the actual efficacy as it pertains to the African people.

[Dimmauk]

I want to make a first world problems activist video so bad

[Elvis]

I want to make a first world problems activist video so bad

[Sepukku]

I want to make a first world problems activist video so bad

"What has this world come to when an American wins $1 million dollars in a lottery and with only a meager two houses and new car to her name, needs food stamps.

'I have bills.'

She has bills, and only your donations can pay them."

And then you could make a remix tune out of 'I have bills' to play during the ending credits.

[Dimmauk]

"What has this world come to when an American wins $1 million dollars in a lottery and with only a meager two houses and new car to her name, needs food stamps.

'I have bills.'

She has bills, and only your donations can pay them."

And then you could make a remix tune out of 'I have bills' to play during the ending credits.

LOL white people.

I was thinking about my lorax download being ruined by the sun ejaculating on my internet tubes.

[Elvis]

What about



Too soon?

[Galkaeater]

I want to make a first world problems activist video so bad

make one about creamsoda

[Dimmauk]

make one about creamsoda

A story about the day to day struggles of a bike riding brony who eats from a dirty bowl and shits on floors. Amazing character IMO

[MF Perm tha Fineass]

Posted by a guy who just came back from volunteering for a year to help the poor in Cambodia"




lol

[ronin sparthos]

Armchair activists on one side, know-it-all apathetics on the other and both sides have no solutions but to incessantly bicker with eachother.

Ah, the American way.

[Elvis]

If people donate to the campaign, write to their elected officials, and increase awareness of the issue then they've done something. Do you think 'most people' are in the trenches? Also, the guy who 'just got back from Cambodia' seems like a total fake.

A 'real cause'? Seriously?

You seem to think that the only way to do anything about this issue is to channel your efforts through the Invisible Children organization. The simple fact that this Kony guy has entered the conversation is a good start.

And you know what? How did your activist Facebook friend get involved in Cambodia? Did he go to a secret meeting only allowed to Rhodes scholars and people genetically tested for the empathy gene?

If we're parsing solidarity movements - I'm all for working towards the implementation of international humanitarian law in conflict hot-spots. IMO, we should focus on our own actions (like in Iraq, in Afghanistan, prevent a war w/ Iran, and compel our leaders to be evenhanded in the Israel-Palestine conflict by supporting the international consensus on a 2 State Solution).

What has the criticism been so far of this organization and their video?

1. The money. What's going on with it?
2. The possible politicization of the issue. If the American government supports the initiative - then something stinks here. I kind of agree - we don't give a shit about atrocities committed by our allies.
3. The video seems like propaganda.
4. The goals of the movement seem short-sighted and possibly even detrimental to the underlying issues affecting the region.

I think the way the video communicates is important because the organizers are trying to reach everyday people who do NOT go to Cambodia to help w/ the suffering people there.

Sometimes the way you frame your advocacy can be propagandistic. You can speak in such a way that your language is manipulative. And then there is the legitimacy of that 'sense of urgency' which you inform your message w/. It could be unwarranted and cross-over into fear-mongering. Even war-mongering in cases.

All this being said - what kind of approach would your friend who just got back from Cambodia propose?

I wish there was this kind of response to the 45 years of colonialism in the occupied territories. Except, that issue reflects upon OUR actions and as a result it is difficult to get widespread support among everyday people. Not to mention, you will never get a bipartisan whatever. LOL

Armchair activists on one side, know-it-all apathetics on the other and both sides have no solutions but to incessantly bicker with eachother.

Ah, the American way.

You forgot the people who present all these various factions - as you have - to muddy the water and make all these conflicts seem intractable.

UNLESS OF COURSE, it's radical Islam at work.

Then of course, people like you will say that the Arab populace of the ME are simply irrational fanatics and their rejection of American hegemonic actions in the region is purely based on religious fanaticism.

[Dimmauk]

Armchair activists on one side, know-it-all apathetics on the other and both sides have no solutions but to incessantly bicker with eachother.

Ah, the American way.

I'm an Armchair apathetic.

[MF Perm tha Fineass]

Of course it seems like a fake Elvis, it shuts down not only your entire misinformed position but it also sheds light on that fact that this "charity" and video asking for money to help kill or capture one mega-asshole by directly funding a slightly less but still quite mega-asshole is absurd. No awareness or good will be done by this. People in North Korea and Tibet are having the same crimes committed against them by the government. Giving these assholes money to stop one shitty little warlord is not going to change the world or even a noticeable percentage of the world populations lives.

Donate to a charity that helps provide clean water or protects populations from malaria outbreaks, not this bullshit fraudulent campaign. No awareness to see here, everybody move along.

[Dimmauk]

Of course it seems like a fake Elvis, it shuts down not only your entire misinformed position but it also sheds light on that fact that this "charity" and video asking for money to help kill or capture one mega-asshole by directly funding a slightly less but still quite mega-asshole is absurd. No awareness or good will be done by this. People in North Korea and Tibet are having the same crimes committed against them by the government. Giving these assholes money to stop one shitty little warlord is not going to change the world or even a noticeable percentage of the world populations lives.

Donate to a charity that helps provide clean water or protects populations from malaria outbreaks, not this bullshit fraudulent campaign. No awareness to see here, everybody move along.

You will now suffer the fury of Bolded Words and Giant Fonts!

[Alleya]

Of course it seems like a fake Elvis, it shuts down not only your entire misinformed position but it also sheds light on that fact that this "charity" and video asking for money to help kill or capture one mega-asshole by directly funding a slightly less but still quite mega-asshole is absurd. No awareness or good will be done by this. People in North Korea and Tibet are having the same crimes committed against them by the government. Giving these assholes money to stop one shitty little warlord is not going to change the world or even a noticeable percentage of the world populations lives.

Donate to a charity that helps provide clean water or protects populations from malaria outbreaks, not this bullshit fraudulent campaign. No awareness to see here, everybody move along.

WON'T SOMEONE THINK OF THE CHILDREN?

[Elvis]

Of course it seems like a fake Elvis, it shuts down not only your entire misinformed position but it also sheds light on that fact that this "charity" and video asking for money to help kill or capture one mega-asshole by directly funding a slightly less but still quite mega-asshole is absurd.

It seemed fake because of the belligerent tone. Why is someone whose been in the trenches so upset about this campaign?

He offered no criticism except to mock the issue OR LACK THEREOF ('a real issue like...'). Why?

In fact, the kind of people I know who speak like your Facebook source are Zionists who say 'Why do you care about the Palestinians, when blah blah is happening in Darfur/Sudan/Syria/etc.?' (i.e., there is a higher body count elsewhere)

That doesn't shut down my argument. I never said that the only way to combat the problem was to channel your efforts through this ONE organization.

No awareness or good will be done by this. People in North Korea and Tibet are having the same crimes committed against them by the government. Giving these assholes money to stop one shitty little warlord is not going to change the world or even a noticeable percentage of the world populations lives.

It is not even supposed to bring world peace you tampon.

All activism is conducted on multiple fronts. Since I have invested a lot of time in one particular issue - I can say that there are tons of different initiatives going on at any one time.

The 'movement' that generates the most grassroots support in the I/P conflict among the pro-Palestinian camp is the Boycott Divestment Sanctions campaign.

But at the same time you have all sorts of other groups educating American/Israeli audiences about the one aspect they seem to cover. House demolitions (ICHAD). Checkpoints (Machsom). Historical remembrance of the Nakba (Zochrot).

ETC ETC

Would you look at any one particular expression of activism listed above and say 'they' aren't going to change anything because their focus is isolated?

How do you know there aren't other groups monitoring the human rights situation in Uganda or other countries in the region w/ similar problems?

The fact of the matter is that your perception of how solidarity activism operates is totally false.

People should be happy that there is simply a higher volume of 'groups' working toward the same issue. Unless you sincerely believe there should be one office for 'Fucked up things going on in Africa', which we should all funnel our efforts into.

Donate to a charity that helps provide clean water or protects populations from malaria outbreaks, not this bullshit fraudulent campaign. No awareness to see here, everybody move along.

You are filibustering a bunch of shit you don't even give a damn about.

All of those things can be done IN TANDEM with educating the public about the issue. After all - how do you even expect people to donate to charities that do all of the things you listed without knowing what the FUCK is going on?

Stop posting.

[MF Perm tha Fineass]

http://www.gifsoup.com/view6/2580105...read-lol-l.gif

[ronin sparthos]

You forgot the people who present all these various factions - as you have - to muddy the water and make all these conflicts seem intractable.

UNLESS OF COURSE, it's radical Islam at work.

Then of course, people like you will say that the Arab populace of the ME are simply irrational fanatics and their rejection of American hegemonic actions in the region is purely based on religious fanaticism.

Because the conflicts of Africa are intractable and the idea being sold that we can simply just roll up, kill (er jail) Kony and pat ourselves on the back is completely lacking scope and naive. If we want to talk about solutions to the problem fine but both sides in this ongoing Kony 2012 debate have been doing nothing but bickering over the organization that created the video and taking cheap shots at eachother through tweets, memes and facebook posts all while failing to deliver on any substance on solving the actual problem.

With Kony gone, then what?
Are we gonna referee Uganda to make sure the killing is 'fair' and children are left out of those conflicts?
What of our own American problems? Should we prioritize foreign nations over ourselves given the state of the union?
What of the corrupt Ugandan government?
What about the other regional conflicts across Africa? Shall we jump in those countries too?
What about places like Syria? Children dying every day. Should we interfere there too?

Paralysis. Inaction. Divisiveness. The current American way.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I feel for the people in Uganda but the people who live there are the ones who are going to have to rise up (and overthrow) their oppressors - the government and Kony's cronies alike - if anything is to change. We tried forcing our ways in Afghanistan and it failed so the idea that we should take Kony out simply to feel better about ourselves when we wake up in the morning seems like a good intention that could potentially have disastrous consequences. There are just many questions left unanswered and a popular outcry to do something doesn't change that fact.

If people feel so compelled by this issue then feel free donate to organizations (in Africa and abroad), enrich one's own knowledge on the issue, present logical arguments for or against intervention or support continuing education for the Ugandan people.

This conflict is so much more than the 'unite against one bad person' idea being thrown around the internet.

[Elvis]

So do you know the Facebook commentator?