Kony

It certainly highlights the power of social media - the number of hits is truly amazing.

A very powerful and disturbing documentary, but one has to wonder if it's all in vain, considering the history and harsh reality of widespread violence in Africa extending into the millions killed over the years.

It's not that I don't support what they're doing, or think it's not worth fighting for, but I fear it's not very realistic to think we can end it by bringing in a small army of American soldiers, when atrocities are so ingrained and accepted within a culture or way of life.

It can be such a screwed up world sometimes, that it does make you sometimes Q things like making more money than you really need, when so many others are just trying desperately to survive.
 
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36 million atm.

As much as I think that whoever started this thing is doing something good, I also think that it has a lot to do with the release of a DVD called "machine gun preacher", which is about an American guy by the name of Childers who has spent many years fighting this guy, and a bunch of american kids jumping on the idea.

I also think that it is going to be used as a political distraction/diversion from what I consider to be the far more murderous and despotic regimes known as the US and Israeli governments. The Iraq war has killed in excess of a million people already, and now they're lining up to do the same thing in Iran, and probably trigger world war 3.
 
It can be such a screwed up world sometimes, that it does make you sometimes Q things like making more money than you really need, when so many others are just trying desperately to survive.

My view is that it is the duty of us who have the opportunity and resources to acquire the greater wealth to use it to help those who don't.

Fortunately, there are a large number of wealthy people in the world who do this - many do it anonymously.

I think I can speak for all of us here when I say that every time we help someone less fortunate than ourselves, it gives us a terrific feeling.
 
It's a great idea, but I'm going to need to see some corroborating evidence that goes beyond a youtube video before I put my own support behind this.

What if they have the wrong guy?
 
It's a great idea, but I'm going to need to see some corroborating evidence that goes beyond a youtube video before I put my own support behind this.

What if they have the wrong guy?

Kony's been wanted for years (so part of me wonders why NOW to actively pursue him) but you make a very good point; this type of viral marketing could be incredibly dangerous. Even in this case, where Kony has in fact committed any number of crimes, most people don't bother doing any further research.

Mind you, the government here and those in the US and Britain should pay close attention to the campaign. The same citizens making noise about bringing troops home from Iraq and Afghanistan are now the same ones advocating direct military intervention in Uganda. Fascinating to watch it unfold online. If only the White House had released a video where a little kid said that the bad guys were in the Middle East, instead.
 
I didnt watch the video all the way through. There's just something that doesnt seem quite right to me about it.
But I think I'm automatically suspicious about anything that comes from social networking.. there are so many myths distributed through it, and it always seems to me that the less accurate the myth, the quicker it spreads.
But as I say, I havent investigated this particular one... its just a general observation.
 
My view is that it is the duty of us who have the opportunity and resources to acquire the greater wealth to use it to help those who don't.

Fortunately, there are a large number of wealthy people in the world who do this - many do it anonymously.

I think I can speak for all of us here when I say that every time we help someone less fortunate than ourselves, it gives us a terrific feeling.


I'm referring more to crimes to humanity caused by harsh regemes, and power hungry dictators and warlords, that would take nothing short of war to put a stop to, if at all.

I think this is very well meaning and raises awareness, which is good, but it's a small drop in the ocean to something more widespread that goes beyond Kony.
 
It's been interesting to watch this develop. It's gone from a cult movement, to mainstream, to triggering blowback, all in 48 hours. In the last 24 hours there have been a number of academics and serious publications talking about the arrogance of the movement, and the over-simplification of the issue. Most with a condescending tone.

But, to me, the point of this isn't to teach the world about foreign policy. It is about using new tools to bring awareness to people who wouldn't know otherwise. How many of the 36 million who have seen the video, knew who Kony was 4 days ago? I didn't.

It remains to be seen what happens now, whether this triggers real change, or it flames out as quickly as it began.
 
I didnt watch the video all the way through. There's just something that doesnt seem quite right to me about it.
But I think I'm automatically suspicious about anything that comes from social networking.. there are so many myths distributed through it, and it always seems to me that the less accurate the myth, the quicker it spreads.
But as I say, I havent investigated this particular one... its just a general observation.

that's the trouble with a well-educated society - being cynical of the cynics.
 
Like most of these things it will be short lived and Kony will go back to his evil ways along with most other dictators and warlords. Remember planking ? Swept the globe and months later noone is seen planking anymore. This will be the same.
 
Like most of these things it will be short lived and Kony will go back to his evil ways along with most other dictators and warlords. Remember planking ? Swept the globe and months later noone is seen planking anymore. This will be the same.

Remember Occupy Wall Street?
 
Like most of these things it will be short lived and Kony will go back to his evil ways along with most other dictators and warlords. Remember planking ? Swept the globe and months later noone is seen planking anymore. This will be the same.

feeling simplistic today?

planking was people having fun.

Kony is beyond an antithesis of the above.
 
Nope just human nature. Remember feed the world feed the children ? 10 years ago and was a major thing. Most have forgotten about the hungry in africa an other parts of the world. Come to manila and see the slums here. I see them everday. Again a forgotten issue.

This too will be forgotten exactly like the occupy movement which has faded into a few homeless people. Sorry to be down but humans generally dont care about each other unless they get something from it or are family. Give it 3 months and ill see if anyone remembers kony.
 
36 million atm.


I also think that it is going to be used as a political distraction/diversion from what I consider to be the far more murderous and despotic regimes known as the US and Israeli governments. The Iraq war has killed in excess of a million people already, and now they're lining up to do the same thing in Iran, and probably trigger world war 3.

I agree. People join the movement, fight against whoever without seeing is there something else pushing this for another malevolent reason. Patriotism, evil leading the blind.
 
I'm referring more to crimes to humanity caused by harsh regemes, and power hungry dictators and warlords, that would take nothing short of war to put a stop to, if at all.

I think this is very well meaning and raises awareness, which is good, but it's a small drop in the ocean to something more widespread that goes beyond Kony.

aaah! of course. sorry; misinterpreted the post a bit.

I agree; raising awareness about these regimes is vital, but we need those nice little covert death squads that the USA can put together to go in and clean up the place.
 
I agree; raising awareness about these regimes is vital, but we need those nice little covert death squads that the USA can put together to go in and clean up the place.

I very much disagree that "we" "need" "covert death squads".

First, who is "we"? A bunch of people who didn't know about the issue a week ago? A bunch of facebook kids, safe in their homes, fired up and emotional about a youtube video showing stark injustice interposed on a background of arguably worse injustice conducted by their own government, as well as many other brutal regimes presently operating and endorsed by their government? Don't include me in this "we" business.

Second, why the sudden "need"? What, we didn't need it last week and now all of a sudden need it today?

Lastly, supporting the sanctioning of "covert death squads" sent to assassinate any individual on the planet arbitrarily, based on political whims, without due process in a court, is a filthy way to run a society.

You wanna go capture the guy and try him for his crimes according to the law of the land, or internationally at the Hague? Cool. You wanna support, politically or economically, the imposition of law against what I perceive to be a pretty shady character? Cool. You wanna use language like "it would be appropriate" or "it may be beneficial" rather than "need", then again, cool.

But this emotional "we need to go killing people in foreign places because we think they're bad guys even though our own governments are complicit in worse because I saw a video on youtube" NOT COOL NOT COOL NOT COOL.
 
Lighten up OA....think he was exaggerating.....although a nice surgical strike would be sweet.

Thing is about waiting one more day.....how many kids can he round up and brutalise in a day ??

Wars amongst adults is up to adults.....dragging innocent children and forcing them to do it is another.

Plenty of people did not know about it last week....plenty do now...that cannot be a bad thing.

And all this about being to late.....tell that to the kid he abducts and forces to kill his parents tomorrow.


The interesting thing I want to see is the IC's financials for 2012....there should be a huge spike one would think.
 
aaah! of course. sorry; misinterpreted the post a bit.

I agree; raising awareness about these regimes is vital, but we need those nice little covert death squads that the USA can put together to go in and clean up the place.

It was more an example of what force and man power may be needed to suppress or quash a regime or force like Kony and others like him - not necessarily proposing what we have to do (infact I don't propose it at all).

I get the impression IC is about getting the US military back in there as a presence, and what these funds raised aim to do once again.

My main point however was that I think most of these operations are futile because who or what they're after either goes underground, moves elsewhere (which is what happened), or someone else takes over. Mostly not much changes.

How do you propose money donated by us be used to stop people like Kony?
 
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