Project: 'KONY 2012'

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"One resists
The Invasion of Armies;
One does not resist
The Invasion of Ideas."
~ Victor Hugo, 1852



:icontwilightgalaplz: Greetings, my pretty Ponies! :iconbackhug:

Today, I talk about "KONY 2012". It is the title of a campaign and a half-hour short film that gained huge attention both on the internet and in Television last month, being a topic from the Transformice chat to major news portals. Let us take a look at the background :reading:


Who is Joseph Kony?
Joseph Kony is the leader of a Ugandan rebel group called "Lord's Resistance Army" (LRA), founded in 1987. The goal of the LRA is to turn Uganda into a theocracy based on the Ten Commandments. Although the group only counts a few hundred combatants by now, its massively brutal attacks had a significant impact on the population. They displaced more than two million people over the decades who try to flee the murder, rape and abduction of their children for usage as sex-slaves and soldiers. Quite a rap sheet for a former church altarboy!


What is "KONY 2012"?
"KONY 2012" is a campaign by Invisible Children, Inc.. The NGO was founded in 2006 after the three filmmakers Jason Russell, Bobby Bailey and Laren Poole had traveled to Africa three years earlier and learned about the war. The goal of the organization is to raise awareness for this conflict in other countries (films, public campaigns, political advocacy...) and to provide help in Africa itself (school funding, a radio warning network, rehabiliation centers...). The goal of the campaign is to increase international support and pressure to capture Joseph Kony before the end of the year 2012.

"KONY 2012" is also the title of the short film that advertises the campaign (length 29:59). It was uploaded to YouTube on 5 March 2012 and attracted over 80 million views in less than two weeks. It focuses on how Jason Russell explains the campaign to his young son Gavin with many personal pictures and video scenes as well as his friendship to a young Ugandan boy named Jacob Acaye.

On 5 April 2012, a second part titled "KONY 2012: Part II - Beyond Famous" has been released (length 19:47). It reflects on the success of the first video, addresses various points of criticisms and provides much more information about the LRA. After nine days, it has gathered over 1.6 million views which is very impressive for YouTube standards, but just a fraction of the earlier audience.


Why I am skeptical
In general, I reject such hypes for a number of reasons:

  • Slacktivism: I have strong objections against Slacktivism, a portmanteau of "slacker" and "activism". As Wikipedia writes, it describes ""feel-good" measures, in support of an issue or social cause, that have little or no practical effect other than to make the person doing it feel satisfaction. The acts tend to require minimal personal effort from the slacktivist. […] Slacktivist activities include signing Internet petitions, joining a community organization without contributing to the organization's efforts, copying and pasting of Social Network statuses or messages or altering one's personal data or avatar on social network services." Slacktivism combines vanity and sloth in a particularly disgusting way – rarely do people think so highly of themselves while doing so little.

  • Black-and-White-Thinking: Another frequent phenomenon. Wars are always messy and dirty, quite unlike the Hollywood image which media, politicians and citizens like to cultivate. Forget that Heroic La Résistance versus Satanic Empire nonsense altogether: You can bet that every involved party commits atrocities, reliably including looting, rape, murder and desecration of corpses. The only question is which group's victory is the lesser evil for oneself.

  • Corruption: When you give away money for free, you breed corruption. Yes, that means charities are generally untrustworthy. The biggest and most renowned NGOs are already utterly depraved, so go figure what that means for groups which are even less subject to critical observation. Unfortunately, few donators care about moral integrity, since they simply seek to buy what I consider modern letters of indulgence. Why suffer the plight of personal actions when you can simply bribe your conscience with a few bucks? This is just little better than Slacktivism.

  • Evolution: It does not only apply to species, but to societies as well. Different environments create different cultures. That means you cannot go back in time, introduce the Bill of Right's to Xerxes I. and expect to accelerate progress by 2200 years. While technology can be exported relatively easily, moral values and political positions are much stronger rooted in local traditions and conditions. Now if advanced technology and striking immaturity come together, especially in regards to weapons, the result is an extremely unstable society that threatens anyone in and near it. In the words of Jean-Luc Picard, "History has proven again and again that whenever mankind interferes with a less developed civilization, no matter how well intentioned that interference may be, the results are invariably disastrous ".


Why this might be an exception
With all that said, this campaign is notably different:

  • Professionalism: This is clearly a modern campaign that is not run by amateurs. The quality of the video and the competence in storytelling caught my attention, but what wowed me most is how well it is designed to go viral. The ones responsible are investing a lot of their talent and thought into it, which is a reassuring first impression.

  • Fact-based: This is the Achilles' Heel of most initiatives, since they usually have little more to offer than an ideology and like to play up minor issues. Joseph Kony and his army however are considered a substantial threat by authorities like the , US President Obama, the African Union and the United Nations.

  • Rational strategy: Good intentions are a nice start, but you need a solid plan to put them to use. Invisible Children appears to favor a holistic take that addresses real problems in a pragmatic way, even if that is harder to sell. For example, it has been criticized for the fact that it uses its money not only for Central Africa Programs, but also for Film Creation and Awareness Programs. Another point of criticism is that the group considers the Ugandan Military "a necessary piece in counter-LRA activities", even though the LRA has left Uganda. But there are good arguments for these decisions.

  • Dealing with Criticism: What I like best is the way the organization reacts to this criticism. I believe that critical questions are not so much a danger as they are an opportunity to present one's ideals, arguments and achievements – and Invisible Children seems to share that view. It replies to all major points on its Q&A page instead of evading them. The answers are pleasantly short, but straight to the point and naming their sources. More information can be found on their YouTube channel, like in this video (8:33) with Invisible Children CEO Ben Keesey.

One negative point is that they have deleted a passage addressing a picture of the Invisible Children founders posing with weapons. They even used that picture as a banner for the Q&A page, which I perceived as honest and bold. I am not sure why they removed it, it was a great display of transparency and self-reflection.
Another bizarre turn of events occurred on 15 March 2012 when Jason Russell suffered a  breakdown. Vicious rumors about him being drunk, vandalizing, getting arrested or even masturbating are apparently made up, but he nevertheless displayed strange behavior (0:30) by running around naked, clapping, cursing and pounding his fists on the pavement. According to Invisible Children, this was a result of exhaustion, dehydration and malnutrition as a result of an emotional toll that the prior weeks took on all of them.

Final Thoughts
Personally, I will not donate money. But this decision everyone must make for himself, and I am willing to spread the word so you can make yours. Feel free to do research on Joseph Kony or the organization and do what you consider right :nod:

However, there is also another reason why I write about it. This video shows that we are more connected that ever, not even necessarily for this particular cause. It is a strong example for an entirely new way of getting information and emotions across and of influencing highest political decisions in a very timely and direct manner. For a long time, internet memes have been mostly used to share entertaining pictures and videos. What we see now is how one can apply them to Real Life to make a significant change.

In that context, on 20 April 2012 this week, in the night from Friday to Saturday, volunteers all over the world will stand in for KONY 2012 in their cities when they "Cover The Night" (2:48). If you want to know how you can participate, here are some great instructions (3:50). Now this is not a huge party where hormon-crazed teens litter the streets and vandalize property just because they want to feel the taste of revolution in their dull middle-class lives. On the contrary, the idea is to be considerate, ask for permission and draw attention by doing simple community work. This is a message that I strongly appreciate, and the  only thing I would add to it is already said by Invisible Children:

"April 20th is a day, but protecting one another—across the street and across the globe—is a lifestyle. Stay engaged with your communities, and keep turning awareness into informed action".


:icontwilightsmirkplz: Your faithful Brony, Ray! :iconaquarior:

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Meatabex's avatar
The hype is rather overrated. Isn't Kony already displaced from Uganda?