>implying 4chan isn't awesome
>mfw

[img]http://static.fjcdn.com/comments/Does+that+mean+if+a+faggot+smoke+weed+_54367e451d420f817df6a5bf75949c3f.png[/img]

4chan would be better if every man and their dog didn't think they had something to contribute, hell that is a criticism the internet as a whole is guilty of but it seems particularly lowbrow not that the stuff I indulge in online is particularly highbrow entertainment (hell I post here don't I :p)

a lot of 4chan can be really funny depending on where you go

I do not doubt for a second that those involved in KONY 2012 have great intentions, nor do I doubt for a second that Joseph Kony is a very evil man. But despite this, I’m strongly opposed to the KONY 2012 campaign.

KONY 2012 is the product of a group called Invisible Children, a controversial activist group and not-for-profit. They’ve released 11 films, most with an accompanying bracelet colour (KONY 2012 is fittingly red), all of which focus on Joseph Kony. When we buy merch from them, when we link to their video, when we put up posters linking to their website, we support the organization. I don’t think that’s a good thing, and I’m not alone.

Invisible Children has been condemned time and time again. As a registered not-for-profit, its finances are public. Last year, the organization spent $8,676,614. Only 32% went to direct services (page 6), with much of the rest going to staff salaries, travel and transport, and film production. This is far from ideal, and Charity Navigator rates their accountability 2/4 stars because they haven’t had their finances externally audited. But it goes way deeper than that.

The group is in favour of direct military intervention, and their money supports the Ugandan government’s army and various other military forces. Here’s a photo of the founders of Invisible Children posing with weapons and personnel of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army. Both the Ugandan army and Sudan People’s Liberation Army are riddled with accusations of rape and looting, but Invisible Children defends them, arguing that the Ugandan army is “better equipped than that of any of the other affected countries”, although Kony is no longer active in Uganda and hasn’t been since 2006 by their own admission. These books each refer to the rape and sexual assault that are perennial issues with the UPDF, the military group Invisible Children is defending.

Still, the bulk of Invisible Children’s spending isn’t on supporting African militias, but on awareness and filmmaking. Which can be great, except that Foreign Affairs has claimed that Invisible Children (among others) “manipulates 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.” He’s certainly evil, but exaggeration and manipulation to capture the public eye is unproductive, unprofessional and dishonest.

As Christ Blattman, a political scientist at Yale, writes on the topic of IC’s programming, “There’s also something inherently misleading, naive, maybe even dangerous, about the idea of rescuing children or saving of Africa. […] It hints uncomfortably of the White Man’s Burden. Worse, sometimes it does more than hint. The savior attitude is pervasive in advocacy, and it inevitably shapes programming. Usually misconceived programming.”

Still, Kony’s a bad guy, and he’s been around a while. Which is why the US has been involved in stopping him for years. U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) has sent multiple missions to capture or kill Kony over the years. And they’ve failed time and time again, each provoking a ferocious response and increased retaliative slaughter. The issue with taking out a man who uses a child army is that his bodyguards are children. Any effort to capture or kill him will almost certainly result in many children’s deaths, an impact that needs to be minimized as much as possible. Each attempt brings more retaliation. And yet Invisible Children supports military intervention. Kony has been involved in peace talks in the past, which have fallen through. But Invisible Children is now focusing on military intervention.

Military intervention may or may not be the right idea, but people supporting KONY 2012 probably don’t realize they’re supporting the Ugandan military who are themselves raping and looting away. If people know this and still support Invisible Children because they feel it’s the best solution based on their knowledge and research, I have no issue with that. But I don’t think most people are in that position, and that’s a problem.

Is awareness good? Yes. But these problems are highly complex, not one-dimensional and, frankly, aren’t of the nature that can be solved by postering, film-making and changing your Facebook profile picture, as hard as that is to swallow. Giving your money and public support to Invisible Children so they can spend it on supporting ill-advised violent intervention and movie #12 isn’t helping. Do I have a better answer? No, I don’t, but that doesn’t mean that you should support KONY 2012 just because it’s something. Something isn’t always better than nothing. Sometimes it’s worse.

If you want to write to your Member of Parliament or your Senator or the President or the Prime Minister, by all means, go ahead. If you want to post about Joseph Kony’s crimes on Facebook, go ahead. But let’s keep it about Joseph Kony, not KONY 2012.

- some random sociology student 2012

yup

I lol'd at "White Man's Burden"

BY CHRIST (BLATTMAN)

the kony vid is fucking horrible, i have to say

this guy's solution is inaction

why do I think he's retarded



but yeah Kony is terrible

his solution isn't inaction, he just doesn't advocate giving money to invisible children

and what the fuck? why would he have child soldiers as his bodyguards? Wouldn't he have the best (ie older soldiers) as his personal bodyguards?

i thought child soldiers were used because there were lots of em

edit:
for weak reasons
he should've thought of a different way of approaching rather than just condemning the campaign.

but all that he's concerned about is condemning the campaign because it's better that people do nothing than support the first person that manipulates them into caring about something of which they knew nothing prior

I have no opinion on this issue.

as well you shouldn't

[QUOTE=fingers mccoy;18817600]but all that he's concerned about is condemning the campaign because it's better that people do nothing than support the first person that manipulates them into caring about something of which they knew nothing prior[/QUOTE]

I disagree with this

[QUOTE=Gorgon;18817593]and what the fuck? why would he have child soldiers as his bodyguards? Wouldn't he have the best (ie older soldiers) as his personal bodyguards?

i thought child soldiers were used because there were lots of em
[/QUOTE]
potentially he trusts them more i guess

idk he's mental he can do what the fuck he wants

[QUOTE=Gorgon;18817603]I disagree with this[/QUOTE]

then you are dumb

my wall is currently divided into people posting the kony vid and people posting memes of how stupid the kony vid is

yeah! kill those bad guys! yahoo! we're gonna TAKE AFRICA BACK

what is this kony stuff about

i know it has to do with the invisible children but what's this new video

Sup kids?

oh a maniac in africa eh


[QUOTE]and what the fuck? why would he have child soldiers as his bodyguards? Wouldn't he have the best (ie older soldiers) as his personal bodyguards?[/QUOTE]

Same reason why the Hitlerjugend were some of the most savage fighters the allies faced on the Western front. They're totally indoctrinated and think of him as a father-god.

[QUOTE=illmitch;18817616]what is this kony stuff about

i know it has to do with the invisible children but what's this new video[/QUOTE]

a half hour long video in which there are a lot of clever focus pulled shots of forlorn ugandans and outwardly empathising american schoolgirls interspersed with excessive information about the filmmaker's personal life and clips of his infant child telling him to 'stop the bad guys'

[QUOTE=fingers mccoy;18817610]then you are dumb[/QUOTE]

how come?

Okay well here comes the deluge of Kony vids on facebook....ugh

It's amazing how many people are just becoming aware of this shit, I played a benefit show that was for invisible children in 2006.

[QUOTE=Gorgon;18817640]how come?[/QUOTE]

well i suppose if you support invisible children you might think that people should support them even if they don't have a clue what specifically is being supported

i just think it's hilarious that most people probably just know that something bad is happening to kids so BOOM SUPPORT IT then go back to playing Farmville and never have the thought enter your mind again.

[QUOTE=fingers mccoy;18817588]- some random sociology student 2012[/QUOTE]

:lol:

yeah it's some sociology student in Nova Scotia that started a tumblr about it

[QUOTE=fingers mccoy;18817646]well i suppose if you support invisible children you might think that people should support them even if they don't have a clue what specifically is being supported[/QUOTE]

I didn't say that

people should become involved and informed and should make their own decision, they shouldn't just do nothing

[QUOTE=Gorgon;18817661]I didn't say that

people should become involved and informed and should make their own decision, they shouldn't just do nothing[/QUOTE]

it is better that they do nothing than support something they don't know about

of course the best option is learning about it but

a)that should be obvious
b) they won't