Kony 2012


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Shepherd492
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Kony 2012

Post by Shepherd492 »

Kony 2012 is a new social media movement that is striving to increase awareness of one of the worst war criminals in the world. The campaign urges viewers to donate and spread the word through social media, posters, demonstrations, and etc.

Joseph Kony, the namesake of the movement, is an African warlord that enslaves and abuses children, forcing them to fight one another and kill their parents. He has been indicted by war crimes by the ICC, but resources have not been mobilized to ensure his capture. The Kony 2012 movement seeks to change this.

For those who haven't seen the (29 minute) video yet:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... 4MnpzG5Sqc" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

My questions to you are:

Does the Kony 2012 movement have a good chance at success, or will it falter due to any number of factors?

Social media has been playing an increasingly large role in political opinions and discourse, including most famously in the Occupy movement and the Arab Spring. Do the social media driven movements have the opportunity to be as successful as more traditional forms of organization and action, or are they producing nothing more than temporary fads and a numerically impressive "hivemind" that simply "re-tweets" the message and does little to produce the desired change?

Will Kony's capture even change the quality of life for Africans in the regions that he has touched? Is Kony the cause of the problems, or a symptom of an underlying disease in African culture/Human nature? Will his capture just allow another bloodthirsty and ruthless criminal to assume power or will it be the start of a change in the political climate of the continent (and possibly the world?)

I'll answer a bit later, just wanted to get this topic on the forums to see what you guys thought about it!
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Mandy
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Re: Kony 2012

Post by Mandy »

http://jezebel.com/5891269/think-twice- ... me-du-jour" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://pmc-mag.com/2011/02/jason-russell/?full=content" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I don't think anything will come of this campaign. People will give lots of money to Invisible Children, and they'll spend it on making more movies, paying their staff, and traveling... very little will go towards helping anyone.
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lotek
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Re: Kony 2012

Post by lotek »

yeah I saw that (who didn't) It's fucking everywhere, and that's no suprise as it's been tailored to do just that.
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E. LeGuille
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Re: Kony 2012

Post by E. LeGuille »

I made some comments on facebook about this. Now, I admit: I am no expert, and most of this is knowledge that I know from what I've read. I did not live during the 1970s, and so I cannot say that this is fact. That being said, I am completely open being told otherwise in my observation...
@KONY 2012: I'm sorry, but someone else will take his place whenever they find the opportunity. You're going to have to change the circumstances that lead to the abduction of children and making them into an army, making it less wanted. If you cut the head off the Hydra, it will just return with a new face....

The way I see it, The U.S. Gov't does not comply with the promises that it gives to foreign countries. We did this in the 70s with Afghanistan, promising Schools and Roads if they pushed out the Soviets. So we approach Bin Laden and fellows like him, who are leaders in their communities and through the CIA gave them weapons to fight off the Soviets. Now, they had reason: The Soviets were killing and slaughtering villagers. They killed children, raped women and did terrible things tho the people that lived there. So, we gave the people there the means to push out the Soviets, and promised them schools, roads, infrastructure. They finished their part, we did not finish ours. 30 years later, these same people have built a rebellion network with the weapons we gave them. It was called Al-Qaeda. Al-Qaeda blamed us for the problems in the world, and from their eyes saw us as a target. The message over decades was distorted into hate. This hate lead to the attack in 1993 of the WTC, in 1999 of the USS Cole, and 2001 on 9/11. So, in the end... we cannot commit to these things, because we will do the exact same thing. Africa is in chaos now, and if united in hate, it will destroy everything that anyone has ever tried to do there.
It's a sad reality. I do not see Africa having the resources within the communities there to solve its own problems. However, if we kill KONY for them, will it really change anything?

The major issue here is that no one in their government gave a damn until someone made it public on what was going on. And their promise was... "We'll arrest him." There are so many atrocities taking place all over the world, and this is just one. This sort of thing, from people who have lived over there and told me, is constant throughout the whole of Africa -- not just Uganda. It happens in South Africa, it happens in Egypt, it happens in Morocco, it happens in Syria... Ethiopia, Kenya. Any country in Africa has these similar themes take place all over the continent.

Again. I may be totally wrong.
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Sandwurm88
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Re: Kony 2012

Post by Sandwurm88 »

E. Leguille, you seem like a smart dude.
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Freakzilla
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Re: Kony 2012

Post by Freakzilla »

A co-founder for Invisible Children was detained in Pacific Beach Thursday for being drunk in public and masturbating, according to the San Diego Police Department.

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/j ... 70255.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Apjak
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Re: Kony 2012

Post by Apjak »

I don't think the author should make the reader do that much work - Kevin J. Anderson
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Redstar
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Re: Kony 2012

Post by Redstar »

A bit late on this. The movement has already been a 'success' in that awareness for the situation is higher than ever with many people actively contributing towards the cause, be it via Invisible Children or other organizations.

Yes, Invisible Children isn't the most effective group, but any look into charity will show that none are as helpful as they'd lead you to believe. Additionally, the Jezebel article quotes a tumblr blog that itself has no citations. Whole thing is way overblown.
Freakzilla wrote:A co-founder for Invisible Children was detained in Pacific Beach Thursday for being drunk in public and masturbating, according to the San Diego Police Department.
Also late. Witnesses have since stated that Russel was not masturbating, as video taken clearly shows. Whether it was drugs, dehydration or a psychotic break it's not anyone's place to to say he 'deserved it,' which I have seen many times before and not from you.
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E. LeGuille
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Re: Kony 2012

Post by E. LeGuille »

Well, one of issues was that I pointed out was that in having the US involved could bake into another Afghanistan post-Soviet pushout. Where we promised all these things, and never followed through. In doing so, we created a movement against ourselves made on the basis that we lied about our intentions. If we did that again, it could make an already sensitive situation over there, worse. However, from what I've read -- the African Union has sent troops into Uganda to assist with the capture of Kony. If Africa can help Africa, then it's one more step to getting a livable situation over there.
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Freakzilla
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Re: Kony 2012

Post by Freakzilla »

African Union? Had to look that one up. :|
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E. LeGuille
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Re: Kony 2012

Post by E. LeGuille »

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