If you haven't heard about Kony 2012 already, please go to youtube and watch the video. It's half an hour long but worth watching.

After watching it, I couldn't 'not' do anything. So I've started a group on facebook just for my town to raise awareness of cover the night and maybe organise groups to do it.

So this thread has two purposes really... to ask you to go and watch the video and comment on it here if you wish, and to ask whether anyone else is planning anything for 20th April ?

Sarah. X

I really wish people would do a lot of research on topics before they go out an invest time and money into supporting them. I will say this - it's great what their doing, their intentions seem great and they are bringing attention to a very bad situation. But there are a huge amount of problems with this particular organization - their funding and spending is all public knowledge and they clearly haven't been using their donations in the way in which most people would expect and getting rid of one man isn't going to solve the problem.

So yes, I support the idea of gaining the attention of the worlds population.
Yes I agree that their method has stirred up support.
However, I think they are mismanaging their donations and more importantly I think they haven't thought out the goals for the long term. Yes, you may arrest one man, but for every one man doing something terrible in that country - there is 10 more doing the exact same thing if not worse.

I have to cut this short, sorry, I would go more in depth and do more research but unfortunately (or fortunately?!) I have to head off to an Anthropology class which will more than likely raise this exact topic.

But I will say this before I go - I think if you want to support the cause and raise awareness - GO FOR IT. It's the same with any issue in society. Just don't donate money before you're aware of EXACTLY where it's going, be aware of ALL the goals and ambitions of the organization and make sure you stand up for what YOU believe in.

(P.s. Sorry if this sounded blunt...I don't mean it that way...I do think raising awareness is a great place to start :) )

When I mentioned the long term goals this is what I was getting at:
http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/icb-playing-heroes-and-villains-with-kony-2012/
(If you don't want to read the whole article...here's one sentence "You can’t just take the one guy down and think that’s problem solved.")

I think the problem for me is, there are far too many people clicking "like" or "re-tweeting" without making informed decisions. I just want people to research before they jump on any bandwagons :)

I've started a group on Facebook for my town as well

While I support ending what Kony is doing... I don't like the invisible children group. From the things I've read about them they seem very shady.

One example being: http://visiblechildren.tumblr.com/

I'm aware of the criticisms... and I'm not advocating sending money. I just think, like you said, anything that spreads awareness is a good thing.

I have some criticisms of the criticism however:

1. Who questioned the Government when they armed Lybian rebels? Gadaffi became a huge priority for us at the say so of the government but as he is 24th on the list and Kony is 1st on the list ... what were our governments real priorities? Were they investing in freedom for Libyans or were they investing in oil?

2. The Ugandan army are far from ideal. They are however, to date, the only people who have shown an interest in stopping Kony. There are issues, of course they are, questions of the best way to go about it. The only way it can be done "right" in the eyes of the majority is if it is handled by the governments. If spreading the word about Kony and uniting in asking for something to be done by our governments gets them to wake up and handle it... then thats good enough for me.

3. It's very easy to find excuses to do nothing. If accepting that the charity is tainted and unworthy of support makes it easier to sleep at night then thats all well and good. But they have done something pretty honourable in putting themselves out there, risking their lives to make Kony known to the world. They have been honourable in keeping their promise to Jacob. They have been honourable in spreading awareness of something that has frighteningly been kept from our TV screens and the media for a very long time. Whatever failures they might have, they have shown more humanity than our governments have.

I agree, its always good to be informed on all counts. I just think its very important that you don't just ask the questions that make it easier to do nothing...

Hard to type on an iPhone but I'll give it a shot. My response may have to be short because I hate typing on this thing. I'm actually quite happy to read your response; I believe what you've said is constructive and I appreciate that. I think the USA probably does look out for it's own interests, in most cases it's oil and protecting themselves against attacks on their soil, which is probably why the number Kony hasn't been as publicized as Gadaffi or something along those lines.

I think the movement has done a great job in attracting attention, I would just like to see their funds better spent and a more long term goal. Like I said, getting rid of one guy isn't going to solve the problem. Killing Bin Laden didn't kill terrorism!

Its like when people post those stupid Facebook status about what bra colour they wear in order to support breast cancer, I always point out to people that it doesn't achieve enough, if you want to support a cause - do the research and support the organization that you feel deserves it. Just because I don't support Kony2012 doesn't mean I'm going to ignore the cause, I'll just do my own research and find an organization that I believe in.

But by all means, I don't think people SHOULDN'T support Kony2012, I just implore people to support it for the right reasons. I hope people aren't being sheep and following along because something went viral, people should be their own leaders through research and education.

I think that in general then, we both agree on the same things.

I think what appeals to me the most about the 'cover the night' initiative and continues to appeal to me despite the reasoning that it is proposed by a less than ideal organisation... is that it is promoting collectivism, a group ideal that unites humanity. Despite the aspersions that can be shone upon Invisible Children as a group.. they propose in their video a new ideology in which the voice of millions can be more powerful than the voice of a few. The idea of flipping that hierarchy upside down speaks to my own personal distrust in the hierarchy we had to begin with. That so often the voices of a few are heard over the protests of many. The sad truth is that any of us standing alone are going to struggle to make any kind of substantial difference in there is so much conflict of interest that trying to do the 'right thing' often leads to war and conflict and so often we have to ask whether the means truely justify the ends. What the video said to me was that as a human race, the vast majority of us can agree on some things... that every child matters, that every child deserves to live without fear of death, that every child deserves a childhood and that Joseph Kony must be stopped. However once people start moving away from these main objectives, once it gets political and critical, those truths that are at the heart of the problem get lost and lose their power. The cause is simple and to the point. It doesn't complicate things. It keeps the focus on the things that are important. Ignoring for the moment the part of the video that encourages you to buy action kits and bracelets (which in light of the criticisms I don't think I'll be buying)... the video did, as far as I can tell, speak the truth. Newspapers that are bringing to light the issues with Invisible Children are not suggesting that any of those 'issues' are to do with truth. They did tell the truth about Kony. People say its just one side of the argument... but we are all different people with different perceptions of the world... the video presents the simplistic perception that we can all on some basic level connect with.

I guess I so badly want to believe that humanity can achieve good things and that the human race can be united in some things whilst it tears eachother apart in others... and whilst I can see my own naivity, I don't really want to lose it... because without it, I shudder to think how the world would seem to me then.

i support getting this horrible man, but will not donate my money. i'm always careful about donating money to organizations i don't know that much about.

Agreed.

i also think that we should also focus OUR problems for once too. our country needs attention.