KONY 2012

[dirrty]

everything will be forgotten by the majority in a week or two. pity

[beth]

everything will be forgotten by the majority in a week or two. pity

way the world works sadly ha,

[dirrty]

way the world works sadly ha,

like people have been joining groups/events saying they're gonna plaster the posters everywhere in april and i'm thinking, APRIL? you guys will have forgotten about this by mid-march and then some people think that by getting rid of kony, everything will be better. er, no...ever heard of a successor? and then there's the issue of the children - i think in the video the fella said they want to return the children home. it's not as easier as that lmao, they'll need to go to therapy to at least get over all that **** they've gone through (and tbf, they'll probably never get over it) - but i doubt that'd even be possible with the complete lack of funding and lack of everything else.

[beth]

like people have been joining groups/events saying they're gonna plaster the posters everywhere in april and i'm thinking, APRIL? you guys will have forgotten about this by mid-march and then some people think that by getting rid of kony, everything will be better. er, no...ever heard of a successor? and then there's the issue of the children - i think in the video the fella said they want to return the children home. it's not as easier as that lmao, they'll need to go to therapy to at least get over all that **** they've gone through (and tbf, they'll probably never get over it) - but i doubt that'd even be possible with the complete lack of funding and lack of everything else.

i think there is a guilt attached to this kony and people (because they've seen so many people react to it) think YEH OMG GOTTA DO SOMETHING but give it a couple of weeks and it'll be back to normal. like after the japanese earthquake my uni went mad on campus with fundraising and people doing plays and stuff about it, but give it a week and it's only the japanese students left standing.

i don't think i would ever be massively involved with something like this because i think there's too much grey area and stuff, but i am glad i have been educated about it and i know for a fact i will keep an eye on updates. i think sometimes that'd be better if everyone continued to monitor than give like £2.50 and wear a wristband.

[jasey]

Not necessarily taking a side on the issue but someone just posted this on Facebook and I found it interesting.

The Truth Behind Invisible Children

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.

The full article is on the link. I still think the Kony issue is important! This is just thought provoking.

[Mathew]

I've actually found this whole campaign really interesting, just by looking at the sheer power of the media and what effect a cleverly crafted video can have on people. It's amazing how easily people are led by a couple of celebrities and an attempted-emotional, thought-provoking video. Just a couple of minutes in, alarm bells should be ringing for us. There's powerful music, a strong sense of bohemian or even hippie culture and then a great spiel about this disasterous man in Africa. It's interesting to note that the chap presenting the video has used his son to help promote the cause. This is a clear case of appealing to our emotions and using emotional language in order to get us on side. We see a child talking about bad things so we sympathize with him and therefore agree with the cause - thousands of people are being manipulated by this video and most likely handing over their money to the company.

Whilst it's nice for the celebrities to offer their support on Twitter, any follower of Stephen Fry will know that his tweets largely consist of advertising or promotion these days. There was a time when we actually knew what he was doing, now it's more like following an advertising agency's feed. Of course it will raise awareness, but the celebrities simply won't carry out the background research and they will be unable to "support" it as we'd hope. I daresay if Rihanna was pressed, in an interview, for a reason why she supports Kony 2012, she wouldn't have the slightest clue what to say.

A study by the Frankfurt School looked at the effect of the media on a population - they said that it creates "false needs" in a society. This means that the media is responsible for everyone's shared love of the same music, the same fashion and the same interests. When something goes "viral", I can't help but think of this study and the similarities that are drawn between them. Everyone listens to the same "mainstream" music, everyone wears similar clothing and now: everyone is aware of Kony 2012 (if anyone has seen "We Will Rock You" on stage, this is their prediction for the future). This type is culture is extremely dangerous in a capitalist society, especially with the onset of propaganda and politics (which has obviously been abused, to an extent, in the past).

As I tend to say in most large charity threads - I just don't agree with them. We can see it day-in day-out with well-known charities such as Cancer Research UK, the British Heart Foundation, and now even Kony 2012. Whilst it's excellent that they're trying to make a difference and make the world a better place, a significant portion of your money is being spent on posting free pens and flyers through your door, and now even buying media equipment to produce such robust videos. By all means give to a local hospice or local charity, but I can't help but think these larger charities get complacent with their amount of income and do indeed throw it left, right and centre.

With all this said, I'm still drawn to the wonder of something going "viral". It's fantastic how one person's voice can be heard all across the world in a matter of seconds. It's safe to say that the charity wanted to use this to their advantage, although I would warn that they might just have bitten off more than they can chew. Interesting stuff.

[efq]

Use discount code Stopatnothing for free international delivery.

[FlyingJesus]

That's nice of them, I wonder if they'll falsely report the international shipping charges as a "direct service" so they look like they give a decent amount of the money to the charity itself rather than spending 78% of it on staff salaries and travel

[beth]

Use discount code Stopatnothing for free international delivery.

.. if anybody is buying anything off them after reading this thread, something isn't right.

[JerseySafety]

good video and its so sad. also posted to like every social media site