This post should be called “Kony, according to the world”.
By now everyone has likely seen, or at least heard of, the Kony video and the
Kony 2012 campaign put out by Invisible Children. In short, Joseph Kony is a bad guy; I think we can all agree on that. And the Invisible Children not-for-profit
organization has some very good intentions, and is therefore the good guy. And
we should all root for the good guy to win… which is exactly what this feel
like.
I’m a HUGE sports fan. I’m the kind of fan who believes he
can out coach the coach. I’m the kind of fan who sees stuff the announcers miss.
I’m the kind of fan who knows the refs are wrong and can recite the rules,
verbatim, to support my case. And, of course, I’m the kind of fan who yells at
the TV, as if my cheering might motivate a player to react differently.
Right now it feels like a billion Facebook users, media
outlets and celebrities are yelling at the TV. “Kony is wrong, and everyone
should know about it!” And what is that supposed to do?
It’s not like he’s the first. It’s not like he’s the most
recent. It’s not like there haven’t been efforts made. And I have a problem
with presenting information out of context. Invisible Children’s Kony 2012 campaign
makes it seem like the US government, and most of the rest of the world has
ignored this Kony problem. But we haven’t. Efforts have been made1.
Even still, what do you purpose we do about it? It took a
decade and a full scale military operation to track down and eliminate Bin
Laden. I would think, to track down Kony, who lives in a jungle, it would take
a similar effort. So what are we supposed to do? Go to war to find this guy?
It short, shit happens. Really, really bad shit happens. And
it happens to children too. And there is no easy answer. And a social media
campaign won’t change that3.
1. I have some follow up questions for Invisible Children,
which I want to believe is a credible organization:
- If I donate money, where does it go?
- Will Kony be forgotten in a year like most trends in social media?
- Why are we just hearing about him now?
2. Wikipedia has evidence of that, but there are a number of
other news sources as well.
3. Unless it’s on Pinterest.
