First, organizations like Invisible Children not only take up resources that could be used to fund more intelligent advocacy, they take up rhetorical space that could be used to develop more intelligent advocacy. And yeah, this may seem like an absurdly academic point to raise when talking about a problem that is clearly crying out for pragmatic solutions, but, uh, the way we define problems is important. Really, really important. Choosing to simplistically define Congolese women as “The Raped” and Ugandan children as “The Abducted” constrains our ability to think creatively about the problems they face, and work with them to combat these problems.
Second, treating their problems as one-dimensional issues that can be solved by a handful of plucky college students armed only with the strength of their convictions and a video camera doesn’t help anyone. These gets back to something very simple and very smart that Alanna Shaikh wrote a few months ago:
“Bad development work is based on the idea that poor people have nothing. Something is better than nothing, right? So anything you give these poor people will be better than what they had before.”
By the same token, any old awareness advocacy you dream up doesn’t necessarily constitute “helping.” And while we’re on the subject of what does and doesn’t help, maybe don’t get photographed fondling big (former) rebel guns. Just saying.
Be honest Cent, if no one had actually suggested otherwise and you read in the news that Kony had been killed, would you continue to actually care about what's going on in the region aside from what you saw on twitter/facebook/HuffPo? Keeping in mind that what you would see from those sources would probably be nothing at all aside from celebrating that he's been eliminated.
Druhim on
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Lord DaveGrief CauserBitch Free ZoneRegistered Userregular
I thought this thread was about a pony convention until I saw something on the twitter
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BroloBroseidonLord of the BroceanRegistered Userregular
Look guys, it's totally cool. We don't need to understand the region or the problem. We'll just push for military intervention and get Kony arrested/killed and then we can pretend we've solved the problem, celebrate what we've accomplished, and go back to ignoring a region that has some deep seated problems that we don't really care about while feeling smug about helping the world.
more or less this.
put another way: the video assumes that the problem can be solved simply by arresting Kony, and that getting a lot of westerners who are not even remotely aware of the ridiculous political situation in Uganda and the surrounding nations to essentially throw money and shout at the problem will fix everything. that's the attitude the U.S. took under GWB, and that did not get the U.S. anywhere.
it's also the attitude the U.S. took when Teddy Roosevelt was governor of a little colonial project in the Philippines. the idea was that the U.S. would impose U.S. language, political structures, and public education over the Philippines, and that would solve all of the problems. that never took into account local complex politics already in place between Spanish-legacy Catholics and Southeast Asian Muslims, or the notion that some Filipinos actually might want independence. see also: Afghanistan.
same problem here: the video is too simplistic, too paternalistic. better and longer lasting solutions would involve Ugandan home-grown efforts to stabilize the country and the recognition that there's a shit ton of corruption and atrocities from the current ruling government, not just Kony.
I really don't understand the backlash here. Raising awareness is bad now?
This is the Komen Foundation version of helping Africa
Lots of advertising, so everybody knows about it, but nobody's really sure where the money goes or if in fact anyone is being helped. But people know about it so they can feel good about themselves!
First, organizations like Invisible Children not only take up resources that could be used to fund more intelligent advocacy, they take up rhetorical space that could be used to develop more intelligent advocacy.
This is nonsense. If there is "more intelligent" advocacy out there, they should be making themselves known. If people have better solutions to the issue, they should be doing something about it. I can't seem to find any information about other groups trying to get the international community to pay attention to the LRA, or trying to help central Africa deal with the problem.
Cent, I'm kind of amazed that you can't grasp that these other groups aren't as well known because we haven't been paying attention and don't really care. Why should the media cover an issue that Americans don't really care about until some smug Americans step into the middle of it and clamor for attention? The media covers what the public pays attention to. The only reason you're hearing about this in the news now is because a bunch of people on FB, youtube, and twitter jumped on the bandwagon. Of course the media's going to start covering it now. And yes, that in and of itself wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing. Except that it ignores that this isn't really so much about Americans actually caring about the region as it is about Americans wanting to feel like the good guys. Which is why the media will go back to ignoring the region once Kony is captured or even just once Americans have lost interest in him. And nothing will have been solved, while a bunch of Americans will feel like they MADE A DIFFERENCE.
And to be fair, I would argue that really these are traits that are common to people across the globe. It's just more obvious with America because of the relative wealth and influence we have. So I'm not saying Americans are particularly short sighted and everyone else in the world are saints comparatively. Still, the criticism of this campaign is valid.
This is nonsense. If there is "more intelligent" advocacy out there, they should be making themselves known. If people have better solutions to the issue, they should be doing something about it. I can't seem to find any information about other groups trying to get the international community to pay attention to the LRA, or trying to help central Africa deal with the problem.
Other groups that specifically focus on the LRA in particular and child soldiers in general don't get the same publicity as Invisible Children precisely because Invisible Children is getting the publicity and funding that could be going to those other groups. IC is extremely skilled at self-promotion in ways that more reputable human rights orgs generally aren't.
Be honest Cent, if no one had actually suggested otherwise and you read in the news that Kony had been killed, would you continue to actually care about what's going on in the region aside from what you saw on twitter/facebook/HuffPo? Keeping in mind that what you would see from those sources would probably be nothing at all aside from celebrating that he's been eliminated.
I first found out about the situation in Uganda back in 2006, when Invisible Children presented their first film at the Bible school I was attending at the time. It absolutely broke my heart. I know people who raised the money from their churches to go to Uganda and try to help. I would be greatly relieved to hear that Kony and his lieutenants have been captured or killed, and that international relief organizations were doing something to take care of the children he and his people have been abusing.
Be honest Cent, if no one had actually suggested otherwise and you read in the news that Kony had been killed, would you continue to actually care about what's going on in the region aside from what you saw on twitter/facebook/HuffPo? Keeping in mind that what you would see from those sources would probably be nothing at all aside from celebrating that he's been eliminated.
I first found out about the situation in Uganda back in 2006, when Invisible Children presented their first film at the Bible school I was attending at the time. It absolutely broke my heart. I know people who raised the money from their churches to go to Uganda and try to help. I would be greatly relieved to hear that Kony and his lieutenants have been captured or killed, and that international relief organizations were doing something to take care of the children he and his people have been abusing.
And what about the broader issues in that country that have allowed this to happen for two decades? This is exactly what I'm talking about. Getting rid of Kony does not equal solving the problem.
I really don't understand the backlash here. Raising awareness is bad now?
This is the Komen Foundation version of helping Africa
Lots of advertising, so everybody knows about it, but nobody's really sure where the money goes or if in fact anyone is being helped. But people know about it so they can feel good about themselves!
BeastehTHAT WOULD NOTKILL DRACULARegistered Userregular
you need a 'kony '92' shirt so you dont lose your internet cred
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Munkus BeaverYou don't have to attend every argument you are invited to.Philosophy: Stoicism. Politics: Democratic SocialistRegistered User, ClubPAregular
This is nonsense. If there is "more intelligent" advocacy out there, they should be making themselves known. If people have better solutions to the issue, they should be doing something about it. I can't seem to find any information about other groups trying to get the international community to pay attention to the LRA, or trying to help central Africa deal with the problem.
Other groups that specifically focus on the LRA in particular and child soldiers in general don't get the same publicity as Invisible Children precisely because Invisible Children is getting the publicity and funding that could be going to those other groups. IC is extremely skilled at self-promotion in ways that more reputable human rights orgs generally aren't.
Publicity is not a zero sum game.
Humor can be dissected as a frog can, but dies in the process.
Be honest Cent, if no one had actually suggested otherwise and you read in the news that Kony had been killed, would you continue to actually care about what's going on in the region aside from what you saw on twitter/facebook/HuffPo? Keeping in mind that what you would see from those sources would probably be nothing at all aside from celebrating that he's been eliminated.
I first found out about the situation in Uganda back in 2006, when Invisible Children presented their first film at the Bible school I was attending at the time. It absolutely broke my heart. I know people who raised the money from their churches to go to Uganda and try to help. I would be greatly relieved to hear that Kony and his lieutenants have been captured or killed, and that international relief organizations were doing something to take care of the children he and his people have been abusing.
And what about the broader issues in that country that have allowed this to happen for two decades? This is exactly what I'm talking about. Getting rid of Kony does not equal solving the problem.
No, but it helps. I'm not sure how it would make things worse at any rate.
I really don't understand the backlash here. Raising awareness is bad now?
This is the Komen Foundation version of helping Africa
Lots of advertising, so everybody knows about it, but nobody's really sure where the money goes or if in fact anyone is being helped. But people know about it so they can feel good about themselves!
I mean, they're not perfect, but they don't seem that shady?
Komen isn't particularly shady either.
But you have to think about their ultimate purpose is, do they exist to help people or do they exist to raise their profile? Because as with Komen, it really looks like the latter.
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BeastehTHAT WOULD NOTKILL DRACULARegistered Userregular
i feel like that original video would have been a lot more effective had it not spent the first 5 minutes showing us a cute little golden haired blue eyed white boy, then made him say 'this is baaaad'
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BeastehTHAT WOULD NOTKILL DRACULARegistered Userregular
Be honest Cent, if no one had actually suggested otherwise and you read in the news that Kony had been killed, would you continue to actually care about what's going on in the region aside from what you saw on twitter/facebook/HuffPo? Keeping in mind that what you would see from those sources would probably be nothing at all aside from celebrating that he's been eliminated.
I first found out about the situation in Uganda back in 2006, when Invisible Children presented their first film at the Bible school I was attending at the time. It absolutely broke my heart. I know people who raised the money from their churches to go to Uganda and try to help. I would be greatly relieved to hear that Kony and his lieutenants have been captured or killed, and that international relief organizations were doing something to take care of the children he and his people have been abusing.
And what about the broader issues in that country that have allowed this to happen for two decades? This is exactly what I'm talking about. Getting rid of Kony does not equal solving the problem.
No, but it helps. I'm not sure how it would make things worse at any rate.
Cent, I'm kind of amazed that you can't grasp that these other groups aren't as well known because we haven't been paying attention and don't really care. Why should the media cover an issue that Americans don't really care about until some smug Americans step into the middle of it and clamor for attention? The media covers what the public pays attention to. The only reason you're hearing about this in the news now is because a bunch of people on FB, youtube, and twitter jumped on the bandwagon. Of course the media's going to start covering it now. And yes, that in and of itself wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing. Except that it ignores that this isn't really so much about Americans actually caring about the region as it is about Americans wanting to feel like the good guys. Which is why the media will go back to ignoring the region once Kony is captured or even just once Americans have lost interest in him. And nothing will have been solved, while a bunch of Americans will feel like they MADE A DIFFERENCE.
I'm saying I can't find any information about other groups at all. In the short time today I've been browsing Wikipedia and Google searches, I can't seem to find any indication that there are other groups out there who focus on the issue of the LRA. Of course Americans don't care about things that happen thousands of miles away that don't affect them until people bring it to their attention. Sure, it'd be nice if the average American read the whole newspaper every day and kept abroad of the issues in places other than their local community, but I don't think it's fair at all to condemn people for not doing that. The thing is though that they are trying to raise awareness to make some sort of positive change, and I don't understand why that is apparently a bad thing.
Be honest Cent, if no one had actually suggested otherwise and you read in the news that Kony had been killed, would you continue to actually care about what's going on in the region aside from what you saw on twitter/facebook/HuffPo? Keeping in mind that what you would see from those sources would probably be nothing at all aside from celebrating that he's been eliminated.
I first found out about the situation in Uganda back in 2006, when Invisible Children presented their first film at the Bible school I was attending at the time. It absolutely broke my heart. I know people who raised the money from their churches to go to Uganda and try to help. I would be greatly relieved to hear that Kony and his lieutenants have been captured or killed, and that international relief organizations were doing something to take care of the children he and his people have been abusing.
And what about the broader issues in that country that have allowed this to happen for two decades? This is exactly what I'm talking about. Getting rid of Kony does not equal solving the problem.
No, but it helps. I'm not sure how it would make things worse at any rate.
Ah yes, "at least we're doing something!"
So what should people do? If you were to meet a random person on the street who was suddenly concerned about the situation because someone shared the video on their Facebook feed, what would you tell them to do?
Be honest Cent, if no one had actually suggested otherwise and you read in the news that Kony had been killed, would you continue to actually care about what's going on in the region aside from what you saw on twitter/facebook/HuffPo? Keeping in mind that what you would see from those sources would probably be nothing at all aside from celebrating that he's been eliminated.
I first found out about the situation in Uganda back in 2006, when Invisible Children presented their first film at the Bible school I was attending at the time. It absolutely broke my heart. I know people who raised the money from their churches to go to Uganda and try to help. I would be greatly relieved to hear that Kony and his lieutenants have been captured or killed, and that international relief organizations were doing something to take care of the children he and his people have been abusing.
And what about the broader issues in that country that have allowed this to happen for two decades? This is exactly what I'm talking about. Getting rid of Kony does not equal solving the problem.
No, but it helps. I'm not sure how it would make things worse at any rate.
Ah yes, "at least we're doing something!"
So what should people do? If you were to meet a random person on the street who was suddenly concerned about the situation because someone shared the video on their Facebook feed, what would you tell them to do?
Tell them to find out how they can actually help the situation, not just pass the message along in the misguided belief that is helping in any way shape or form.
But you have to think about their ultimate purpose is, do they exist to help people or do they exist to raise their profile? Because as with Komen, it really looks like the latter.
Yeah, looking at Invisible Children's 2011 financial report, they spent around 40% of their budget that year on "awareness".
Be honest Cent, if no one had actually suggested otherwise and you read in the news that Kony had been killed, would you continue to actually care about what's going on in the region aside from what you saw on twitter/facebook/HuffPo? Keeping in mind that what you would see from those sources would probably be nothing at all aside from celebrating that he's been eliminated.
I first found out about the situation in Uganda back in 2006, when Invisible Children presented their first film at the Bible school I was attending at the time. It absolutely broke my heart. I know people who raised the money from their churches to go to Uganda and try to help. I would be greatly relieved to hear that Kony and his lieutenants have been captured or killed, and that international relief organizations were doing something to take care of the children he and his people have been abusing.
And what about the broader issues in that country that have allowed this to happen for two decades? This is exactly what I'm talking about. Getting rid of Kony does not equal solving the problem.
No, but it helps. I'm not sure how it would make things worse at any rate.
Ah yes, "at least we're doing something!"
So what should people do? If you were to meet a random person on the street who was suddenly concerned about the situation because someone shared the video on their Facebook feed, what would you tell them to do?
Tell them to find out how they can actually help the situation, not just pass the message along in the misguided belief that is helping in any way shape or form.
You seem to be assuming that finding out how to help is easy to do.
Be honest Cent, if no one had actually suggested otherwise and you read in the news that Kony had been killed, would you continue to actually care about what's going on in the region aside from what you saw on twitter/facebook/HuffPo? Keeping in mind that what you would see from those sources would probably be nothing at all aside from celebrating that he's been eliminated.
I first found out about the situation in Uganda back in 2006, when Invisible Children presented their first film at the Bible school I was attending at the time. It absolutely broke my heart. I know people who raised the money from their churches to go to Uganda and try to help. I would be greatly relieved to hear that Kony and his lieutenants have been captured or killed, and that international relief organizations were doing something to take care of the children he and his people have been abusing.
And what about the broader issues in that country that have allowed this to happen for two decades? This is exactly what I'm talking about. Getting rid of Kony does not equal solving the problem.
No, but it helps. I'm not sure how it would make things worse at any rate.
Ah yes, "at least we're doing something!"
So what should people do? If you were to meet a random person on the street who was suddenly concerned about the situation because someone shared the video on their Facebook feed, what would you tell them to do?
Tell them to find out how they can actually help the situation, not just pass the message along in the misguided belief that is helping in any way shape or form.
You seem to be assuming that finding out how to help is easy to do. It's really not.
Of course it isn't easy. Its not a simple problem.
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miscellaneousinsanitygrass grows, birds fly, sun shines,and brother, i hurt peopleRegistered Userregular
Cent, I'm kind of amazed that you can't grasp that these other groups aren't as well known because we haven't been paying attention and don't really care. Why should the media cover an issue that Americans don't really care about until some smug Americans step into the middle of it and clamor for attention? The media covers what the public pays attention to. The only reason you're hearing about this in the news now is because a bunch of people on FB, youtube, and twitter jumped on the bandwagon. Of course the media's going to start covering it now. And yes, that in and of itself wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing. Except that it ignores that this isn't really so much about Americans actually caring about the region as it is about Americans wanting to feel like the good guys. Which is why the media will go back to ignoring the region once Kony is captured or even just once Americans have lost interest in him. And nothing will have been solved, while a bunch of Americans will feel like they MADE A DIFFERENCE.
I'm saying I can't find any information about other groups at all. In the short time today I've been browsing Wikipedia and Google searches, I can't seem to find any indication that there are other groups out there who focus on the issue of the LRA. Of course Americans don't care about things that happen thousands of miles away that don't affect them until people bring it to their attention. Sure, it'd be nice if the average American read the whole newspaper every day and kept abroad of the issues in places other than their local community, but I don't think it's fair at all to condemn people for not doing that. The thing is though that they are trying to raise awareness to make some sort of positive change, and I don't understand why that is apparently a bad thing.
"raising awareness" can do as much, if not more, damage than doing nothing.
also, i found both USAID and Oxfam efforts to provide assistance in Uganda after literally two seconds of Google searching.
no one's saying we should do nothing. but you have to question "awareness" drives, especially ones like this Kony 2012 campaign, when they offer seemingly easy solutions to very complex problems. many people may come to think the problem started and ends with Kony, thanks to Invisible Children's "awareness." that is incredibly harmful. if you're going to raise awareness, it has to be done in a responsible manner.
One hundred US special forces trainers are working with the Ugandan military to put an end to the rebel group. And while they may have succeeded in sending the group on the run, the LRA has proven dangerous in its desperation.
Posts
They're raising as much ignorance as awareness, and they're misrepresenting a lot of problems.
next pony convention is in Africa (the country)
My Little Pony Abattoir and Glue factory.
more or less this.
put another way: the video assumes that the problem can be solved simply by arresting Kony, and that getting a lot of westerners who are not even remotely aware of the ridiculous political situation in Uganda and the surrounding nations to essentially throw money and shout at the problem will fix everything. that's the attitude the U.S. took under GWB, and that did not get the U.S. anywhere.
it's also the attitude the U.S. took when Teddy Roosevelt was governor of a little colonial project in the Philippines. the idea was that the U.S. would impose U.S. language, political structures, and public education over the Philippines, and that would solve all of the problems. that never took into account local complex politics already in place between Spanish-legacy Catholics and Southeast Asian Muslims, or the notion that some Filipinos actually might want independence. see also: Afghanistan.
same problem here: the video is too simplistic, too paternalistic. better and longer lasting solutions would involve Ugandan home-grown efforts to stabilize the country and the recognition that there's a shit ton of corruption and atrocities from the current ruling government, not just Kony.
steam | Dokkan: 868846562
This is the Komen Foundation version of helping Africa
Lots of advertising, so everybody knows about it, but nobody's really sure where the money goes or if in fact anyone is being helped. But people know about it so they can feel good about themselves!
This is nonsense. If there is "more intelligent" advocacy out there, they should be making themselves known. If people have better solutions to the issue, they should be doing something about it. I can't seem to find any information about other groups trying to get the international community to pay attention to the LRA, or trying to help central Africa deal with the problem.
KONY 2012: The Invisible Manchildren
Other groups that specifically focus on the LRA in particular and child soldiers in general don't get the same publicity as Invisible Children precisely because Invisible Children is getting the publicity and funding that could be going to those other groups. IC is extremely skilled at self-promotion in ways that more reputable human rights orgs generally aren't.
I first found out about the situation in Uganda back in 2006, when Invisible Children presented their first film at the Bible school I was attending at the time. It absolutely broke my heart. I know people who raised the money from their churches to go to Uganda and try to help. I would be greatly relieved to hear that Kony and his lieutenants have been captured or killed, and that international relief organizations were doing something to take care of the children he and his people have been abusing.
And what about the broader issues in that country that have allowed this to happen for two decades? This is exactly what I'm talking about. Getting rid of Kony does not equal solving the problem.
http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=12429
I mean, they're not perfect, but they don't seem that shady?
Publicity is not a zero sum game.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-jSQD5FVxE
No, but it helps. I'm not sure how it would make things worse at any rate.
Komen isn't particularly shady either.
But you have to think about their ultimate purpose is, do they exist to help people or do they exist to raise their profile? Because as with Komen, it really looks like the latter.
Ah yes, "at least we're doing something!"
I'm saying I can't find any information about other groups at all. In the short time today I've been browsing Wikipedia and Google searches, I can't seem to find any indication that there are other groups out there who focus on the issue of the LRA. Of course Americans don't care about things that happen thousands of miles away that don't affect them until people bring it to their attention. Sure, it'd be nice if the average American read the whole newspaper every day and kept abroad of the issues in places other than their local community, but I don't think it's fair at all to condemn people for not doing that. The thing is though that they are trying to raise awareness to make some sort of positive change, and I don't understand why that is apparently a bad thing.
So what should people do? If you were to meet a random person on the street who was suddenly concerned about the situation because someone shared the video on their Facebook feed, what would you tell them to do?
Tell them to find out how they can actually help the situation, not just pass the message along in the misguided belief that is helping in any way shape or form.
Yeah, looking at Invisible Children's 2011 financial report, they spent around 40% of their budget that year on "awareness".
You seem to be assuming that finding out how to help is easy to do.
Of course it isn't easy. Its not a simple problem.
i think i might have to borrow this
"raising awareness" can do as much, if not more, damage than doing nothing.
also, i found both USAID and Oxfam efforts to provide assistance in Uganda after literally two seconds of Google searching.
no one's saying we should do nothing. but you have to question "awareness" drives, especially ones like this Kony 2012 campaign, when they offer seemingly easy solutions to very complex problems. many people may come to think the problem started and ends with Kony, thanks to Invisible Children's "awareness." that is incredibly harmful. if you're going to raise awareness, it has to be done in a responsible manner.
steam | Dokkan: 868846562
64 PAGES?
I thought I was sated with 32. But 64?! My life is complete.
Those are all organizations focused on health issues, I'm not sure what they are doing about something like the LRA?
Also, I found this article, which has some interesting current information about the LRA's status:
Lord's Resistance Army: After long silence, the US-tracked rebels attack