Weighing in on Kony

The Good

I’m starting with the good because I see a lot more positive impact than negative. To all you folks out there nay saying the campaign I say – good work, you’ve brought some interesting and important facts to light. But this is a gotcha moment. Would you even be talking about these things if not for the Kony campaign?

I’ve had Gandhi on the mind lately. He wrote articles and published journals his entire life and believed strongly that influencing the press was a vital component to civil disobedience. If the people of England knew nothing of India’s plight, change would have been much slower. They exerted pressure on their government to change their policies.

If the Kony campaign has done anything, it has given us some, if not new, extremely effective ways of using the internet. It has shown how to make a social justice issue go viral in a big way. This is a good thing.

To all those out there saying that changing your Facebook picture or re-posting this video does nothing, you’re plain wrong. Awareness is vital in any campaign. If all you did was get someone else to question what was going on in Africa, you’ve done a good thing. Maybe that video reached someone with time and resources to enact larger changes. Don’t write off arm chair activism. It has its purpose.

Most importantly, the Kony campaign has gotten a lot of people to ask, what the fuck is going on in Africa? A question rarely asked here. You may not agree with the stance taken by Invisible Children, I don’t, but it’s in the realm of public debate now. A lot of people said the same thing about Occupy Wall Street. They say it didn’t accomplish anything. Except now, even politicians are framing debates in terms of 99 and 1 percent. Before, income inequality and class war weren’t even on the radar.

Maybe, just maybe, because of the Kony campaign, people may realize the problems in Africa are huge, way bigger than Kony and the LRA. Maybe we will have a discussion about economic colonialism. At least this time it’s mostly not our (US) fault, as Africa was given over to Europe’s zone of control after WWII, and they have done most of the fuckery there.

Last, on a personal note, the video uses music from Trent Reznor, so it can’t be totally evil 😉

The Bad

Anything that seeks a military solution to a problem automatically sets off my bullshit detector. Yes, this guy does need to get arrested. Do we need to be involved in that? Going on a head hunt for Kony is only taking care of the symptoms, not the disease. We all know what the cure is, less poverty, less guns, less corruption, less exploitation by foreign powers, less influence by religious leaders, more education. Do this, and guys like Kony will dry up and go away. Yet the Kony video only makes passing references to these problems and solutions.

I’m not saying stop looking for him. I’m not saying that his arrest would not alleviate some suffering, but it will be negligible and temporary. There’s a hundred guys ready to step in and take his place. There are already a hundred guys doing the exact same thing all over Africa. It is not our place to send more guns, that will only add to the problems. It is up to the people of Sudan or Uganda, or wherever this asshole is hiding, to bring him in. It is up to us to own up to what we are responsible for: supporting dictators, economic exploitation, manufacture and distribution of arms.

Last, don’t make the Hitler reference, just don’t. It cheapens any argument you make.

Here’s my challenge to everyone who wants to get involved in the Kony campaign. First, educate yourself on what is going on in the region. Find out why it is the way it is. If you agree with the solutions put forth by the campaign, go for it. But at least learn something while you’re doing it.