Kony 2012.

Have you ever heard of Joseph Kony? You probably haven't or just learnt about him recently, but he is one of the biggest criminals in the world and has yet to be caught. He does horrible things like abduct kids, making them sex slaves, giving them guns and make them kill their own parents. What he does is terrible, disgusting and needs to be stopped.

Kony 2012, a campaign and film by Invisible Children sets out to make Kony famous, not to celebrate him, but to raise support for his arrest.

I really suggest watching the 30 minute film which tells you a lot about Kony, the campaign and what you can do to help.

The video will explain a lot, and here are some ways to help -

Join TRI or Donate to Invisible Children: http://bit.ly/yp5Ffv

Purchase KONY 2012 products: http://invisiblechildrenstore.myshopify.com/

Sign the Pledge: http://www.causes.com/causes/227-invisible-children

You can help make a difference, and let the world know who he is, so he can be arrested and stopped.

It's good to see people spreading info on the horrible things Joseph Kony and the LRA have done. 
 
The U.S. has actually sent a few troops to aid the Ugandan military in capturing him, though I don't know how much progress they've made...

There's a lot of info being spread around about that charity, they're not as ideal as they first seem.

I recommend giving this blog a read before pledging or buying anything.

The founders

@GS_Dan said:

There's a lot of info being spread around about that charity, they're not as ideal as they first seem.

I recommend giving this blog a read before pledging or buying anything.

The founders

This. The internet echo chamber has already fired up so there's little hope of stopping it but this whole operation smells rotten to me. Please people do more research.

@zudthespud said:

@GS_Dan said:

There's a lot of info being spread around about that charity, they're not as ideal as they first seem.

I recommend giving this blog a read before pledging or buying anything.

The founders

This. The internet echo chamber has already fired up so there's little hope of stopping it but this whole operation smells rotten to me. Please people do more research.

So what do you think will come out of this besides Kony getting caught? Do you really think putting up posters and spreading awareness about this is bad?

I don't get it.

The LRA and Kony himself have been around for years. I'm not sure what good an "awareness" drive is going to accomplish that hasn't already been done, unless this is just new packaging on Invisible Children's fundraising drive.

I knew a little about him before this thing, and while I think it's fantastic it is coming to the attention of the masses, it's still bewildering why the news aren't bringing this up, and quite sad that it has taken this long for it to become such a big thing, he has been at it for quite a while, but I guess it isn't something that brings in viewers...

@DocHaus said:

The LRA and Kony himself have been around for years. I'm not sure what good an "awareness" drive is going to accomplish that hasn't already been done, unless this is just new packaging on Invisible Children's fundraising drive.

Did you watch the movie? It explains things like how awareness will help.

@NekuSakuraba: I really dislike when people give money towards a cause and then that money is used for activities which those who donated might not support.

For example, it seems like this charity wants to flood the country with weapons to take out Kony's child soldiers or whatever. Personally, do not want any part of that. If that's ok with someone else, they should donate. All power to them. As long as they research it before hand.

@GS_Dan said:

@NekuSakuraba: I really dislike when people give money towards a cause and then that money is used for activities which those who donated might not support.

For example, it seems like this charity wants to flood the country with weapons to take out Kony's child soldiers or whatever. Personally, do not want any part of that. If that's ok with someone else, they should donate. All power to them. As long as they research it before hand.

How about the positive stuff they are doing? Your problem seems to be the donations, say you didn't donate, they still -

Include a PDF of the poster so you can print it yourself, or sell a kit that includes stuff like bracelets, posters, stickers, etc. If you contact people they suggested (policy makers) will that not help him be caught?

They are helping raise awareness which means people spreading the word, whether they pay money to donate or not. How is that of harm?

@GS_Dan: Everything I came in here to say, you already said.

@RonSwanson: The video is gaining millions of views every couple of hours, meaning more people will know and spread it. Before you know it, it will be on the news and celebrities and policy makers will know about it. Don't assume it's something small that a few websites or people will support, it's already getting big.

@NekuSakuraba said:

@zudthespud said:

@GS_Dan said:

There's a lot of info being spread around about that charity, they're not as ideal as they first seem.

I recommend giving this blog a read before pledging or buying anything.

The founders

This. The internet echo chamber has already fired up so there's little hope of stopping it but this whole operation smells rotten to me. Please people do more research.

So what do you think will come out of this besides Kony getting caught? Do you really think putting up posters and spreading awareness about this is bad?

Yes. Spreading awareness is undoubtedly a bad thing if done wrong. The Kony2012 campaign skews the idea that simply stopping Joseph Kony removed the entire problem which is completely false. Even if they say openly what they will need to do afterwards the very fact they are slapping Kony's face on it and using him as a poster-boy means they eventually a point will be reached where when he is caught the entire general public will lose interest and stop helping them, the course or anyone left in a much worse position afterwards.

This in turn will give the Ugandan force free reign to do what they want with the children (likely make them soldiers which they have done countless times before) and become a sizable enough army that they could start again bringing war back to Africa from a political side and turn the entire country to civil war.

So yes, awareness in this way is a bad thing (it is along the same premise of what is wrong with water charities arguing to build wells when in fact all they need is maintanance for the ones already there, so they waste resources and time on building completely new ones that die within a year again).

Have you done anymore research other than watching that one video?

I don't really buy that stopping the guy will do anything. Sure he is at the top of the chain but why would somebody else not just take over? Solutions around defence are more important over offensive ones like these. Learn how to stop this kind of guy from existing, use that method, and then eliminate him. Otherwise your miss-allocating resources. Kind of like the last boss in KOTOR, take out the tanks that allow him to heal and then take care of him.

Spreading awareness is well and good, but you can do it without supporting a controversial organization.

I've never in my life been able to give a shit about things like this.

spreading awarness is not bad but if they thnik that stopping this one guy will do much is crazy. it goes deeper than that and the video does not really say how they plan to stop him. the video rubbed me the wrong way when i first saw it.

@dbol said:

I've never in my life been able to give a shit about things like this.

What do you mean?Your smoking avatar makes me inclined to be belive your short statement,but did you mean to add more?

@Agent47: clearly, Agent, you don't know who is in his avatar.

Lady Gaga, Ryan Seacrest, Taylor Swift, Ben Affleck, Rihanna, Jay-Z, Ellen Degeneres as well as Warren Buffett and Stephen Colbert have pledged support so far!

@NekuSakuraba said:

Lady Gaga, Ryan Seacrest, Taylor Swift, Ben Affleck, Rihanna, Jay-Z, Ellen Degeneres as well as Warren Buffett and Stephen Colbert have pledged support so far!

I'm not trying to be a dick, I just want to know how this will help?

@Agent47: @Jothel: Whoever is in my avatar is irrelevant, although he probably would have cared about the situation only he would have approached it independently and rationally, without the need of emotional touchy-feely "documentaries" promoting faux-charities that simpleminded people donate to to feel better about themselves.

Africa has always and will always be fucked, big news. People "care" now because this Koby 2012 fad has given them the opportunity to show their friends how "in touch" with the suffering children in Africa they are.

At least I'm honest; I really, really, really don't care.

To put it simply, Uganda is a shithole. It's poor and underdeveloped though that can be said for much of Africa. Widespread corruption festers both in the Military and Government. Bribing, fraud, and many other crimes that go unreported and looked away. And, of course, militancy. That includes Kony and the LRA. What upsets you? Child soldiers? Awww, do you think removing Kony will solve all of Uganda's probelms? God, no.

Put your money into a trusted organization like the IRC or MSF. Don't support pity campaigns.

@dbol: Your apathy towards the situation and opinion that people only care so they can feel important is very far fetched. Child soldiers aren't anything new, but to find an actual creator of it does give people a sense of hope in helping stop/mitigate its effects.

Personally, I think we should try to help children in our own (America, for the sake of the argument) country first, but it doesn't undermine the fact that this shit is dangerous, and very very real. Promoting awareness shouldn't mean giving these people money to...promote more awareness, but bringing the issue to light will eventually get it to come across the desks of people who can do something about it.

@UlquioKani said:

@NekuSakuraba said:

Lady Gaga, Ryan Seacrest, Taylor Swift, Ben Affleck, Rihanna, Jay-Z, Ellen Degeneres as well as Warren Buffett and Stephen Colbert have pledged support so far!

I'm not trying to be a dick, I just want to know how this will help?

Just that it means it will be more wide spread and the news will be more likely to report on it opposed to if it was just a Facebook group.

@deathstriker666 said:

To put it simply, Uganda is a shithole. It's poor and underdeveloped though that can be said for much of Africa. Widespread corruption festers both in the Military and Government. Bribing, fraud, and many other crimes that go unreported and looked away. And, of course, militancy. That includes Kony and the LRA. What upsets you? Child soldiers? Awww, do you think removing Kony will solve all of Uganda's probelms? God, no.

Put your money into a trusted organization like the IRC or MSF. Don't support pity campaigns.

It won't get rid of all of Uganda's problems, but it will certainly help to get rid of one of the worlds worst criminals. Should we just sit around and do nothing and let him do what he wants, just because he is doing it in Uganda? Because that would be bullshit if we did.

The world is plenty aware of this guy. A few folks staring at Facebook isn't going to do a thing. He is on the FBI's Most Wanted list, he is wanted for War Crimes by the ICC in Geneva, the Lord's Resistance Army has been on the terrorist watch list since 9/11, and America has sent money and troops to Uganda in 2010 and 2011 to try to curb this guy.

@DrDarkStryfe said:

The world is plenty aware of this guy. A few folks staring at Facebook isn't going to do a thing. He is on the FBI's Most Wanted list, he is wanted for War Crimes by the ICC in Geneva, the Lord's Resistance Army has been on the terrorist watch list since 9/11, and America has sent money and troops to Uganda in 2010 and 2011 to try to curb this guy.

Do you really think America or other countries have been doing enough?

Join TRI or Donate to Invisible Children: http://bit.ly/yp5Ffv

Purchase KONY 2012 products: http://invisiblechildrenstore.myshopify.com/

Sign the Pledge: http://www.causes.com/causes/227-invisible-children

You can help make a difference, and let the world know who he is, so he can be arrested and stopped.

Last year, the organization spent $8,676,614. Only 32% went to direct services with much of the rest going to staff salaries, travel and transport, and film production.

@NekuSakuraba: So the thing is that America has to invade every single country that has a madman in power?

@DocHaus said:

The LRA and Kony himself have been around for years. I'm not sure what good an "awareness" drive is going to accomplish that hasn't already been done, unless this is just new packaging on Invisible Children's fundraising drive.

right and I doubt it will lead to an honest conversation on the costs of military intervention which is truly the only option at this point right? It's not like we're dealing with a country with strong rule of law to negotiate with.

@RonSwanson said:

[Post deleted.]

Your whats wrong with this world, you find children repulsive, lets not forget you were and possibly still are a kid the internet stopped SOPA, heck the Internet even made killing in the name of a christmas number 1, so why cant the voice of 750 million people (Facebook alone) make this possible?. Times are changing and this isn't just the voice of a nation, this is the voice of a planet!.

Did my research and I'm supporting it. Kind of gross marketing tactics, but their logic behind it is sound. Bought my kit today.

That tumblr is depressing. What is worse is that I can almost expect any people, much less celebrities, who are tweeting about this will stop caring about a month from now.

Having gone through High School, Invisible children was everywhere. I understand their cause, and i think it is a great cause. But it feels like they're trying to make it into a big commercial thing. I would much rather trust my money with a legitimate charity (Like, oh i don't know... The Red Cross?) than with people like Invisible Children. Again i think they're supporting a great cause, however the way they go about it just seems shady at best.

@DrDarkStryfe said:

@NekuSakuraba: So the thing is that America has to invade every single country that has a madman in power?

Shouldn't countries (not only America) be helping others though?

@NekuSakuraba said:

@deathstriker666 said:

To put it simply, Uganda is a shithole. It's poor and underdeveloped though that can be said for much of Africa. Widespread corruption festers both in the Military and Government. Bribing, fraud, and many other crimes that go unreported and looked away. And, of course, militancy. That includes Kony and the LRA. What upsets you? Child soldiers? Awww, do you think removing Kony will solve all of Uganda's probelms? God, no.

Put your money into a trusted organization like the IRC or MSF. Don't support pity campaigns.

It won't get rid of all of Uganda's problems, but it will certainly help to get rid of one of the worlds worst criminals. Should we just sit around and do nothing and let him do what he wants, just because he is doing it in Uganda? Because that would be bullshit if we did.

Doing so by supporting another criminal?

Spreading awareness about a social issue such as Kony is great, and hopefully helps in the long run. However donating to a charity which takes a 66% cut and backs some seriously ethically questionable groups is an entirely different matter: http://visiblechildren.tumblr.com/ - just because they make a good film doesn't make them above scrutiny themselves.

After reading that Tumblr, I really don't want to have anything to do with this group.

Emma Stone just tweeted this video so that's good enough for me.

@NekuSakuraba: Read up on the whole story before you jump into a cause. Pretty much the entirety of Central Africa is a mess being controlled by warlords, fighting other warlords.

@Milkman: If I didn't know any better, I would think you were Rorie based on that comment and avatar.

Visible Children.

This is stupid in my opinion, al-Qadia didn't stop after Bin-Laden got killed and LRA will not stop if/when Kony is killed/captured. People jump on these things and forget it after a week.

Seems... naive.

I watched the video. And I bought the kit. It's about time the internet and social media was used for something like this. Say what you will about the organization, but there is no denying that if this campaign is successful, then even a tiny bit of good will come from it. And that's at least a start. I'd rather spend £40 knowing I've made a difference, no matter how small, than do nothing at all.