Now, I am by no means a political activist. However, I watched the Kony 2012 video yesterday and I was strangely unnerved by it. Here is what I think.
Social networking is a strong force. So strong, in fact that it is becoming hard to avoid. Now that Kony 2012 has caught on [in just 40 minutes, I watched the number of views rise from 1,800,000 to 4,300,000] people will be using every means of social networking to feed this. I am also frustratingly aware of the irony that I am doing the exact same thing by writing this blog. It is unavoidable, whether you support the notion or not, acknowledgment leads to sharing. So what I am saying here is don't buy straight in to it.
Now, I am not normally one to express a set opinion about things but here is what I can see happening. As we have seen with almost any 'internet phenomenon', passion fades. This video will be watched by millions; millions of people who will give half an hour of their lives, write a comment and move on. The problem is that a project like bringing down Joseph Kony first and foremost needs full understanding. It also needs strategy and it needs time. Giving the people of the world 'a voice' allows people who know very little about a very delicate political situation in Uganda to feel like they know more than perhaps they do. As seen with Live Aid in 1985, mass marketing of third world issues can drum up awareness, great really great, and it can also generate unfathomable amounts of financial support and huge amounts of activism. But is this the end of the story? No.
Having been involved with two charities, it has taken me some time to even begin to understand a bit about charitable interventions. I have seen first hand that if money is given to a corrupt organisation it can feed the problem, not make it better. As a result, I've learnt that even on a small scale, interventions and financial aid need to be heavily regulated, so as to prevent furthering the problems that are already considered so bad that they needed intervention. My worry, is that yes, 1 billion or more people may soon have heard of Kony, but what then? The policy makers who are being targetted will find themselves straining under the weight of an incomprehendable number of letters, phonecalls, faxes, blogs...and therefore effectively the pressure of the entire media world to intervene. If they really would intervene due to this pressure, they could well be doing so prematurely in Uganda, and this would certainly not solve the problem.
So here it is. If Kony 2012 is a 'success', and the voice of the people does in fact lead to an American intervention in Uganda, there is no way it will 'expire' by the end of 2012. The mere suggestion of this is ridiculous. So, after considering this and chatting to my brother, who very succinctly referenced me to this blog and this video to learn a bit more, I urge you to be aware of this whole Kony campaign. If you still want to back it after considering the other side of the argument, feel free. Just proceed with caution.
Afterthought: The Kony backlash could be just as proactive as the video itself if people donate to other, more accountable, more direct charities as a result of it...
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