Make Joseph Kony Famous

I don't know Tal, this video doesn't really convince me of anything. I read up on the financials of Invisible Children, and a lot of their funds go to raising awareness around the world, rather than going directly to Uganda. Based on their stated mission, that seems entirely reasonable to me. I won't comment on the salaries of their employees... but I suppose they should get paid for their work, right? And anyway, if someone makes $90k a year helping them do this work (according to this girl), well, so what I guess. He/she probably could be making more somewhere else. Even crusaders have to pay their bills. If they pay someone else less, they are probably getting a less skilled individual to perform the work, and the quality would suffer.

At any rate, for anyone who's watched the video, the reasons why they're going after Kony are explained. These people spent time in Uganda (not Syria) and were impacted by what they saw and experienced there. They made friends who's loved ones were killed by Kony and his crew and whose lives are still very much impacted by Kony's deeds. Does the fact that his reign of terror seems to be winding down excuse him from justice? Do we in the other parts of the world write off serial killers because they haven't killed anyone in a few years? I think not. Do you really think kids who were forced to kill their own parents in Kony's name are ready to just let him slide, because he's not as active these days?

Sure, there are probably hundreds of targets they could have chosen, but they chose the one who is nearest and dearest to their hearts, and they're doing a damn good job getting the word out. I say, more power to them! Of course there will be naysayers. The more they get their message out there, the more people who will find fault with what they're doing. But I see reason to condemn what they are doing just because some girl whose family is from Uganda isn't a supporter of the movement. And so, I continue to support them.

We're all entitled to our opinions, of course.

 

It sounded like the point about Kony being outside Uganda was really just a rumor. So who knows. I guess if I were Kony, and I were in Uganda, I'd be working on getting the hell out!

 

Free Kony!

Ok, I'm not trying to offend anyone with that. And I realize now that it isn't even a remotely proper thing to say. I've seen the Kony video pop up on Facebook a couple times the last week. I saw the first two minutes or so, and got bored with it. I got the idea that Kony was a freedom warrior held captive or something like that, and that the video was a plea for his release. Browsing the BoM and seeing the title "Make Joseph Kony Famous" didn't bring me to any other ideas, until I started reading the posts in this thread. I knew the name Kony, like the video wanted, even tho I didn't see the whole thing, but I thought they were trying to bring a whole different thing to my attention. Experiment failed.

 

Don't you mean Free Willy?

Is that what all this is about? A big plug for the latest in the Free Willy line of motion pictures! Awesome! Can't wait!

 

It's a little late to try to free Tookie.

 

Willy was an orca, i.e. killer whale. Last time I checked, killers are criminals. Duh!

 

Yeah, to me the fact that he hasn't been seen in Uganda for about 10 years doesn't make him any less of a war criminal. It took 10 years to bring OBL to justice, but I don't think many Americans were of the "forgive and forget" mindset. It did get to the point where I never thought we were going to find him, but that didn't mean anyone wanted him to walk a free man.

And that's suggesting that someone with a salary of $90K a year is making a lot of money. I don't know how it is elsewhere, but there are many places in the US where an annual salary like that isn't a ton of money, especially since the guy isn't single and is supporting a family on it. Given those factors, the guy is middle class - perhaps somewhat above average. No way is he wealthy on that much money.

Exactly.

Wait a second, are you serious? Is this sarcasm? You knew the name Kony, but you thought he was a freedom fighter instead of a war criminal?

 

It's a scam!

Just an open invitation for the establishment/special interest groups to cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war... and liberate yet another people...with bombs or invasion.
To kill people who kill people...because killing people is bad.

People don't get the whole "warlord" thing.
Every loon in African-outback, with a five-man-gang considers himself a warlord.
And thinks he's bigger-badder-better than the rest.

Bah....

 

I only saw the first two minutes of the video. I didn't get the idea that he was a war criminal from those first two minutes. I didn't bother watching the rest (it seemed very boring from those first two minutes, didn't feel like spending half an hour watching it). So yeah, the video succeeded in making me familiar with the name Kony, I just got the wrong impression (didn't know him before that). Also because of things like "Make Kony Famous", "Make Kony Infamous" would be a better title. Also, I saw somebody put the word Kony (just his name) as one of those new Facebook timeline banners... why would somebody do this with a war criminal? I jumped to conclusions, which were obviously the wrong one, but I didn't see any evidence contradicting my conclusions until I started reading the posts here.

 

Oh, OK. And I agree - infamous would have been a better choice than famous, as famous implies well known for something positive, whereas infamous leaves no doubt that you are famous for the wrong reasons.

 

A must-watch.

WARNING: Contains a single F-bomb and one or two instances of the brown word...but otherwise is perfectly family-friendly.

 

Isn't this a little like saying, this isn't family friendly, but is otherwise family friendly?

Or perhaps this was just you being humorous.

 

I just watched the video, and his whole premise was that the organization was potentially going to do more harm than good. But he never back that premise up with anything except a few jokes and by making mention that several of their videos never mention Uganda. And then he finally insinuates that their organization is somehow modelling Kony's because they are recruiting large numbers of kids (without any abucting, killing guns or violence as far as I could see, but more likely a religious youth outreach)? Where was the "more harm than good part at?"

 

I wonder whether it would be more apt to make Kony infamous, but that's probably just me.

I knew about the guy before, know he is a brutal bastard, but hardly the only one on the African continent. Wearing and paying for t-shirts in the US is hardly going to contribute to the capture of a guy who's been hiding out in a vast and inaccessible jungle area for the better part of a decade. It's more about making the wearers feel good about themselves.

The vid was very professionally made, glitzy and all that. I found all that web 2.0 stuff ludicrous. I disliked the video strongly, because it appealed to emotion rather than reason. I always get a nagging feeling when people do that, as if they have something to hide, namely that their rational reasons don't suffice. The vid at times used traditional propaganda like when they blended in iirc Hitler and skulls. I found unexpected and unintentional irony in the author pressing his kid into service for this video about Kony. And then they go Inhofe to speak?

This is the new breed of goody good propaganda. The 'Make Kony Famous Campaign' has as their return address a professional D.C. PR firm. Last time I looked such guys don't work for free. That much for net roots. Bah.

The only thing I agree with them on is that it is a good idea to try Kony at the ICC.