Happy St. Patrick's Day! I just realized that even though it's a personal favorite holiday, mine have been plaguingly poor... I hope and will try to change that this year.
...So it seems now that I'm making a blog post or at least some elongated writing every night--viz. the last four. Tonight's was a facebook post in response to someone's: of course, KONY 2012 post, and its necessarily-accompanying KONY-2012-is-evil (should that be the issue here?) post, and then a retort to that saying (to which I agree), among other things, "Letting the world know who he was is the primary mission to the campaign." Including any more would probably be recursive--or at least add to this post's already presumably staggering length--so without further ado, my response:
Well this whole thing has had an interesting development recently, with Invisible Children's co-founder (whom I've personally heard from a best friend that interned at IC to be a very admirable, dilligent, selfless person) now being detained for acts I won't discuss here.
And Ashley I agree with you that letting the world know who he is is the primary mission of the campaign and really the primary purpose of all of this week's KONY-IC to-post or not-to-post FB hooplah (which unfortunately is what it's come down to by virtue of it being "to give" instead of To Help) if a positive overarching purpose is to be taken from it, instead of just ironically scoffed at like so many now are doing to IC's KONY, those who post/support it, and transitively helping the situation.
I mean they're scoffing at helping and simultaneously helping, because we're still talking about it, still directing attention to it while diverting it from it, and so still "educat[ing]" enough to maybe effect some good for such horrible situations.
But the rest of your post really made me think about what actually would effectuate some good (which is what all this is about).
...So it seems now that I'm making a blog post or at least some elongated writing every night--viz. the last four. Tonight's was a facebook post in response to someone's: of course, KONY 2012 post, and its necessarily-accompanying KONY-2012-is-evil (should that be the issue here?) post, and then a retort to that saying (to which I agree), among other things, "Letting the world know who he was is the primary mission to the campaign." Including any more would probably be recursive--or at least add to this post's already presumably staggering length--so without further ado, my response:
Well this whole thing has had an interesting development recently, with Invisible Children's co-founder (whom I've personally heard from a best friend that interned at IC to be a very admirable, dilligent, selfless person) now being detained for acts I won't discuss here.
And Ashley I agree with you that letting the world know who he is is the primary mission of the campaign and really the primary purpose of all of this week's KONY-IC to-post or not-to-post FB hooplah (which unfortunately is what it's come down to by virtue of it being "to give" instead of To Help) if a positive overarching purpose is to be taken from it, instead of just ironically scoffed at like so many now are doing to IC's KONY, those who post/support it, and transitively helping the situation.
I mean they're scoffing at helping and simultaneously helping, because we're still talking about it, still directing attention to it while diverting it from it, and so still "educat[ing]" enough to maybe effect some good for such horrible situations.
But the rest of your post really made me think about what actually would effectuate some good (which is what all this is about).
It's good to keep in mind that most "foreign aid", including IV's aid, would be military. This is a military conflict, the nature of the conflict is militant ("child soldiers"), but can militant reproach really approach this conflict's resolution?
"Misinterpretations of media content may lead some people to believe that the LRA is currently active in Uganda," said Fred Opolot, a [Ugandan?] government spokesman. "They are a diminished and weakened group with numbers not exceeding 300." (from, I swear it's not a habit, a foxnews.com article)
Do we need militant response to such an impotent military force?
Should we be preaching, posting, proliferating anti-"KONY" propaganda (with its purpose to end by means of probably killing Kony and his "army"), or educating pro-help, pro-peace, and in a broad sense pro-life so that these military oppressions stemming from abuses of educational power are not perpetuated and thus Actually End?
And speaking of misguided propaganda (keep in mind, a picture of which I did repost, I'm not trying to roast you), "There was a strong sense from the [Ugandan] audience that the video was insensitive to African and Ugandan audiences, and that it did not accurately portray the conflict or the victims," Victor Ochen of the African Youth Initiative Network, said in a statement. "In particular, viewers were outraged by the KONY 2012 campaign's strategy to make Kony famous and their marketing of items with his image." (same fox story, trust me, it's a non-mocking first)
(oh boy I'm sorry this is so long)
Also, (not touching upon the consumer-capitalist aspect of all this help because it's already too long) your Huffington Post quote starts off with a fragment, which isn't a grammatical ticky-tack indictment, but an observation of a very crucial potential distortion--because "Since 1986 the Ugandan civil war...." Everything I try and find looks to any capitalized Ugandan [Bush?] War as having ended in 1986. It all gets more confusing every time I try and clarify with a different source/information. And I think that's part of it. This isn't a War. The only site I've found referring to it as The Ugandan Civil War lists six (6!) combatants that may or may not include the Ugandan govt. Only one of which is Kony's LRA. Which isn't even in Uganda anymore and hasn't been for two years. This is way bigger than one man, one war, or one country even (see also: George Clooney's recent arrest, why, the genocidal? conflict in South Sudan).
It may be bigger than one cause. You referenced genocide, but I've got a friend who worked for IC, a whole lot who have gone to Uganda,--not name dropping, illustrating I've heard a lot about it--and have looked at a crap-ton of sites tonight. I haven't really found a cause other than "oppression". Which is Power exerted over others. Which is exactly the kind of military intervention that you're talking about (and that, truly, at first seems altruistically human-rights-necessitatingly urgent).
You talked about the US not entering a war if not for self-interest. But we had no interest in Vietnam, except in stopping the spread of communism. And in reading about the military response to, the search (like actual-creeping-through-the-jungle searching) for Joseph Kony, it's really reminiscent of reading about the Vietnam war. Which, again, we entered to Stop "Something Terrible" (then it was a political/economic system--an ideal--and now it's the LRA, Kony, the abduction of children and senseless killing, and really to just impose human rights--an ideal. it's an improvement, just saying) To End Something. and, well, I mean Vietnam's course is well-documented, and this "Ugandan" conflict has six combatants listed...
Point being, (and I haven't had any in mind or planned to make any, especially not as simple--but possibly profound?--as this) maybe the End that we so desire isn't within reach. Maybe there is no end. Maybe all of this, whatever all this sadness and suffering is, is just going to continue on (undefined and) indefinitely whether or not we stick in our two-cents or our to-give-two-dollars or our to-stop-kony's-army's worth. Maybe the only way to attain the desired effect of the ends we're proposing is to change the means that we try and attain it with. And maybe, just maybe if we change the means of this undefined and indefinite sadness and suffering, then maybe we can define the sadness and suffering.
And (this is getting abstract but important?) then maybe, if we can define the suffering, we could even define it in a good way--as good--so as to effectuate our change for the better not in an end, but in a means of good. To mean good, indefinitely.
"Misinterpretations of media content may lead some people to believe that the LRA is currently active in Uganda," said Fred Opolot, a [Ugandan?] government spokesman. "They are a diminished and weakened group with numbers not exceeding 300." (from, I swear it's not a habit, a foxnews.com article)
Do we need militant response to such an impotent military force?
Should we be preaching, posting, proliferating anti-"KONY" propaganda (with its purpose to end by means of probably killing Kony and his "army"), or educating pro-help, pro-peace, and in a broad sense pro-life so that these military oppressions stemming from abuses of educational power are not perpetuated and thus Actually End?
And speaking of misguided propaganda (keep in mind, a picture of which I did repost, I'm not trying to roast you), "There was a strong sense from the [Ugandan] audience that the video was insensitive to African and Ugandan audiences, and that it did not accurately portray the conflict or the victims," Victor Ochen of the African Youth Initiative Network, said in a statement. "In particular, viewers were outraged by the KONY 2012 campaign's strategy to make Kony famous and their marketing of items with his image." (same fox story, trust me, it's a non-mocking first)
(oh boy I'm sorry this is so long)
Also, (not touching upon the consumer-capitalist aspect of all this help because it's already too long) your Huffington Post quote starts off with a fragment, which isn't a grammatical ticky-tack indictment, but an observation of a very crucial potential distortion--because "Since 1986 the Ugandan civil war...." Everything I try and find looks to any capitalized Ugandan [Bush?] War as having ended in 1986. It all gets more confusing every time I try and clarify with a different source/information. And I think that's part of it. This isn't a War. The only site I've found referring to it as The Ugandan Civil War lists six (6!) combatants that may or may not include the Ugandan govt. Only one of which is Kony's LRA. Which isn't even in Uganda anymore and hasn't been for two years. This is way bigger than one man, one war, or one country even (see also: George Clooney's recent arrest, why, the genocidal? conflict in South Sudan).
It may be bigger than one cause. You referenced genocide, but I've got a friend who worked for IC, a whole lot who have gone to Uganda,--not name dropping, illustrating I've heard a lot about it--and have looked at a crap-ton of sites tonight. I haven't really found a cause other than "oppression". Which is Power exerted over others. Which is exactly the kind of military intervention that you're talking about (and that, truly, at first seems altruistically human-rights-necessitatingly urgent).
You talked about the US not entering a war if not for self-interest. But we had no interest in Vietnam, except in stopping the spread of communism. And in reading about the military response to, the search (like actual-creeping-through-the-jungle searching) for Joseph Kony, it's really reminiscent of reading about the Vietnam war. Which, again, we entered to Stop "Something Terrible" (then it was a political/economic system--an ideal--and now it's the LRA, Kony, the abduction of children and senseless killing, and really to just impose human rights--an ideal. it's an improvement, just saying) To End Something. and, well, I mean Vietnam's course is well-documented, and this "Ugandan" conflict has six combatants listed...
Point being, (and I haven't had any in mind or planned to make any, especially not as simple--but possibly profound?--as this) maybe the End that we so desire isn't within reach. Maybe there is no end. Maybe all of this, whatever all this sadness and suffering is, is just going to continue on (undefined and) indefinitely whether or not we stick in our two-cents or our to-give-two-dollars or our to-stop-kony's-army's worth. Maybe the only way to attain the desired effect of the ends we're proposing is to change the means that we try and attain it with. And maybe, just maybe if we change the means of this undefined and indefinite sadness and suffering, then maybe we can define the sadness and suffering.
And (this is getting abstract but important?) then maybe, if we can define the suffering, we could even define it in a good way--as good--so as to effectuate our change for the better not in an end, but in a means of good. To mean good, indefinitely.
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