Kony 2012

If you haven't been living under a rock for the past week, chances are you probably heard of Kony and the campaign to stop him. Here are some basic facts you need to know about Kony and the Invisible Children charity:

• Joseph Kony is the leader of a rebel group in Uganda called the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA).
• The LRA kidnaps children from their homes. They make the boys into child soldiers and the girls into sex slaves.
• There is a new charity called the Invisible Children that aims to raise awareness about Kony. They made a video (see below) about Kony's actions and their effects on the people of Uganda, and how to get involved in the charity (which obviously requires donations)

Here is the half-hour video on Kony by Invisible Children:

Okay, so you watch the video. You see the high-tech editing, the high definition images, and you think, "Wow, this is amazing." Then you see the little blond guy, and Jacob crying, and you think, "Aww that is so sweet!" and you feel really bad for a while. Then they show you the ways you can get involved, and how YOU can help to stop Kony. It makes you feel special, like anything is possible, and you immediately want to get involved. You go onto the Invisible Children website, you make a purchase. Simple. And then you start thinking, "Wait, is this charity actually legit? Will the money I paid go directly towards stopping Kony?"

And that's when you realize that you mightn't have been thinking straight. They have captured you with their marketing skills. You remember the start of the Kony 2012 video. Jason said it himself, right? "The next 27 minutes are an experiment." What kind of brainwash is that?



So here's the thing: I believe in Kony. I know that he exists, I know that he's one of the most wanted people in the world. I know that he has committed terrible crimes. Inhuman crimes. I suffered when I watched that video, but the people in Uganda suffered a 1000 times more. However, I don't believe in Invisible Children. What kind of charity is it? They have like 10 different t-shirts on sale, and all the "action packs" are so over-the-top. It's nice to see a proper campaign for once, but where is all that money going? There is proof that Invisible Children only gives 30% of their donations to the victims or the Ugandan government. Where does the remaining 70% go? What are they doing with it?

Almost 80 million people have watched the video so far. It is the most viral video in web history. I think this shows that people actually care. If we tried to help countries where poverty exists, we could do it. This video alone proves it. However, our generation has heard it all before - we see starving babies in Africa on TV and then just switch the channel, because we don't want to watch. So why did everyone get so involved in Kony?


Whatever the reason, it still doesn't change the fact that Invisible children earned a stunning $5 million in the first 48 hours of the video being up on YouTube. That's enough money to send over the American advisors and train the Ugandan army. And yet, they made so much more on their products and the video.

The hacker group Anonymous, known for their Guy Fawkes mask, also made a video proving that Invisible Children is a scam:

I suppose the real question is: where is Kony? How do you hide an army of 30,000 children?
Kony hasn't been seen since 2006. That's 6 years of peace for the people of Uganda. He hasn't attacked since. So why do they want to find him now, when the people of Uganda aren't at all worried about trouble from the LRA? The people of Uganda aren't happy about Invisible Children. Here are quotes from Ugandan people talking about the campaign:
"They come here to make money and use us"
"It makes us feel terrible to be presented as being so stupid and helpless"

Here is a Ugandan vlogger with what she has to say about Kony:

In my opinion, the whole thing is greatly over-exaggerated. Yes, Kony is still on the loose, and he needs to suffer for the inhuman crimes he committed. But why are they making such a big deal out of this? He committed crimes 20 years ago. He hasn't been seen for 6 years. He might as well be dead by now.

However, I think it's great that young people like me are getting involved. I mean, I would have thought the people in my school were the laziest teenagers ever, but the day after the video came out, there was a petition going around to have a fundraiser to stop Kony. The day after, the whole school was covered with homemade "Stop Kony" posters. Some of the teachers were ripping them of the walls, causing even more uproar. Honestly, I haven't seen teenagers involved in something like this. It's a sign of hope. A sign that we can do anything, as long as we're working together.

In a recent interview, Angelina Jolie said Kony is "an extraordinarily horrible human being who, you know: his time has come and it's lovely to see that young people are rising up as well."

Well, that's my post about Kony 2012 finished. Let me know your opinion - are you for or against Kony 2012? Are you getting involved?