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Is the #kony2012 campaign a scam, or just misleading?

dailymaverick.co.za

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Re: Is the #kony2012 campaign a scam, or just misleading?

#31

Post by X4 »

Zakharov wrote: post #28
run4yourlives wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Vacuums. Vacuums aren't filled by the populace, they are filled by the strongest of potential successors. Often, one that the original manic was keeping at bay.

That actually leads to an interesting question. What happens if you just keep killing the bad guys? If you kill a dictator, then his evil successor, then his evil successor, does the next potential evil successor realize it's a bad idea and leave a decent guy in charge? Or do you just end up with chaos? Obviously assisination isn't this easy - but if it were?

Hi Zakharov,

you're talking about Game Theory. A very interesting question indeed.

Re: Is the #kony2012 campaign a scam, or just misleading?

#32

Post by dougk7 »

indubitably wrote: post #15
nikcub wrote: post #13

A few years ago I was reading a story about the war in the Congo. I felt really guilty for not knowing much about what was going on. What I knew about it I picked up through reading The Economist or the NYT, but I didn't really have a good overall understanding of the war and the history of that part of the continent (despite having spent time living in Africa, too) So I went through Amazon and picked up some books a…

Thanks for this. Could you share the rest of your reading list?

Friends of the Congo: http://www.friendsofthecongo.org/films-a-videos.html has some great resources about this.

Another classic is Heart of Darkness (although a fiction, it tells much about colonialism)

King Leopold's Ghost is also a great read: http://www.amazon.com/King-Leopolds-Ghost-Heroism-Colonial/d...

Re: Is the #kony2012 campaign a scam, or just misleading?

#33

Post by majmun »

Zakharov wrote: post #30
majmun wrote: post #23

This is like tactics and propaganda to get you in the army and which tells you you MUST FIGHT some other bad guy you only know from this movie. But essentially there are army A fighting army B over power to govern what goes on in that part of the world. Picking either one is legit choice. (or none if you don't want align yourself ). I wonder what would propaganda movie be like if LRA pays same amount of resources to…

You're going too far to the opposite extreme. The LRA isn't a "legitimate choice". Kony 2012 doesn't exist in isolation, there is a large amount of independent evidence about the LRA's crimes.

Im sure there is large amount of evidence of crime for other army too. War is like that there are crimes in it. each side is committing crime according to law of other side. (because guess what: they made the law it is what people with power do.)

Re: Is the #kony2012 campaign a scam, or just misleading?

#35

Post by rowanseymour »

dougk7 wrote: post #32
indubitably wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for this. Could you share the rest of your reading list?

Friends of the Congo: http://www.friendsofthecongo.org/films-a-videos.html has some great resources about this. Another classic is Heart of Darkness (although a fiction, it tells much about colonialism) King Leopold's Ghost is also a great read: http://www.amazon.com/King-Leopolds-Ghost-Heroism-Colonial/d...

I would not recommend Heart of Darkness to a beginner on the Congo. Yes it deals with the brutality of Belgian colonialism... but it's dated and has it's own racist portrayal of Africa as the dark continent with primitive peoples.

I would tho second King Leopold's Ghost as a brilliant overview of colonialism in the Congo.

Re: Is the #kony2012 campaign a scam, or just misleading?

#36

Post by rowanseymour »

It takes a complex issue and reduces it to a product that people can purchase. It's the same thing that we saw with Save Darfur, 1Million t-shirts etc. Africa's problems become the "white man's burden" and he's told that if he will just buy something then that proves that he cares.

Unfortunately it not always better to something than to do nothing. I really hope there will be some scrutiny of how Invisible Children spend this money. The US already has troops supporting the Ugandan military. Buying more guns for the Ugandan military won't solve the issue.

Another problem is that the constant portrayal of Africa as the dark continent helps keep Africa poor. Who wants to invest in Uganda when videos like this portray it as a violent basket case? How many tourists are going to want to come to Uganda?

Here's some interesting thoughts from Ugandan's themselves: http://allafrica.com/stories/201203090364.html

Re: Is the #kony2012 campaign a scam, or just misleading?

#37

Post by majmun »

majmun wrote: post #33
Zakharov wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're going too far to the opposite extreme. The LRA isn't a "legitimate choice". Kony 2012 doesn't exist in isolation, there is a large amount of independent evidence about the LRA's crimes.

Im sure there is large amount of evidence of crime for other army too. War is like that there are crimes in it. each side is committing crime according to law of other side. (because guess what: they made the law it is what people with power do.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nE4Z_iUTuw8&feature=relat...

Re: Is the #kony2012 campaign a scam, or just misleading?

#39

Post by stfu »

Zakharov wrote: post #28
run4yourlives wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Vacuums. Vacuums aren't filled by the populace, they are filled by the strongest of potential successors. Often, one that the original manic was keeping at bay.

That actually leads to an interesting question. What happens if you just keep killing the bad guys? If you kill a dictator, then his evil successor, then his evil successor, does the next potential evil successor realize it's a bad idea and leave a decent guy in charge? Or do you just end up with chaos? Obviously assisination isn't this easy - but if it were?

This leads always to the question - "bad guy" by what standards?

Something that most Western countries might judge as "bad" can be totally fine with the local natives. For example most Western European countries would probably agree on that death sentences are wrong, still death penalties have the support of over 60% of the US population. So deciding who is good and bad in tribal conflicts is becoming incredibly difficult, especially taking into consideration all the distortions of media and politics.

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