Okay, perhaps the title was tactless. apologies if this is so. Basically, i am doing what everyone is doing and putting my thoughts down in an open domain about the phenomenon sweeping the world.
i felt i had no choice but to watch the video. just like everyone else. at first, i cried. and this continued almost throughout but it was for a very different reason. at first it was due to the atrocities taking place and the sweet innocence of the creator's son. then it was out of pride for humankind and the enthusiasm and emotions that people were bringing to the cause. it truly was amazing. but, the more i thought about things the more level headed i feel i became and the more i moved away from the emotions which were evoked and towards the facts and realities of what it means and what is going on.
don't get me wrong. i think it is remarkable how social media has reeled in so many to be aware of this cause and so many people are willing to do something. it truly made me proud to be a human being.
there was something awfuly Michael Moore-ish about the documentary. it was definitely expertly made and sensationalised. even the way he spoke sounded a bit like MM at times. now i am not trying to say MM did not convey a valid message and did not do good. but he did misrepresent several aspects of his findings. i recall meeting some very smart men from Detroit who detested him as he represented their community in a really bad light. like MM's movies, the invisible children's campaign seems to neglect a lot of facts and omit certain information to make it sound like the situation is worse than it is.
i did a lot of reading since watching the video for a second time. the dodgy use of donated funds did strike a chord. i did several audits of voluntary and charity organisations and can i tell you the rules in Australia are quite stringent... IC probably would not pass them. also, the reports that LRA are out of Uganda altogether and, it seems, in a much weaker position than they were 5 years ago is striking. it appears that IC want to get Kony as he is the face of the LRA. and that is valid. but whether or not it will truly end the LRA's terror is another thing. did you see in the video that Kony is number one on the most wanted hit list? the number two is also Ugandan. i have not researched him but it made me feel that there is more than one man committing the crimes in this nation (especially when you consider Gaddafi was at about 24 from memory).
my take on this is that the more desperate people get the more bad things they tend to do. African nations owe a whopping debt to the rest of the world which starts with bretton woods and post-war reconstruction and flows right through to today. the terms of this loan state that interest should be paid back before they commit cash to health, education etc. the interest accumulates so much that the principal is never eaten into. these children have no access to sanitation, no education and as a result, no aspirations. Jacob in the video said he wanted to be a lawyer but knew he could not. with education, goals become achievable. professions more likely and children start to believe they can reach the sky. someone like Kony probably presents a good case to them about giving them power and they swallow it. he offers a better life. unless the rich countries drop the debt, this will continue to happen. people will not be happy to live in a country which has NO hope to recover or become profitable.
overall Kanye summed it up. "mannn killing's some whacked shit." loss of life. without reason. is unspeakable. doing this to children, the most vulnerable group, is beyond comprehension. i cannot begin to imagine how hard it was for these children to do what they were forced to do. but, it appears it was their life or someone else's. and in desperate times, there is always other people willing to do the dirty work.
when i was about 14 i went to a social justice day at ACU which taught me about the massive financial liability developing countries had. at the time, i mostly enjoyed being away from school, checking out the cute girls from Chisolm, OLMC, et al and also giggling when one of the academics said "Ni-ger". but the cause of the day did stick with me. this debt is what is keeping developing countries down. and although 'the people' can't force the governments to drop it, petitions and word of mouth will assist in raising attention and, hopefully changing the system at least which is in place to become something fairer and where there may be a light at the end of the tunnel.
it is not just africa. these debts in south america have seen drug cartels take over cities. police commissioner's heads are found, without their bodies, on display to show what happens when people stand in the way. until the economy is fairer and exports from these nations ar sold for better price, crime will be the only way people feel they can have a better existence. and the saddest thing is, it is probably true.
i love that this video has given people a social conscience but perhaps it would be put to better use a bit closer to home. as it seems that IC have no real idea of how to catch Kony, what will be done after he is caught and how it will re-build the area, there are definitely places to donate money which will be a bit more straightforward and the results easily seen.
tonight on the train ride home i passed Kingswood station and saw a Vinnies Van type operation taking place giving people food and a place to socialise. so close to home. poor people who may not have enough to eat and do not have enough friends. i am sure they would appreciate an extra person helping out, to talk to or donating food/coin/clothes. Also, this morning it was banked up at the end of wynyard tunnel due to the torrential rain. people were waiting for the lights to change. towards the end i noticed a homeless man selling the big issue man. he had still come to work. he was still doing his best, and doing it in an honest way, to give himself a better life and perhaps springboard himself into another job.
finally, i am going to use a similar technique as IC and bring up my nephew Ryan. now Ryan and my mum get on very well. they are best mates. and anyone who knows my mum prob thinks she is a saint. and they are closer to the truth than they might think. she has a friend from a village in the Philippines which suffers from extreme poverty. a few years ago, mum organised to get 1,000 pairs of thongs sent over, directly, to the village. all of a sudden people had footwear. money and other essentials also made the trip. the weirdest thing. the total amount it cost to do this was miniscule but the effect was massive. a lot of the money went to the local hospital which is filled with volunteer nurses. anyway, mum made a trip to the vinnies store last week to find some toys to donate this time and Ryan (two years old), acted as a connoisseur of sorts in trying to help out. when mum told him the story of the kids in the village having no toys he said "i am sad for those kids" and tried even harder to find them something which would be good fun. for him to show such empathy at such a young age again gives me hope in the human race. we are all mostly good people.
IC has raised a lot of awareness and i really hope that people are encouraged to do more reading, find out more and discover these things are happening closer to home. i think IC's creator is a hugely admirable guy who has chased a cause and is determined to make a change. but change does take time and maybe his ideas here are being pressed now due to his own pride of 'finishing the job' rather than logical progression to another cause. one man's downfall will not change the world. but if people ride the Kony rollercoaster on to the next ride and continue to show passion for homelessness or poverty or AIDS prevention or anything else which is gripping the developing world, then IC will have achieved more than they could have imagined and we will have the chance to say that we played a part in making the world a much better, happier place.
maybe i am setting myself up for prejudice or something. maybe you think i am wanker if you read this much (maybe you already thought it). all i feel is that, with so much goodwill around, we should do what we can to help causes where we know action will be taken and we will be able to see the results.
love, peace and happiness.
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