The Most Evil Man In The World

[kane#7]

KONY 2012 is a film and campaign by Invisible Children that aims to make Joseph Kony famous, not to celebrate him, but to raise support for his arrest and set a precedent for international justice.

Pledge your support at

http://bit.ly/konydonate

and continue to share this story.

Make him the most famous person in the world so countries are forced to help the Ugandan army with aid to bring this SOB to justice.

Video is long btw.

[NJDirtyBird7]

I keep seeing this in comments on youtube. Had no idea what it meant.

[NJDirtyBird7]

Wow, powerful video. I knew that uganda was bad, but had no idea about Kony. Kony 2012.

[kane#7]

Wow, powerful video. I knew that uganda was bad, but had no idea about Kony. Kony 2012.

Yer I was in the same boat... I shared the video on Fbook and thought I would put it here....

Might as well use this board for something that actually matters I thought.

[NJDirtyBird7]

Yer I was in the same boat... I shared the video on Fbook and thought I would put it here....

Might as well use this board for something that actually matters I thought.

Wow i just took a look at my facebook and it's already all over it. This video is blowing up QUICK. The director is definately getting his message across, and his plan is so far, working flawlessly. Amazing.

[Threepac Daddy]

man its blowing up on the net. he'll be widely know by the end of the month

[kane#7]

I have to say this is really working it is going everywhere....

But if you do watch the whole video it is hard not to share it with others.....

Amazing what social media can do in the world, no wonder most goverments are trying to force control over the internet.

[Mr. Hoopah!]

Why didn't they do this before today? I didn't watch the video, but I can't help but imagine that he didn't start doing this yesterday.

[kane#7]

Why didn't they do this before today? I didn't watch the video, but I can't help but imagine that he didn't start doing this yesterday.

I geuss they got the idea from seeing the Arab Spring and watching how effective social media has become at influencing people.

Old media did not cover this and there was no way of getting the story out effectively before.

It was pretty much the usual... "A guy is killing his own people", "does his country have a natural resource we depend on? Is he a threat to our security? No? Then let him go crazy"

[Dem Birds]

I watched this about 30 minutes ago, by the time I finished the video on youtube it had like 8,000 more likes.

[falconsd56]

I have shared it and I am encouraging others to share it too.

[kane#7]

I have shared it and I am encouraging others to share it too.

Yer I have done the same... I wouldn't encourage anyone to give them money though... they seem a bit suspect, however the message is good.

[kane#7]

I wouldn't give them money and here is why http://visiblechildren.tumblr.com/post/18890947431/we-got-trouble

[Mr. Hoopah!]

Also, in b4 Julian Louis-Dreyfuss St. Clor and cries of "leave Brother Kony alone!" & "Brother Kony has done great things for my real african brother, not these mulatto americans".

[Billy Pilgrim]

For those asking what you can do to help, please link to visiblechildren.tumblr.com wherever you see KONY 2012 posts. And tweet a link to this page to famous people on Twitter who are talking about KONY 2012!

I do not doubt for a second that those involved in KONY 2012 have great intentions, nor do I doubt for a second that Joseph Kony is a very evil man. But despite this, I’m strongly opposed to the KONY 2012 campaign.

KONY 2012 is the product of a group called Invisible Children, a controversial activist group and not-for-profit. They’ve released 11 films, most with an accompanying bracelet colour (KONY 2012 is fittingly red), all of which focus on Joseph Kony. When we buy merch from them, when we link to their video, when we put up posters linking to their website, we support the organization. I don’t think that’s a good thing, and I’m not alone.

Invisible Children has been condemned time and time again. As a registered not-for-profit, its finances are public. Last year, the organization spent $8,676,614. Only 32% went to direct services (page 6), with much of the rest going to staff salaries, travel and transport, and film production. This is far from ideal for an issue which arguably needs action and aid, not awareness, and Charity Navigator rates their accountability 2/4 stars because they lack an external audit committee. But it goes way deeper than that.

The group is in favour of direct military intervention, and their money supports the Ugandan government’s army and various other military forces. Here’s a photo of the founders of Invisible Children posing with weapons and personnel of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army. Both the Ugandan army and Sudan People’s Liberation Army are riddled with accusations of rape and looting, but Invisible Children defends them, arguing that the Ugandan army is “better equipped than that of any of the other affected countries”, although Kony is no longer active in Uganda and hasn’t been since 2006 by their own admission. These books each refer to the rape and sexual assault that are perennial issues with the UPDF, the military group Invisible Children is defending.

Still, the bulk of Invisible Children’s spending isn’t on supporting African militias, but on awareness and filmmaking. Which can be great, except that Foreign Affairs has claimed that Invisible Children (among others) “manipulates facts for strategic purposes, exaggerating the scale of LRA abductions and murders and emphasizing the LRA’s use of innocent children as soldiers, and portraying Kony — a brutal man, to be sure — as uniquely awful, a Kurtz-like embodiment of evil.” He’s certainly evil, but exaggeration and manipulation to capture the public eye is unproductive, unprofessional and dishonest.

As Chris Blattman, a political scientist at Yale, writes on the topic of IC’s programming, “There’s also something inherently misleading, naive, maybe even dangerous, about the idea of rescuing children or saving of Africa. […] It hints uncomfortably of the White Man’s Burden. Worse, sometimes it does more than hint. The savior attitude is pervasive in advocacy, and it inevitably shapes programming. Usually misconceived programming.”

Still, Kony’s a bad guy, and he’s been around a while. Which is why the US has been involved in stopping him for years. U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) has sent multiple missions to capture or kill Kony over the years. And they’ve failed time and time again, each provoking a ferocious response and increased retaliative slaughter. The issue with taking out a man who uses a child army is that his bodyguards are children. Any effort to capture or kill him will almost certainly result in many children’s deaths, an impact that needs to be minimized as much as possible. Each attempt brings more retaliation. And yet Invisible Children supports military intervention. Kony has been involved in peace talks in the past, which have fallen through. But Invisible Children is now focusing on military intervention.

Military intervention may or may not be the right idea, but people supporting KONY 2012 probably don’t realize they’re supporting the Ugandan military who are themselves raping and looting away. If people know this and still support Invisible Children because they feel it’s the best solution based on their knowledge and research, I have no issue with that. But I don’t think most people are in that position, and that’s a problem.

Is awareness good? Yes. But these problems are highly complex, not one-dimensional and, frankly, aren’t of the nature that can be solved by postering, film-making and changing your Facebook profile picture, as hard as that is to swallow. Giving your money and public support to Invisible Children so they can spend it on supporting ill-advised violent intervention and movie #12 isn’t helping. Do I have a better answer? No, I don’t, but that doesn’t mean that you should support KONY 2012 just because it’s something. Something isn’t always better than nothing. Sometimes it’s worse.

If you want to write to your Member of Parliament or your Senator or the President or the Prime Minister, by all means, go ahead. If you want to post about Joseph Kony’s crimes on Facebook, go ahead. But let’s keep it about Joseph Kony, not KONY 2012.

~ Grant Oyston

Grant Oyston is a sociology and political science student at Acadia University in Nova Scotia, Canada. You can help spread the word about this by linking to his blog at visiblechildren.tumblr.com anywhere you see posts about KONY 2012.

Please do not email Grant except to provide alternative causes, or with media requests, as I am no longer able to read emails (which I’m receiving at a rate of over 1000 an hour).

[Mr. Hoopah!]

For those asking what you can do to help, please link to visiblechildren.tumblr.com wherever you see KONY 2012 posts. And tweet a link to this page to famous people on Twitter who are talking about KONY 2012!

I do not doubt for a second that those involved in KONY 2012 have great intentions, nor do I doubt for a second that Joseph Kony is a very evil man. But despite this, I’m strongly opposed to the KONY 2012 campaign.

KONY 2012 is the product of a group called Invisible Children, a controversial activist group and not-for-profit. They’ve released 11 films, most with an accompanying bracelet colour (KONY 2012 is fittingly red), all of which focus on Joseph Kony. When we buy merch from them, when we link to their video, when we put up posters linking to their website, we support the organization. I don’t think that’s a good thing, and I’m not alone.

Invisible Children has been condemned time and time again. As a registered not-for-profit, its finances are public. Last year, the organization spent $8,676,614. Only 32% went to direct services (page 6), with much of the rest going to staff salaries, travel and transport, and film production. This is far from ideal for an issue which arguably needs action and aid, not awareness, and Charity Navigator rates their accountability 2/4 stars because they lack an external audit committee. But it goes way deeper than that.

The group is in favour of direct military intervention, and their money supports the Ugandan government’s army and various other military forces. Here’s a photo of the founders of Invisible Children posing with weapons and personnel of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army. Both the Ugandan army and Sudan People’s Liberation Army are riddled with accusations of rape and looting, but Invisible Children defends them, arguing that the Ugandan army is “better equipped than that of any of the other affected countries”, although Kony is no longer active in Uganda and hasn’t been since 2006 by their own admission. These books each refer to the rape and sexual assault that are perennial issues with the UPDF, the military group Invisible Children is defending.

Still, the bulk of Invisible Children’s spending isn’t on supporting African militias, but on awareness and filmmaking. Which can be great, except that Foreign Affairs has claimed that Invisible Children (among others) “manipulates facts for strategic purposes, exaggerating the scale of LRA abductions and murders and emphasizing the LRA’s use of innocent children as soldiers, and portraying Kony — a brutal man, to be sure — as uniquely awful, a Kurtz-like embodiment of evil.” He’s certainly evil, but exaggeration and manipulation to capture the public eye is unproductive, unprofessional and dishonest.

As Chris Blattman, a political scientist at Yale, writes on the topic of IC’s programming, “There’s also something inherently misleading, naive, maybe even dangerous, about the idea of rescuing children or saving of Africa. […] It hints uncomfortably of the White Man’s Burden. Worse, sometimes it does more than hint. The savior attitude is pervasive in advocacy, and it inevitably shapes programming. Usually misconceived programming.”

Still, Kony’s a bad guy, and he’s been around a while. Which is why the US has been involved in stopping him for years. U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) has sent multiple missions to capture or kill Kony over the years. And they’ve failed time and time again, each provoking a ferocious response and increased retaliative slaughter. The issue with taking out a man who uses a child army is that his bodyguards are children. Any effort to capture or kill him will almost certainly result in many children’s deaths, an impact that needs to be minimized as much as possible. Each attempt brings more retaliation. And yet Invisible Children supports military intervention. Kony has been involved in peace talks in the past, which have fallen through. But Invisible Children is now focusing on military intervention.

Military intervention may or may not be the right idea, but people supporting KONY 2012 probably don’t realize they’re supporting the Ugandan military who are themselves raping and looting away. If people know this and still support Invisible Children because they feel it’s the best solution based on their knowledge and research, I have no issue with that. But I don’t think most people are in that position, and that’s a problem.

Is awareness good? Yes. But these problems are highly complex, not one-dimensional and, frankly, aren’t of the nature that can be solved by postering, film-making and changing your Facebook profile picture, as hard as that is to swallow. Giving your money and public support to Invisible Children so they can spend it on supporting ill-advised violent intervention and movie #12 isn’t helping. Do I have a better answer? No, I don’t, but that doesn’t mean that you should support KONY 2012 just because it’s something. Something isn’t always better than nothing. Sometimes it’s worse.

If you want to write to your Member of Parliament or your Senator or the President or the Prime Minister, by all means, go ahead. If you want to post about Joseph Kony’s crimes on Facebook, go ahead. But let’s keep it about Joseph Kony, not KONY 2012.

~ Grant Oyston

Grant Oyston is a sociology and political science student at Acadia University in Nova Scotia, Canada. You can help spread the word about this by linking to his blog at visiblechildren.tumblr.com anywhere you see posts about KONY 2012.

Please do not email Grant except to provide alternative causes, or with media requests, as I am no longer able to read emails (which I’m receiving at a rate of over 1000 an hour).

Without independently researching this, I had a feeling this was the case. Every 18-28 year old female I'm "friends" with on fb has nonetheless linked the video today though.

[falconsd56]

Yer I have done the same... I wouldn't encourage anyone to give them money though... they seem a bit suspect, however the message is good.

I am same way. I am all for spreading messages but when it comes to giving money I am super super selective.

[Billy Pilgrim]

I'd put the bullet in Kony's face myself, but the fact that this video features a little white kid moreso than it does the actual victims of Kony's crimes pisses me off.

Nobody gives a **** about your little kid dude, why are we even seeing him?

The message is fine, but the US and its allies are already well aware of Joseph Kony.

Edited March 7, 2012 by Billy Pilgrim

[Mr. Hoopah!]

I'd put the bullet in Kony's face myself, but the fact that this video features a little white kid moreso than it does the actual victims of Kony's crimes pisses me off.

Nobody gives a **** about your little kid dude, why are we even seeing him?

The message is fine, but the US and its allies are already well aware of Joseph Kony.

Your average college-age female who saw this video today has no idea about that, and I imagine typical responses went something like "Z0mG why aren't we doing something about this! I NEED to tweet this!"

[Billy Pilgrim]

"How can we get a bunch of stupid young white American females to give a **** about the atrocities happening to little black African children? Oh, I know! We'll throw in a cute little blonde-haired white kid and juxtapose him with Joseph so that they will imagine these crimes happening to him instead!"

[kane#7]

I'd put the bullet in Kony's face myself, but the fact that this video features a little white kid moreso than it does the actual victims of Kony's crimes pisses me off.

Nobody gives a **** about your little kid dude, why are we even seeing him?

The message is fine, but the US and its allies are already well aware of Joseph Kony.

Yer that was my problem with this as well it was more of a video of.... "look how great I am"

"How can we get a bunch of stupid young white American females to give a **** about the atrocities happening to little black African children? Oh, I know! We'll throw in a cute little blonde-haired white kid and juxtapose him with Joseph so that they will imagine these crimes happening to him instead!"

Yer thats why I am all for spreading that these people are making a TON of money off this exposure, the fact that only 30% if the money donated actually goes somewhere is terrible.

[Big Rob 64]

I am same way. I am all for spreading messages but when it comes to giving money I am super super selective.

Actually, one criticism of this organization is, in my mind (such as it is---) groundless. Spending money on film production is not inherently a misappropriation of funds. If the money spent on film production results in a film that garners even greater interest in, and funding to correct, the subject matter, then the money was well-spent on the film.

There are other criticisms which I do not know enough about to form an opinion--- yet. But criticism of an organization using film to garner interest and further funding using funds to actually produce the films is fatuous.

[falconsd56]

Actually, one criticism of this organization is, in my mind (such as it is---) groundless. Spending money on film production is not inherently a misappropriation of funds. If the money spent on film production results in a film that garners even greater interest in, and funding to correct, the subject matter, then the money was well-spent on the film.

There are other criticisms which I do not know enough about to form an opinion--- yet. But criticism of an organization using film to garner interest and further funding using funds to actually produce the films is fatuous.

It is not just about them. It is my rule in general.

I am big into supporting charity causes but unless I actually see someone I do not give money to many cause's at all