There have been a LOT of talk on this whole Kony Conspiracy and I don't know if you guys have run into it yet but this was something I wrote in defense of this cause.
Honestly, this makes me fucking furious.
I understand and read the whole thing, which is probably more than half the people who are reposting this conspiracy have done. Two weeks ago none of us over privileged white suburban internet renegades even knew this existed and all of a sudden either everyone cares and wants to do something OR they see how everyone else is hopping on the bandwagen and now have a conspiracy to use to piss off people who are for this cause.
Yes, they are sooooooo marketed it's almost creepy, "Action Kits" ready to order and an amazing film behind them to boost support but these are our tools as activists in 2012. This is all we have left. We have had a long history protesting as humans but the old way no longer works, the people in the countries with power just don't give a shit anymore, they are sucked into the internet, their own lives and apathy controls every day life. Face it, you're life is pretty sweet, where is Uganda anyway? Know what I mean?
The allegations that the charity money is not going entirely to Uganda are probably true but any one who knows anything about campaigns like this understands that hundreds of thousands of posters, action kits, advertising, sound gear for rallys, travel back and forth from Uganda (both activists and Ugandan locals) and just THE FILM ITSELF... This shit isn't free, in fact it's a LOT of money. This author of this piece was digging for something to discredit the VC and we all accept that things like this are not rainbows and unicorns perfect. When you're dealing with the devil in his own land, you know you're out matched.
A very wise woman said to me: education cures ignorance.
"it's ignorance that usually causes problems in the first place or the reason why problems aren't solved. The main purpose here is to educate us and the world about issues that are still happening in today's modern society"
And there is NO harm in that, this author cares not for the children in Uganda or finding a practical way for solving this atrocity, he is conveniently posting this at the height of the campaign to get huge amounts of blog traffic and get his name out there, maybe get a job out of it after all he is only a sociology and political science student at Acadia University. Job fairs for that line of work are rare. Who is more selfish?
In closing this Grant Oyston fellow may see the flaws of the current mission and he may be somehow convinced the IC and funding a civil war (and he assumes the national Ugandan army are just as bad as Kony's?!) but the fact remains they are the ones teaching us about sacrifice, compassion and the solo struggle against one evil human being and he is just reading about it in starbucks on his iPhone.
So I say: If you don't feel right giving money to somebody who might arm a Ugandan soldier with it, DONT BUY A DAMN THING. Make your own posters or hell just buy some spray paint and make sure the distracted, apathetic and disinterested people of this wasteland western world know in your own way. Just don't find yourself fighting the wrong war just to be different.