Greater Awareness Is
Good
=======================
DO- that author while closing
by saying that “the enormous energy spent on dissecting or criticizing the
organization or the film can be better spent on trying to aid or improve the efforts
of these activists, and, most important, ending the crisis,” the gist of his
opinion is criticism.
I simply don’t know the
Invisible Children, the maker of the film, the Kony 2012 is so naïve as to truly
believe that the April Action resolves all. No reference to the fact “Change is
never easy” does not necessarily mean it is not aware of the fact.
Just want to remind
that it is only 30 minutes video clip, not State of the Union Address.
What Adrian Hong says
is all true. No objection at all. But does it help to stop Kony who, as we
speak now, must be doing something that abhors us?
What mainstream media is doing in response to Kony 2012 is raising concern, rather than educating people on Kony. Assuming the US send its troop, it will be not
gonna be easy at all, do not forget Mogadishu Black Hawk down, which led the US
to the aversion to boots on the ground.
To me, the first step
to be taken is intelligence. It is believed to be a vast jungle area with which
the US or NATO or UN peacekeeping operation have no considerable military experience. Intelligence must precede all
actions, for which unmanned aerial vehicle is the right device to use.
Send drone to the
jungle !!
ICC case against Kony, and arrest warrant
======================
Adrian Hong is the
managing director of Pegasus Strategies, a strategic advisory group. He has
worked on human rights and refugee issues worldwide, advising dissidents,
activists and advocates. He is also a TED senior fellow and is on Twitter.
UPDATED MARCH 10,
2012, 1:37 PM
“Kony 2012” and
Invisible Children, the organization behind it, are based on a single core
belief – the idea that if only enough people know and care about the atrocities
Joseph Kony is committing, the world will act and stop him.
Therein lies the fatal
flaw of an otherwise well-executed effort at raising awareness and motivating
action. Mass awareness does not equal change. Enlightening millions worldwide
did not stop Darfur. It has not saved Tibet. It has not freed North Korea. It
will not stop Joseph Kony.
A danger "Kony
2012" presents is in the assumption that a simple, often symbolic act or
two is enough to cause real change. Many have been similarly let down by
inflated expectations of wholesale change in the streets of Tahrir Square for
example, or anticipated "transformative" elections closer to home.
Real, lasting change requires — after those first brilliant and effusive
moments of impassioned action — sustained, challenging work.
"Kony 2012"
has also been slammed with accusations of a "white man's burden"
undertone. There are real issues with colonialism and imperialism in the aid,
development and human rights world, but they should not be used to rule out any
action by "outsiders" at all. Arguments against international
intervention or assistance without fail will come from those who are not at the
moment victims themselves. One will never find a man, woman or child unjustly
imprisoned, tortured or enslaved demand that their rescuers be of their own
race, creed or tribe. Certainly genocide and atrocity survivors will attest to
this.
The film does
oversimplify the crisis, and facts may not be perfectly accurate. But perhaps
the only fact that counts is this one: Joseph Kony and his army exploit, abuse
and inflict great suffering on those around them, especially children, the most
vulnerable. What does it matter precisely where or how it is happening? It is
happening, it is wrong, and it must be stopped.
(DO- without oversimplification,
the film would have end up running the risk of being a documentary, which is
not likely to attract large audience. To
appeal to as large audience as possible, advocacy tends to use simplified
rhetoric, walking the fine line between misleading and characterization.)
Regardless of the
film’s missteps, it is a well-intentioned effort in good faith. The people at
Invisible Children seem to genuinely want an end to the injustice of Joseph
Kony, and a better world. Tens of millions have so far been educated about a
terrible crisis, and many among them may have found a spark to go on to be
champions for positive change in their own ways.
Change is never easy.
Human rights crises are our world's most difficult (and important) challenges.
But the enormous energy spent on dissecting or criticizing the organization or
the film can be better spent on trying to aid or improve the efforts of these
activists, and, most important, ending the crisis.
