Alright folks, let's talk about Joseph Kony. If you haven't already heard the buzz, Joseph Kony is the leader of the LRA, the Lord's Resistance army. I've probably seen the video posted roughly a couple times on facebook but here it is again.
Are you angry? Upset? Getting up off your couch and fighting the good fight? Here's what I want you to do. I want you to run around the block a couple times. I need that angry energy outta you for a second so that we can talk. Yes, Mr. Charlton wants to have a nice little chat about this. This sensational video has a lot of people upset. It does a very good job of making you emotional. Unfortunately people in an emotional state tend to make poor decisions. This issue is unfortunately not as black and white as it first appears.
"How in the sweet mother of pearl can you even say that, Mr. Charlton. I knew you were a prick but never would I have imagined that you would stick up for a warlord!". Calm down. I'm not sticking up for anybody. Did you run around the block like I asked you? Sounds like you didn't. Let's have another look at that video and I'll explain why I'm perhaps a little perturbed by it.
There are two items from the film that really stood out for me.
1) Kony is no longer in Uganda. Due to pressure from the Ugandan military and the international community, Kony fled the country.
2) The first solution to remove Joseph Kony is to provide the Ugandan military with aid and technology to find him and prosecute him.
I'm gonna mix the two together like a bad cocktail. Joseph Kony is no longer operating out of Uganda but our solution is to train the Ugandan military to hunt him down. The United States military's track record for training foreign soldiers isn't necessarily the greatest.
Had the best of the best train him and his freedom fighters to purge Afghanistan of Russian invaders during the cold war. It turned out great, right?
There's also the fact that Uganda invaded and occupied the Democratic Republic of Congo during the Second Congo War, a war that had 5.4 million casualties. Also, the current president, Yoweri Museveni, has as of 2006 abolished the presidential term limit and his presidency has lasted since January 26th, 1986.
Here's my issue with the whole thing. By supporting the Ugandan military and instigating them to track down Joseph Kony, you may be inadvertently supporting the Ugandan military to invade and occupy it's neighbors, resulting in further regional instability and the possible outbreak of war.
On another note, Uganda is an incredibly poor country. The Kony 2012 movement is spreading like wildfire and with that fire comes generous donations from people like you. There is a lot of people in Ugandan government that know that once Kony is captured and brought to justice, that train of generous donations will end. It may very well be in their best interest to not capture him. Cynical, yes, but truthfully this sort of thing has happened numerous times in the past. Quite often our donations can end up in the hands of warlords who exploit children for slavery, for soldiers and for sex.
To top it off, the charity Invisible Children Inc. is not the most transparent of organisations. Child Navigator, a non-profit organisation that dedicates itself to 'intelligent giving', gave Invisible Children Inc. a 51.52 rating out of 70. They received only two out of four stars for accountability and transparency.
Some of you might be actually angry with me right now and it could be for a number of reasons. You might think I'm cynical (I am). You might be upset that you've gotten caught up in the hype. Maybe you wanted to be part of something massive and huge and that would change the world. You know what? You still can. But people, as a global society, we need to stop biting off more than we can chew or else we're gonna keep choking on that sandwich. Rome wasn't built in a day. I'll give you an example.
Here's the story of Anthony Omari. Omari is the custodian of Faraja Children's Home in Ngong, Kenya, where his mother looks after the orphans. At the time of his story, he was looking after 37 children and sleeps there to protect them. It was the fourth time that month that thieves had entered the building, and this was the second time at night. He managed to fend off the attackers, resulting in a gash across his face. Word of the story made it's way Ben Hardwick, a 21 year-old Penn State student who was working as an intern in Kenya close by. Ben paid Anthony a visit and was so impressed with the story that he felt he needed to do something to help both Anthony and the children. Ben put the story up on Reddit, asking for $2000 in donations for walls to keep intruders at bay. Within 24 hours they had raised over $65,000. Now the orphanage has eight foot walls, padlocks, two security guards and new beds for the children.
Anthony Omari. Just a lil' gash.
You know what's awesome about this story? No middle man. No organisation having to take it's share for administrative costs. It was small, for sure, an isolated incident. But it avoided the perils of groupthink. It doesn't always have to be big. It may only be 37 children but their lives will be changed for the better. Maybe this is a better direction to go in, little baby steps in the right direction rather than a massive leap in a direction that may be wrong. With baby steps, you can always change your course. If you leap it might be into a pit. Maybe this event is the first of many, how a social network is truly supposed to function in charitable causes. Not a thirty minute video that has the undercurrent of a two-minute hate.
Kony is an insane despot that needs to be brought to justice, that's clearly evident. The way we're handling the situation, with a witch hunt across borders with armed combatants may do more harm than good. I don't have a solution but placing a timeline of a year to rectify over twenty years of brutal bloodshed seems rash and poorly thought out.
Maybe I'm wrong. I am cynical about the whole situation. But I think that cooler heads always prevail, and getting angry and pissed off isn't the best way to approach charity. Charity should be approached with humility, understanding, education and love. If it's our anger that drives us to do good, we're going to one day find that we're truly reaping what we sow.
I'll be funny next time, I swear.
Sincerely,
The Illustrious Mr. Charlton
p.s. I grabbed that photo of Mr. Omari from badassoftheweek.com. Check it out!
p.s.s. You know what really creeped me out about that video? It's that this part reminded me of this. Mobs of people scare the shit out of me.
p.s.s..s. Two minute hate, if anyone didn't get the reference.
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