viral video of the moment

the above video has been making it's mark on the world over the last couple of days.  i've watched it.  i've even helped move it along by posting it on my facebook wall.  is the video without flaw?  not by a long shot.

every since this video went viral, criticism of the video has also go viral.  i've taken some flak from friends for having bought into the hype and helping to perpetuate the spread of nonsense.  but i don't think the video is nonsense.  not 100% accurate, but not nonsense.  and if my sharing this video gets my friends and family to do some research on the topic and actually become knowledgeable on joseph kony and his actions then i did a good thing.

one of the biggest criticisms i've read about this video and the group that made it (invisible children) is that as charitable organizations go, they aren't the best.  they spend most of the money donated to them  on operation costs (employee salaries, travel expenses, video costs, etc.) with only a small percent going to actually helping the people they claim to represent.  ok, that sucks.  that means i won't give them my money.  doesn't mean their cause is any less just.

another criticism i've been reading is that this video is most popular with people under the age of 25, especially women.  to that i have to say, of course it is.  africa's problems with joseph kony are by no means new.  he and the LRA have been terrorizing africa for more than 25 years.  but while he's been a near constant terror for 25 years, when was the last time he made american news before the release of this video?  it is very likely that people under the age of 25 have never in their life heard his name.  i don't think it would be going out on a limb to say that most people under the age of 25 are still very selfish and have yet to develop a sense of what is happening globally.  but those under the age of 25 are the demographic that need to hear about this as they are the group of people with disposable income to help pay the salaries of the people at invisible children.  and women are the most easily swayed by videos that use small children and crying boys to get their point across.  i'm not sure why this is even a surprise to people.

and the last criticism i keep reading is that kony is no longer even in uganda (the country this video spends 99% of it's time talking about) and the number of his army is no longer as big as the video makes it seem.  ok.  who cares?  is kony and his army still a problem?  yes.  doesn't matter where he and the LRA is or how big the LRA is, they are still out there causing problems in africa.  and they have help.  kony has been known to prey on the citizens of african countries that have no form of government help because the government is either too ineffectual or too corrupt to do anything about the problem.  whether he's in uganda, the republic of congo or some other african country, he's still causing problems.  he's still abduction children.  he's still making those children kill their families, friends and neighbors.  he's still using the child army to do his dirty work.  does it matter if the army of children is 200 strong, 2000 strong or 20,000 strong?  i don't think so.

now i do want to say that the maker of the video is a bit of a douchebag.  i have found on several websites that his salary at invisible children is around $90k.  i've read quotes from him saying 'we view ourselves as the pixar of human rights stories' and 'they [hollywood producers] are getting in touch with the academy awards. they want this [kony 2012 video] to be up for an oscar.'  way to take 30 minutes that could help change things in africa and make it seem like you were out for the money and glory of it all.

but that being said, a spokeswomen for a well respected aid organization (UNICEF) who is also an expert on the LRA is quoted in an article in the new york times as saying (regarding the invisible children kony 2012 video) 'it's ultimately a good thing. [invisible children] is essentially distilling a very complicated 26 year old war into something that is consumable and understandable by mass media.'

here is a link to the new york times article that i thought summed up things very well.  Online, a Distant Conflict Soars to Topic No. 1

basically, i think this video raises awareness to a problem that a lot of people in the US don't know about or ignore and will hopefully compel people to do some research on the topic and decide for themselves how they can help if they even want to help.  is the video a scam?  in a sense, yes it is.  of course invisible children wants to make some money from this video.  but does that change the overall message of the video?  i'm not sure that is does.