I am sure loads of people have seen the Invisible Children Kony 2012 video (about 81 million in fact) and have been getting all over dramatic with the whole thing.
These are my thoughts on the subject.
Above is a video from 10 O’Clock Live show about Kony 2012 which makes a few joke at the expense of the people who made it and much more. It was originally shown on Channel 4 and was done by Charlie Brooker.
Below is the orignal Kony 2012 video.
Joseph Kony?
From Wikipedia “Joseph Kony is the head of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a Ugandan guerrilla group. While initially enjoying strong public support, the LRA turned on its own supporters, supposedly to “purify” the Acholi people and turn Uganda into a theocracy. Kony proclaims himself the spokesperson of God and a spirit medium, primarily of the Holy Spirit, which the group believes can represent itself in many manifestations.
“He ordered the abduction of children to become child-sex slaves and child soldiers. An estimated 66,000 children became soldiers and two million people have been internally displaced since 1986. In 2005, Kony was indicted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, but has evaded capture. The LRA operates in Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, South Sudan, and Sudan.”
Apparently he has eighty-eight wives and forty-two children which is enough for a small army by itself.
Criticisms of the film
Worth mentioning from Wikipedia “There has been growing criticism in Uganda over the film. Critics argue Kony and his diminishing troops, many of them kidnapped child soldiers, fled northern Uganda six years ago and are now spread across the jungles of neighbouring countries. Rosebell Kagumire, a Ugandan journalist specializing in peace and conflict reporting, said: “This paints a picture of Uganda six or seven years ago, that is totally not how it is today. It’s highly irresponsible”… Ugandan prime minister Amama Mbabazi launched an online response on YouTube. On video he seeks to correct the false impression that Uganda is in conflict, and invites everyone to come and see the country. He assures that people would find it a very different place to that portrayed by Invisible Children.”
But of course they would say that wouldn’t they?
Why did I say the bandwagon effect?
From Wikipedia “The bandwagon effect is a well documented form of groupthink in behavioral science and has many applications. The general rule is that conduct or beliefs spread among people, as fads and trends clearly do, with “the probability of any individual adopting it increasing with the proportion who have already done so”. As more people come to believe in something, others also “hop on the bandwagon” regardless of the underlying evidence. The tendency to follow the actions or beliefs of others can occur because individuals directly prefer to conform, or because individuals derive information from others. Both explanations have been used for evidence of conformity in psychological experiments.”
My thoughts
My main problem with this campaign is like I mentioned before is that it feels like a fad (a bandwagon). A big problem is people are just getting all their facts, arguments and opinions from a single video. Of course you could say that to me but my opinions havent changed since I watched these videos they have just reinforced my original feelings on the matter. Also the whole background of the organisation is a bit dodgy and shady to say the least.
I just though I say what I think about it.
Theres plenty of other unjustifiable things happening in the world at the moment such as: the bad Chinese human rights, Iran nuclear ambitions, Tibet suffering, The whole Palestine question, Afghanistan chaos, Syria slaughter and of course the return of the X factor. Why dont more people try to solve those things? Is it because they aren’t fashionable at the moment?
I don’t condone what Joseph Kony has done but watch the Charlie Brooker video and afterwards you will likely feel differently about the whole thing. Also remember in future to have more open mind towards things and don’t just jump on a bandwagon, they can sometimes be more harmful than good. Yes I am looking at you Hollywood celebrities.
Some other of my opinions:
King Toko 
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