Make Joseph Kony famous

[Simfan34]

What has the USA done to stop the LRA? Ask the 202 House and 65 Senate cosponsors of the Lord's Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act. Heck, ask them all- it passed with just one vote against it . Ask the 100 US officers in Uganda right now. The idea we are standing idly be is ludicrous. Don't ask Rush Limbaugh though. He likes the LRA.

In general, I'm concerned about what seems to be this sudden viral groundswell of concern. Every time I see such things on Facebook, they usually are hoaxes. While this situation is indeed very real, the organization behind this spends very little of it profits on actual aid, and indeed in this documentary resorts to a sensationalism. Indeed, what is being done? I'm yet to see a substantial movement.

The fact of the matter is that the situation in Uganda is far less black and white than Kony 2012 makes it out to be. To focus on Kony- who isn't even in the country- would be to ignore the atrocities committed by the standing army and Pres. Museveni. The macro issues affecting Uganda are those of development and democratization, and that is something that cannot be solved with a mere press of the "like" button- they must come from the people. They've made some laudable moves in recent years, but more progress must be made in adressing the root causes that cause organizations like the LRA to exist in the first place.

But what truly irks me is this sort of obfuscation coming from Invisible Children. Less than one third of the money they raise goes directly to aid; and I looked at their website, and it seems they focus on advocacy as opposed to direct relief. While advocacy has its place, I think what we in the West can and should do is give aid to the refugees, the victims of all of this, and not just "advocates". There's really no way to help them through IC.