A Few Fleeting Thoughts

Invisible Children.. Controversial?

Yes, it is important to be aware of all the facts when you are supporting something. However, it is equally important to raise awareness to issues surrounding us. It is not fair to shut down ideas or movements because they happen to have a few flaws.

Invisible Children does have a few controversial issues with its work, however, it doesn’t make sense to not sure their idea because of this. Sure, if you don’t agree that they are using their money in the most efficient way they can to help those who truly need it then don’t support them through monetary means. Sharing their message, however, has nothing to do with this. They have good intentions behind their message.

To be honest, I had no idea who Joseph Kony was until I watched that video and since then I have been doing a lot of reading on the issue, him, and the Invisible Children. You’re right.. IC has a lot of holes and problems with the way they are going about tackling this problem but the point is that they are doing something. Sure I knew about the LRA and what was going on but to tell you the truth there’s a lot of shit going on in this world to be able to keep up with the specifics of it all. And so, if there is a video such as the one made by IC that has actually gotten to pay more attention to what is going on, then, so what? Didn’t the video raise some emotion, share some information with you? What harm is being done by informing a few more people about what’s happening in this situation? Honestly, what were/ are you doing about this problem before/ after this video was posted besides pointing out all the problems with the organization? Is that the point of this video? NO, the point is to raise awareness and if you Truly believe in their practices then join the movement through monetary contributions.

Now, addressing the whole issue of how IC manage their finances.. Uhm.. Running an organization is expensive! You have to pay people, get supplies, and market the organization just like you would any other business! Sure this is supposed to be a not-for-profit business, but do you really understand the meaning of not-for-profit? I can tell you one thing, it does not mean that people work for free and that it needs no money! C’mon people! Look around you, at least these guys are using their talents (film making) to spread a little knowledge, do a little good. What are you doing with yours? These people are attempting to contribute towards the betterment of society. Do you know what the salaries of all the combined people that worked on your smartphone adds up to? Probably not anything near that of those working at IC. How long is that piece of technology going to last year before it’s obsolete? How much are you contributing to the growing amount of e-waste that is taking over our planet? I guess that is another issue.. The point is share your opinion, sure, but also share the idea behind the message here and the idea is nothing more than let’s all work together to stop what Joseph Kony is doing to these people.