I'm as skeptical as the next guy when it comes to social network based causes. I've never worn a wristband, I've laughed at the 20 second attention span of teenagers and uni students when it comes to the fad based crap that gets passed around Facebook.
But in this case, I'm a believer. Call me nieve if you like, but the staggeringly large amount of child murder, abduction and forced fighting that Kony and his army plagued Uganda and much of Central Africa with is unconscionable. Of all the horrible shit that happens in this world, Child Soldiers are at the very top of my list - there are countless books available that detail the day by day hell that many (now adult) kids faced, forced to kill or maim their parents and families, become sex dolls for other soldiers, to be stripped of a childhood.
It's pretty disgusting to see some people's instant reactions to this video - sure, it was a little precious at times, but to see this guy dedicate a large portion of his life to protecting children and advocating for the cessitation of child warfare was powerful. So much so that I broke my shield for once and started advocating the video, and even considered heading out to spread awareness in April.
Invisible Children are hardly the most well run charity - they're more of a loose coalition of smaller anti-war groups that have rallied together to support one particular cause. Under scrutiny, they aren't the red cross - a large portion of their funds are probably spent offshore and undocumented. Whether you choose to donate is up to you. I'm not defending them or their fundraising efforts.
The video was about putting apathetic eyeballs back on a situation so few people know or care about. It's using those same eyeballs to make noise and dig a warlord out of the jungle. Sure, it won't "Save Africa", but if a few million people calling their government and asking them to do something is what actually comes out of this, what the fuck is the harm in that?
I think people are far too cynical. We won't solve any problems by being smarmy on the internet.
