Contrary to what the reader might expect, this is not a blog post to generate awareness of the atrocities committed by Lord’s Resistance Army leader, childnapper, and Ugandan menace Joseph Kony, who has risen to Internet prominence in a matter of a few days via rabid dissemination over Facebook and other social media (the awareness campaign was started by the long-running questionable charity Invisible Children). This is also not, however, a blog post to rant about how Invisible Children is corrupt and the Kony movement is bunk. This is not even a blog post to rant about how many people are ranting about this movement and its countermovement and its countercountermovement.
This is actually a simple, cautionary blog post designed to warn those who have been absorbed into the Kony issue (or into the cynical evasion and parody of the whole issue) that it is best to approach such an issue, which, after all, does not have any immediate effect on yourself, with a degree of objectivity. Do not presume to understand the issue completely, no matter what side you’re on, and do not presume that the entire issue is bunk because you are fed up with people posting about it. It seems to me that social media, even something as simple and unobtrusive as a news feed, can be a breeding ground for polarity and extremism, false claims and heated debate (debate whose dangers get mediated by the Internet middleman through which it must travel).
I have a bit of a headache after reading through all these posts and the word “Kony” is cycling through my head like some kind of cursed mantra. I think the best thing for some of these Kony-page-lurkers to do is get outside and look up at the sky they are fortunate to see every day, and instead of conducting fallacious white-man’s-burden arguments about privileges over lives with more suffering and trial than they can ever imagine, enjoy their own life for just a moment. Then they can get back to Kony, if they want.
I’m not here to say I support one side of this issue (which has admittedly been present for years now without much fuss) or that the whole issue should be scrapped or even that everyone who says the whole issue should be scrapped should take a good long look at their morals. I’m not here to argue, challenge, refute, counter-refute, or anything else. In fact, the only thing I want to say is nothing. This has not been a very conclusive or directed blog post at all. I suppose all I am trying to say is that diving in with absolute arguments or assumptions of absolute knowledge into a slightly faddish movement which many people (on both sides) are uninformed about is not such a great idea. Dissociate yourself from the massive tide of your social groups. Do you have this much fervor when it comes to American politics, which affect you directly and probably will for quite a while?
You’ll have to excuse me, I’ve got to go take a few deep breaths and try to get the word “Kony” to stop floating up in my head like the buzzing of some kind of drone.
Kony