My Take on Kony 2012

Is it the perfect message?  No.  Is it way better than the alternative?  Yes.

First, if you haven't seen the Kony 2012 video, check it out here.  Now that you've seen it, you may have also heard some of the arguments against it:

• It oversimplifies the issue. There are more bad guys than Kony to worry about, it can't be solved so simply, etc.  And the nuanced version resonated how much?  That is, how much did people know/care about any of this before the video.
• It's out of date. Kony isn't even in Uganda any more, and Uganda is a really nice place.  Uganda may be doing well, but Kony and his buddies are still at large.  The film maker mentions that he's no longer in Uganda.  Besides, it isn't about Uganda - it's about Kony.
• It plays to the white savior complex. A bunch of white American college kids want to feel good about themselves for rescuing the poor Africans.  It's not a white/black thing.  It's a developed world/not-developed world thing.  Sometimes those who have want to help those who don't.  Comparitively speaking, Africa doesn't.  Who's being racist?  Now are Africans helpless?  No.  Can folks use help sometimes?  Yes.  So lose that argument.
• It targets the wrong issue. There are worse problems in Uganda and in Africa, in general.  Okay, go ahead and get people to care about that one.  Don't hate these folks for caring about something else.

For those that lament the lack of popularity for the more nuanced, timely message that targets the right issue and shows how self-sufficient Africans are, I feel you.  I sincerely wish that something like that would resonate with people - but so far, it hasn't.  For those who feel that developed-world aid is destructive (like this guy), I think there is a valid argument to be made. But I don't think the West doing nothing has made this particular situation any better, so maybe doing something will help.  And there may be better ways to help than what this group wants.  That's fine.  But that's what we have policy makers for:  top figure out how to do stuff in an effective way.

Also... Just read about a weird incident with the film maker...  Assuming that it's true (which it appears to be), it doesn't matter. It's not about that guy (he kind of creeped me out anyways...) it's about the message.

So, those of you who know more about this than me:  what do you think?