My Two Cents on Kony2012

I love that everyone is talking about this campaign. What's more, I love that everyone is talking critically about this campaign. And I don't just mean being critical of it.

I think those of you who read visible children and blindly wrote the whole thing off are just as ignorant as those who only watched the film and now blindly support Invisible Children. 

But it appears to me that both of those groups are the minority. The majority of comments, blogs, articles, etc, that I've read have taken a genuine critical approach; looking at the merits of IC and Kony2012 and at their downfalls, discussing the power of social media, talking about the power of the international community and how giving aid or military support might actually affect central Africa. Maybe I'm blindly optimistic about society, but what I've been seeing is a lot of individuals looking in a lot of places and drawing their own conclusions on the whole phenomenon. To me, this is fantastic. 

I think this says a lot about who we are as a society today. We have a world of information at our fingertips and we are using it. We are using it to ask questions and find answers about the media that bombards our lives. We are using it to make political statements in a social world. We are all thriving in a world of technology and using it to address the issues that are important to us and the people around us. 

We're saying that politics doesn't only happen in fancy buildings in big cities. It happens here; on this blog and on your facebook page and in Twitter trends and YouTube comments. 

Of course, it remains to be seen if and how this translates into action in any way. 

Whatever you think about the Kony2012 campaign, you have to admit that the consequences of its' popularity has shown a lot about the way we think about politics, charities, the international community, Africa, social media, celebrity participation, accountability, and on and on. It has pushed the world into a global dialogue about an international issue. Tell me that's not cool?

Some things you might want to watch and read that are related:

The Kony2012 film. You can't talk about it if you haven't seen it.

Visible Children tumblr. The most popular criticism.

The twitter feed for #Kony2012.

BBC Africa correspondent view. 

A rap about Kony and IC. 

From the FT.

Critical piece from the Atlantic. 

There are countless more obviously. You all know how to use Google. 

What to Read this Week

This is an attempt to instate a weekly post. It is a list of random things on the internet I’ve read or watched this week. Some of them are serious, some of them are not. My mood tends to vary over the week and this macafouchette of articles and videos is the result.
Here is this week's list:

1.) Stop Coddling the Super Rich
Many of you have probably read this already. It was trending on Twitter and popping up all over Facebook. But just in case you haven't seen this, I'm drawing it to your attention. It's an op-ed in the New York Times written by Warren Buffett. Essentially he argues that America's financial problems could in part be solved by increasing taxes on the richest parts of the population. In my opinion, this is the kind of common sense that would make the world a better place. 

2.) What Google Didn’t Buy
Ok, enough with the serious. Time for some fun. The folks at Google have a lot of money and can buy just about anything. But they are missing out on some true joys in life. My personal favourite: an in-house cheese cave.

Mmmm... cheeeessee

3.) Post Conflict Potter
This didn't actually come out this week but I want to include it anyway. If you're not into Harry Potter this may not interest you. But if you are it is kind of cool. It is a real life foreign policy analysis of the fictional world of Magic. Personally, I really hated that final chapter where we look 19 years into the future and see a world that doesn't look any different. For me, this article was a better look into the future of Harry's life. It talks about the politics of the magical world in a post-war era. It's a little bit lefty but, c'mon, so is Harry. Anyway, give it a read!

4.) Jeremy Gilley
This is actually a video of a speech given by Jeremy Gilley, the founder of Peace One Day. If you've not heard of it, you can find out more here. He talks about how he started out his organisation and the ups and downs that got him to where he is today. He's a cool, well-spoken guy with an inspiring story.

5.) Beer Billboard Casts Long Shadow 
If you are like me, a sucker for super-cool advertising, this amazing artwork is really going to make you crave a Newcastle Brown Ale. I don’t even like beer. But I would drink one because of this.

6.) A veryimportant speech about social media 

This is a speech by the US Chief of Naval Operations. It is a bit long-winded and I’m going to admit that I haven’t read the whole thing. But the message is an important one: stop seeing social media as a security risk and start seeing it as a tool to engage more dynamically with an “audience of audiences”. If you use Facebook/Twitter/Google+ (and let’s face it, you DO!) and you’ve ever worried about how your profile affects your professional life, then this speech reminds you that your online life is not a professional liability but a very important tool.

7.) You LOL you Lose!

Another great advertising campaign/ fun way to waste time when you should be working/studying/exercising. Warning: might induce cravings for unhealthy dairy products. 

Happy Reading!