KONY 2012

Hi Theo,

The KONY 2012 phenom is definitely an effective use of the Internet to get people behind a cause.  It's something we can learn from, hopefully.

And yet, I've heard that Kony has not been seen in Uganda in five years, and that some of the Ugandans who've seen this video are upset, saying that it is propaganda to encourage people to invade their country.

Secrets KONY 2012 Is Desperate to Hide

I don't know what's true about all this, I haven't looked into the whole thing much.  (Btw, I do not endorse or necessarily trust Alex Jones, and I only watched the first couple minutes of this clip. But I DO like to evaluate things from different points of view, when possible.)

But it's interesting to me how much emphasis Adi Da places in the book "Not-Two Is Peace" on developing discrimination.

The usual man or woman, who works in a factory or an office and listens to the "news" faithfully, is constantly (and inevitably) exploited by all kinds of shrewd people...

- Not-Two Is Peace, 3rd ed., p. 120

Why does Adi Da say things like this?

Anyway, yes, the Kony 2012 phenomenon is a super effective Internet campaign.  I wonder when those of us who have read Not-Two Is Peace will get off our bottoms and do something similar, that reaches vast numbers of people.

I haven't watched the Kony video, but yes it really went viral.
It is propaganda for invading Uganda, or sending US Africom into Uganda, because a massive amount of oil (2 billion barrels) has been found.

I urge you to read: 'confessions of an economic hit man', by John Perkins, the tactics of toppling / destabalizing a government from within the country is a favored CIA tactic.
Have a look at the map of middle eastern countries with US army basis and you will notice that the riots and uprisings are all in countries that don't have US army basis. http://rense.com/general95/US-bases-Iran1.jpg
Need I say more?

To top it off have a look at this link about the creator of the Kony video: http://jhaines6.wordpress.com/2012/03/17/cnn-runs-damage-control-after-kony-2012%E2%80%B2-mastermind-arrested-for-masturbating-in-public/
Do click on the link: Jason Russel NAKED MELTDOWN........See what succes of a viral video can to to people :))

To come back to your point, yes we should make a video or Youtube message about NTIP that goes viral. Yes we should take the risk of a succes meltdown :)

Thanks Marco.  I've heard very good things about "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man", and I think I skimmed through it years ago.

By the way, in this case, I do recommend the Alex Jones video clip I posted here.  I finally watched the whole thing, and it is quite interesting.  (I don't recommend listening to his stuff in general though, as his aims seem different from the aims expressed in Not-Two Is Peace, at least to me.)  Noam Chomsky used to say that the best way to follow the news is to listen to several very different news sources, and this is something that makes sense to me.

I was initially impressed by the video and wanted to get involved. Even began process of requesting days off from work so I could help postering in April. Then I heard from friends I respect (including my son's high school art teacher who is spending his retirement in Africa advocating for children's rights.) They criticized the Kony 2012 effort as a flawed approach because, ultimately, it calls for a military solution, backed by the US, which could have disastrous results in Uganda and Congo, and the region. Furthermore, they felt that President Obama's decision was not likely based on humanitarian motives. Instead, my friends suggest Washington policy makers are cynically using this as an opportunity to secure a military foothold in a resource-rich region of Africa; a region whose resources reportedly are simultaneously coveted by China. Get the connection? "We better get in there first. Before China, that is!"


Clearly, military solutions are not the means proposed in Not-Two Is Peace. 

Aspects of the Kony 2012 internet phenomenon certainly foreshadow the potential use of the Web as a tool for communication, organizing, and change as envisaged by Adi Da. The Kony 2012 movement is in a very early stage. Very dynamic, yet there's no telling where this nascent effort may lead. Hopefully, cool heads and wise hearts will find voice within the movement and benignly influence the millions of idealistic young people who support Kony 2012.

Right now, we aren't ready to offer a creative, practical, specific, ready-to-go alternative  proposal to counter the militaristic bent of the Kony 2012 effort. Do we? Something ready to hit the road running? Right now? Before December 31, 2012?

Still, the idealism of these kids energized by Kony 2012. Their hearts are in the right place. I'm impressed. It's their conclusion --- the military political solution -- I question.

Exciting times, these. With one foot in the future, The other, in the past.

To be continued.     

Right...promoting "Humanitarian wars" to spread democracy.
This is propaganda for all expansive aggresions aiming for world domination.
The term Humanitarian war is a contradiction in itself.

Talking about war crimes and war criminals, see my previous post.
And don't be lead into any war by the Petro-Dollar-War propaganda machine !!!
It is all unnecessary destruction without any moral. Humanitarian they say, tssss....they can't even feel empathy nor feel what it is to be a real human being.......

The Democracy that is spread by wars has nothing to do with democracy and everything to do with Petro-Dollar-War control over the world reserve currency pegged to oil and all aggressive expansion over resources and territories.

We can learn from Kony 2012, how the war propaganda operates and gets many good hearted people on board to wage wars for a totally different purpose than shown in the video.
So learn how we are decieved and don't fall for it again.
If you want to use this momentum with Kony 2012, then put out a video that explains the deception, warn people to not fall for it again and add a link to NTIP in it.

When I saw the Kony video a few weeks ago I was initially impressed.  However, there were a couple of red flags I noticed: (1) He was using his young son to make his point, even telling us that the first time he told his son about Kony was on camera - this seemed exploitative (2) He was recommending the US government get involved and encouraging people who watched the video to support this involvement.

I also found it odd that he recommended people wear a bracelet with the name Kony on it - you become what you meditate on, so it seemed like a bad idea.

So I did a search and found out about the criticisms mentioned above and the fact that the video was not really accurate in present time.  I didn't post it.  Many of my friends did, though - including some for whom I have great respect.  It's easy to be taken in....

A few days ago, the guy in the video was taken in by the police for running through the streets naked.... 

I was disappointed that the Kony video cited military response as the desired outcome. What about the non-violent example of the Women of Liberia, or the use of human shields, as has been used in the Middle East? There is a wide spectrum of responses to war criminals, including the people driving them out of power, and holding them accountable through non-violent means.