Snap To Decisions

I'm a typical human being. I can easily be led into making decisions just because of the things that are said. You can probably easily convince me into helping out in any sort of situation. My heart just wont allow me to walk away when I know that there is something going on. And if it is a big enough situation, I act. I get thoughts into my head without truly knowing the facts. All I know is that I love to help. I feel a fire grow inside of my chest every time a situation is presented to me.

Joseph Kony - Is the video enough?

By now, everyone has heard about Kony 2012, a video made by the Invisible Children. If you are new to my blog and are unaware of what it is, I posted a blog about it. You can scroll down for a bit of information. But I'll run through it briefly. Kony 2012 is a campaign aimed at putting pressure onto the government to capture Joseph Kony. Joseph Kony is the leader of the Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda. Their goal is to take over the government and rebuild it based on the 10 Commandments. He was known for kid napping children right of their houses and either forcing to fight, or selling them into sex slavery. This was going on for about 20 years. He is number one on the International Criminal Courts most wanted list. A man by the name of Jason Russell directed a video that brought to the news to many Americans. Two days after the video was posted onto YouTube, it went viral. Many Americans, including myself. rose up and wanted to be involved almost instantly. I know that I personally only saw the first 13 minutes or so of the video before I started Tweeting about it. I post it on my Facebook, changed my default picture, and spread the video to anyone and everyone that I saw was online. The very next day, I presented it to two classes in my school. I know I wanted to be apart of the movement. I felt inspired by this video.

But is inspiration really enough? Can inspiration truly bring about change? I thought it was enough. I thought that if I simply told enough people or spread the word far enough, that things would begin to change. But that is SO far from the truth. Inspiration is simply the very first step. But sadly, that is where most people end it. They don't pursue it, they don't keep with it. As soon as the get the common knowledge, they are done. At first, I was thinking like that. But my teacher pushed me to take a closer look. She herself was just becoming familiar with the movement and encouraged me to keep on the hunt. She wasn't about to let me look like a fool chasing his tail, take a bite out of something that was far bigger then it seemed on the surface then it really was. And I'm glad she pushed me.

The Invisible Children, an organization that was also founded by Jason Russell and the minds behind Kony 2012, had A LOT of things hidden from the world. In their video, they did the one thing that they knew would get people moving. They played with out emotions. They knew the buttons to pressed, and the jabbed at them through the entire video. My heart ached and panged through the entire half hour long video. There wasn't a second that I didn't want to hop on a plane, fly right over to Uganda, and hunt Kony down myself. The things that the video brought to light coupled by the numbers were outstanding. But could the entire thing have been over played?

One thing that I found out through my search for more information that, conveniently, wasn't a part of the video, is that the Ugandan army itself was also taking part of the awful crimes that the LRA were committing. The very system that was supposed to protect the people of Uganda were hurting the citizen in the exact same fashion as the rebels. The soldiers have been known to use rape as a form of military strategy. They are just as violent and brutal as the LRA themselves. And these are the people that are supposed to helping and protecting the citizen of Uganda.

Some times I just don't know what to think. People surprise me all the time. You put all of your faith into something, hoping that it turns out one way, but then they turn around and do something else. And I found myself in that very position this week.

Jason Russell - This the man we're going to follow?

Jason Russell was recently taken into custody and hospitalized. He was found walking around San Diego clad only in his underwear (later removed, leaving him solely in the nude). The man, 33 years of age, was screaming and pounding his fists on the sidewalk as passer watched. As it turns out, Russell is suffering from a psychosis, or the loss of reality. The Invisible Children have reported that this was brought on by the stress that has surrounded the Kony 2012 video.

This must have really put an unfix-able dent into the Invisible Children's campaign. To have their ring leader get caught up into something like this isn't going to look very good. With Russell be the one that made the video and the driving force behind it, many would question his sanity at the time. How can we be sure that he wasn't having similar issues at the time? Are all the facts completely correct? I'm not saying that the video is completely wrong. But I just want you to be aware of the possibility that it may not all be as it seems.

Russell isn't the only one that has made me question. There have been many reports posted about the Invisible Children. Many things were brought to light about them. But, seeing as I can't be 100% positive about their accuracy, I only give them a portion of a thought, just like I am with the video now. But as a person that was truly considering following this cause to the very end, I know the importance of reading up on it it. Many have called the Invisible Children out. Some simply destroying them with words, others simply informing readers. Many just want those that are wanting to get caught up in the Kony action be aware of that else they aren't thinking about. One college professor from Yale has done just that. The Invisible Children have even refused to share their financial information as set forth by the standards of the Better Business Bureau.

There is so much more then what meets the eye when it comes to movements, and Kony 2012 has taught me just that. Do I still feel like I should do something? You bet. Do I know exactly what I am going to do or how I'm even going to do it? Nope. I want to that the Invisible Children for exposing this to me, even if they aren't 100% creditable.

One day, I will do something. It may be tomorrow, it may be in a few years. But all I know is that if I ever want to be a changer of the world (one of my BIGGEST dreams) then there is a lot of work that I have to do, tons of research to look into, and loads of time to dedicate. No more running head first into something. After learning of it, you have to take a step back, ingest it, process it, work on and develop it, and then spew back something that is plausible.