Kony 2012

Two days ago I got an excited phone call from a friend about the Kony 2012 video which I watched. Child soldiers...yes I knew of those years ago and Romeo Delaire wrote a book about them. The video went viral and now has people putting up posters and having id bracelets. I have to wonder why the excitement and interest.

Granted child soldiers are a horrible thing, but give me two minutes and I can mention many horrible things in the world.

Lake Victoria has a lot of oil, it is interesting to me that the US has sent 'advisors' there. Remember Vietnam? Congo is already solidly in the hands of the Chinese and perhaps the US is seeking to protect some interests or rather gain interests.

What a clever idea it would be if the US congress could point to the many people who post posters (and whose Ip address would be known by the way), have ID bracelets etc and say "look we have worldwide support..yes it is time for military intervention". It would be a grassroots military intervention. Unlike other cases when you actually have to make an argument before you send young soldiers into battle or invade a country..this would be "to save children AND it has international support" How brilliant is that?

Social media as my sister pointed out is as big as the invention of the press. It is a very quick way to spread information and indeed misinformation. What has taken me by surprise is the number of people who were blissfully unaware that there were child soldiers for many years. Do they not read?

The moral of this story is don't believe everything you read and if it comes from social media take it with a very large grain of salt, or in this case a dash of oil.