cynical me is going to be on the defense and anticipate that a handful of people are going to make accusations about supporters of the STOP KONY 2012 movement as hopping on the ‘activist bandwagon’ or being under-educated on the matter. is it really unbelievable that such a large number of people express interest in a cause that aims to eliminate a crime against humanity? when it is a crime against humanity comparable to the holocaust, armenian genocide, and khmer rouge? i hope that no one, in the midst of a potentially landmark moment, would make some pretentious argument about how a majority of the youth is making an empty commitment. that their vimeo shares, tweets, and statuses are merely a temporary investment in the cause for reasons of image—to look ‘aware’ or ‘humanitarian. i also dread the pretentious “wake up! it’s been going on for over two decades!” comments. it seems that some people have a desperate need to be praised for being at the birth of a cause. and as ironic as it may be, some claim to be very passionate about the cause as they were at the “forefront”, while at the same time being unwelcoming to others looking to join.

plain and simple, my “commitment” to the cause is in fact empty. this isn’t something that i feel compelled to get deeply involved in. nonetheless, i think that tearing families apart, sex slavery, and refusing someone of their childhood is awful. nonetheless, i think that the international community’s (particularly the US’s, as the world leader) inaction in the face of such large-scale inhumanity is a repeated problem that needs to be resolved, this being the opportunity to finally do so. and so naturally i choose the laziest easiest mode of activism via twitter—a choice i believe to be better than remaining silent. it is historical fact that complacency is, for the most part, dangerous as it often clears the way for acts of hate much like those of joseph kony. between ill-informed activist efforts and complacency, why would anyone prefer complacency? and why would anyone take the youth using social media for promoting awareness, compassion and international community spirit as an opportunity to criticize rather than an opportunity celebrate? it does not make sense to deny that anyone would not be touched after learning about the events in africa; accordingly, neither does attempting to belittle anyone’s sympathetic expressions. and if in fact some people’s intentions are to look like mother theresa, regardless of motives their voice only serves to empower the cause. as for those hipster activists who knew about joseph kony “before it was cool,” i don’t see that there’s room for anything besides appreciation and relief that the message is becoming widespread. maybe it is unfortunate that the masses are just now starting to become aware, but is prolonged ignorance really the better alternative?

every effort regardless of size should be recognized as valuable. even if a majority of the youth may never take any serious measures to advance the effort, at least they have made critical contributions to laying the groundwork for those who will.