Kony 2012 critics and how I solved my moral dilemma

The Kony 2012 video has been watched by 60 million people in one week. A great film, a great initiative, it could only be inspiring for many of us. And not only from a humanitarian or humanistic point of view, but also from a professional perspective, especially for us that work in mass media, public relations or any communication field. It was useful for me to back track the process of thought that brought the creators of this film to the success they have today. Briefly, I was very inspired by the movie and the cause.

But, like any good thing that’s happening and is successful, the initiative and the people behind this managed to get some serious criticism very quickly.

First, there is this conspiracy theory that says that the US government is behind this movie with the only purpose to find a reason to bring its army to Africa and gain momentum against China’s presence in the African continent.

Secondly, they say the facts are not right, so the film receives criticism for being very manipulative and emotional, and not depicting the real facts.

Thirdly, they say that the money the Invisible Children raises from our donations go mostly in the wrong place, like on salaries, travel expenses, film making etc, and only a small part goes to real projects in Africa.

Whether I have or not arguments against these critics, these 3 points are enough to put me – and probably most of us – in a moral dilemma!

I spent my weekend thinking about it and here it is how I solved my moral dilemma (with a little help from Descartes):

I don’t know if Invisible Children have genuine good intentions or not, but I choose to believe they have, as in this case, everyone, inclusive me, gets the maximum benefits.

And to be honest, sometimes we just need inspiration! And if I have to donate USD30 for the only purpose to get thousands of million people inspired, I’d say it’s worth it!