7 Things I've Learnt From The Kony Campaign (make that 8, No! - 9)

In the last week, my head has done a 180 on political activism. I still believe in action but my ideas have been challenged.

In 7 'tweets' here's what I've learnt:

1. Gen Y aren’t slactivists. They have a sense of compassion & justice. But they’re damned if they do, damned if they don’t!

 2. Justice is a difficult concept to wed to Tolerance, considering Justice is an intolerance of injustice.

3. Most of the west is the 1% and we feel social responsibility along with our privilege.

4. 70 million views proves people are interested in engaging and it is possible for someone to reach a global audience.

5. The delay between discovering injustice and gathering people power to right it might render the cause moot when it hits the ground.

6. The world is a complicated place. Good intentions don’t always translate well.

7. Some people think it’s better to do nothing than something.

I don't know where you stand, what  you think, or whether your ideas have been challenged. But all I can say is: Thank goodness I don't rule the world. It's hard for an idealist to work with anything less than ideal.

STOP PRESS STOP PRESS! As of Saturday, 17th March, I have learnt THE most important point from the KONY campaign. And this is kind of embarrassing for me to say because I have looked at the issues seriously until now.

8. The most important thing I've learnt is if you want your message to be taken seriously, NEVER, I mean NEVER, make a High School Musical promotional video for your cause!

And finally...

It's ironic that Jason Russell said his video was a social experiement, because it has been, but in a way he didn't predict. Which leads me to lesson 9, the most tragic lesson and hopefully the final lesson from the whole caper:

9.  No one copes with the searing eyes of the world suddenly upon them. Sadly, they get cinged & eventually crash & burn.

image: bbc.co.uk