African Movement, Hipsters and Kony

I found a particularly interesting article today that really put into nice terms the whole "Kony Thing". Now, I'm not even going to touch the fact that the man behind the Kony 2012 movement was arrested for public indecency (among other things..) but while people's hearts seem to be in the right place, there is an interesting connection in the culture we are experiencing today. Toms, Kony, volunteering in Africa; they are all more than just a chance to do something good. There is a "cool factor" to these things. You are seen as an individual and hip but these represent a greater issue of how we over-simplify the issues in our world.

I'll go ahead and let you know, I am traveling to Africa in June. I want to be upfront and transparent, I chose to go to Africa because my parents were willing to send me, a friend was going through a good program, and the likely hood of me having the opportunity to travel in Eastern Africa in my imminent adult life is very low. I decided to take this chance and while I am doing some volunteer work, I am also traveling and seeing the landscape so many people talk about.

I am not saying, that going to Africa to chill with orphans, buying a pair of shoes, or getting a Kony call to action kit is a bad thing. In fact, I think it is great to get involved! But, the issue lies in blindly buying into a marketing scheme when there are more complex issues facing our world today. What our generation is wanting to do is to help while being an individual and impacting the world-all great intentions. But we have to look at the marketing behind these to understand that it is, in some cases, buying into a corporate machine.

What the Kony movement did, however, was show us how a conversation is possible through all of this. The world was rocked with the 30 minute video getting millions of views in one night. But then the wold has a discussion weighing the pro's and con's of buying an action box, a bracelet, accessorizing your mission. Our world is so much smaller that is was ten years ago with the internet making everything at our fingertips. We, as a generation, are able to look into what the world is doing and truly decide if it is a cause worth pursuing, looking at the bigger picture. It's amazing the power marketing has on cause related companies. Toms has their shoes, Kony has the bracelet, it's not just about giving back. It is about buying into the identity of the company and adopting it as part of yours. This article has a very interesting take on it, I suggest you read up. Maybe there is some changes we need to make in how we think we can solve the world's problems.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jonathan-kalan/saying-goodbye-to-hipster_b_1394729.html