Sir, – Orla Tinsley (Home News, March 10th) and Breda O’Brien (Opinion, March 10th) both wrote very interesting articles about the immensely popular campaign video calling for the capture of Ugandan war lord, Joseph Kony.
The Kony 2012 video is an example of the potential power of social media as a campaign tool and a welcome celebration of the enormous potential of “people power”.
At the same time, as Tinsley points out, the video owes its success to its ability to reduce complex issues to simple solutions, prompting the question whether in the fight against global injustice, simple solutions and good intentions are enough.
In my view, they are not. In all its manifestations, overseas aid ultimately impacts on other people’s lives, and we therefore have a moral imperative to do more than merely “our best”. The prime directive should be to “do no harm” and to listen to the people we are trying to serve. The Kony 2012 video is a beautifully made and highly effective campaign tool. Hopefully the next campaign video will improve it, by basing it on what Ugandans, not outsiders, are asking for. – Yours, etc,