Oh, Activism

I guess it's been a bit, since the whole Blogger format's got me feeling a little disoriented. That's okay, because there is licorice, Jones Soda, and I am listening to Green Day for the first time in five years (I admit I'd forgotten about them, but that's what iTunes is for, right?)
So it's 4/20, and feel free to laugh at the implied marijuana joke. Alright, that's enough, thank you. It also is the "Day of Action" for those silly enough to fall for the whole Kony 2012 thing. So let us talk about activism and marketing, two subjects that go skipping down the lane of consciousness hand-in-hand.
Kony 2012 is a movement, for those of you thus far unexposed, that places at the focus Joseph Kony, a dictator of times since passed that was notorious for coercing and threatening children into joining his militia in Uganda. Of course, he is now a mostly-powerless old man who has since fled to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (a country so ironically named that it rivals The Peoples' Republic of China in ridiculousness) and has done little in the last ten years. Yes, to be fair, he is still a local threat and a war criminal. Given this, a campaign of the Kony 2012's magnitude is a tad overblown, would you not say?
Ah, but this is the magic that is marketing in activism. Throw it a little money, and you can turn everything from aging former terrorists to bugs in your berry frappe into a political movement. It is truly fascinating, how Adam Smith's invisible hand burrows into everything. You see, the base of the fervor behind this is a well-paid marketing strategy.
Invisible Children, the agency behind the Kony 2012 movement, has spent more money on their marketing strategy than they have on the actual cause- after reporting almost $14 million for 2011, they've spent about $3 million on programs in Africa and almost $4 million on film-making and presentations. (The USA Today article cites that they did not spend $6.5 million- http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-04-17/kony-2012-invisible-children/54362478/1) Obviously, you're going to do a fair job of creating enthusiasm with that kind of money, even when the issue is considered by many to be past its prime. I liken it a bit to protesting the atrocities committed by Saddam Hussein and the Ba'ath Party (who doesn't love a good bath party every now and then?) in 2012, even when Saddam's been dead for almost a decade.
Look, there's nothing wrong with getting teenagers involved in activism. I did a fair amount of activism work when I was in high school. I aspire to work for non-profits as a career (as you can see, my tuition money's been money well-spent). I love activism and I love seeing people get involved in something, but there are other causes out there that could really use this kind of publicity. I'm not trying to tell anyone what causes to support here, but I'm trying to tell people to pick and choose. I wish the people caught up in the Kony 2012 thing would spend some time and examine the issue. Examine the videos with a critical eye. Why, exactly, would any humanitarian activism request that you commit misdemeanors in order to promote the cause? Why would they demand that you use their "kits" in order to raise awareness? Why would they rely heavily on outdated information to create a relevant movement?
I've had to work pretty hard to understand the causes I get behind, and there have been plenty of causes I either abandon after further examination or pick up after further examination. If you have thoroughly examined the Kony 2012 movement, looked at how the agency spends money, read about the conflict in Central Africa, and you still support it, then I have no problem with you. However, if you are willing to base support for a campaign solely on a video on YouTube, I have nothing to say to you.