The Outhouse - The Greatest Comic Book Forum

by **Doozer** » Thu Mar 08, 2012 9:33 pm

dairydead wrote:
stop using this "great white hope" bullshit.

As soon as they stop trying to live it:

by **dairydead** » Thu Mar 08, 2012 9:43 pm

Doozer wrote:
As soon as they stop trying to live it:

haha as if some toolbags holding guns suddenly makes them racist monsters. I find it appaling that some of these blogs are trying to convince people that ANY "westerner" trying to help others is racist. Its fucking idiotic.

by **ZombieRed** » Thu Mar 08, 2012 9:44 pm

Also I get the whole idea of raising "awareness" for the issue --albeit incredibly misinformed-- but that's already been accomplished through the social media and internet. The city events (I got invited to a few of them on Facebook) where you just put posters of Kony up are kind of pointless, and slightly annoying. Say you still don't know who Kony is after these last two days, you're probably not going to know who he is after looking at a poster that says Kony 2012.

by **Doozer** » Thu Mar 08, 2012 9:46 pm

If Kony ever shows his face in Williamsburg, Brooklyn....OOOOOOH BOY, DO THEY HAVE SOME STERN WORDS AND WARM PBR FOR HIM!

by **Doozer** » Thu Mar 08, 2012 9:48 pm

dairydead wrote:
haha as if some toolbags holding guns suddenly makes them racist monsters. I find it appaling that some of these blogs are trying to convince people that ANY "westerner" trying to help others is racist. Its fucking idiotic.

When did I say they were racist monsters?

Privileged, self-aggrandizing white dudes off adventuring in Africa =/= racist monsters. They = privileged, self aggrandizing white dudes.

Now, the fact that they use funds that are ostensibly supposed to go toward helping people to fund their African adventurism, that pushes it more toward the terribly douchey end of the spectrum.

by **Doozer** » Thu Mar 08, 2012 9:55 pm

I don't have anything against white people helping in non-white countries. In fact, my personal hero is Bill Gates and the Gates Foundation, and I also have a tremendous amount of respect for GW Bush and his efforts to combat AIDS in Africa. When I "grow up", I'd love to work for the Gates Foundation or anyone else doing serious work in Africa and other developing parts of the world.

I only have a problem with these particular guys and their attitudes concerning their mission and the way they conduct it.

They're adventure tourists who have found a way to rationalize and fund their 19th century Euro-colonial African adventure.

by **ZombieRed** » Thu Mar 08, 2012 9:56 pm

Also it's paternalistic and patronizing. It's better to create better infrastructure and an environment that encourages Ugandans to solve this problem themselves than it is to just throw money at everything. Though to be fair, many charities helping Africa are guilty of that.

by **Doozer** » Thu Mar 08, 2012 9:58 pm

ZombieRed wrote:Also it's paternalistic and patronizing.

Thank you, these are the words I've been grasping for all day.

by **dairydead** » Thu Mar 08, 2012 10:00 pm

Doozer wrote:
When did I say they were racist monsters?

Privileged, self-aggrandizing white dudes off adventuring in Africa =/= racist monsters. They = privileged, self aggrandizing white dudes.

Now, the fact that they use funds that are ostensibly supposed to go toward helping people to fund their African adventurism, that pushes it more toward the terribly douchey end of the spectrum.

the "adventurism" is pure speculation.

by **dairydead** » Thu Mar 08, 2012 10:05 pm

Doozer wrote:I don't have anything against white people helping in non-white countries. In fact, my personal hero is Bill Gates and the Gates Foundation, and I also have a tremendous amount of respect for GW Bush and his efforts to combat AIDS in Africa. When I "grow up", I'd love to work for the Gates Foundation or anyone else doing serious work in Africa and other developing parts of the world.

I only have a problem with these particular guys and their attitudes concerning their mission and the way they conduct it.

They're adventure tourists who have found a way to rationalize and fund their 19th century Euro-colonial African adventure.

See, i agree with all of that,but where is the line of "racist" and "charity".

by **Doozer** » Thu Mar 08, 2012 10:07 pm

dairydead wrote:
the "adventurism" is pure speculation.

They're running around, playing soldier with people who no longer have any tangible connection to the problem they are supposedly trying to solve, posing with EXTREEEEEME weapons and hob-nobbing with officials, all while putting out a message of these poor, defenseless Ugandan's and their terrible on-going struggle with a now non-existent threat.

I feel pretty safe speculating.

by **Royal Nonesuch** » Thu Mar 08, 2012 10:10 pm

Adventuring white people aside, Kony is kind of a bad dude.

by **Doozer** » Thu Mar 08, 2012 10:15 pm

dairydead wrote:
See, i agree with all of that,but where is the line of "racist" and "charity".

I think there's a line between racism-racism, which sounds like what you've been seeing on blogs maybe (people thinking these guys are just thinking "Hey, lets show these dumb spades how to run a country!") and misguided, patronizing racism ("Hey, lets help these poor, misguided, child-like negros and end their plight!").
These guys are the latter.

I mean, who doesn't want to be a hero? But, they're just clever and just aware enough to realize that they don't have the clout to do it, so they turn to well meaning but largely ill-informed 18-25 year olds to help fund their adventures off helping the noble savages of Africa.

by **Doozer** » Thu Mar 08, 2012 10:20 pm

Royal Nonesuch wrote:Adventuring white people aside, Kony is kind of a bad dude.

True.

But, it sounds like he's out of reach of the Ugandan government and his militia is no longer the threat it was half a decade ago.

If the African Union or the ICC really wanted him by this point in his waning influence, they could probably get him, or get NATO or the EU to help bring him in.

Or just send a Tread Stone operative after him. We all know how these things work.

by **dairydead** » Thu Mar 08, 2012 10:23 pm

Doozer wrote:
They're running around, playing soldier with people who no longer have any tangible connection to the problem they are supposedly trying to solve, posing with EXTREEEEEME weapons and hob-nobbing with officials, all while putting out a message of these poor, defenseless Ugandan's and their terrible on-going struggle with a now non-existent threat.

I feel pretty safe speculating.

fair enough. I have no love for Invisible Children, but can putting a spotlight on a blighted nation be the worst thing ever? I feel like people are blowing this up out of proportion, especially with the race thing.