2008 Woodie Awards
Humanitarian Love
Real World Problems Require Action, Not Money
By Steven Bolger
9/17/07 - Opinion
Wearing colored bracelets, sleeping outside in tents, sending money weekly to California and throwing parties to watch "the movie" have somehow become effective ways to end the war in northern Uganda in the minds of America's youth. Invisible Children Inc., a nonprofit organization founded by three teenagers from San Diego, asks that our generation take an active role in bringing peace to northern Uganda and freeing the thousands of "invisible children" enslaved by rebel forces. Volunteers of the organization tour the country showing "the movie," a story of the daily lives of a few such "invisible children," at high schools, churches, and universities to communicate this message to America's youth.
While its intentions may be pure, Invisible Children Inc. applies juvenile ideas and rationale in an attempt to relieve one the worst cases of human rights abuse in the history of mankind. It focuses on bringing attention to the situation, yet has no viable plan to effect change in northern Uganda. I am devastated, as everyone should be, by the civil war that is tearing Uganda apart. Nothing, however, can or will change the plight of the thousands of "invisible children" except time.
The largest problem the three founders of Invisible Children Inc. had with the situation in the northern Uganda is that the international community seemed unwilling to lend substantial aid of any sort to the displaced people. They thus advocate that the U.S. and the international community collectively demand peace in Uganda. The consensus reached by almost every country of the world, that intervention is not the answer, stems from the sad but realistic view that nothing can be done.
A civil war is the result of a conflict of interests arising from recent political, social, or economic change. Civil wars are necessary for a country's successful development. No nation in the history of mankind has reached stability without at least one civil war. The international community cannot simply put an end to the tensions between the government and the rebels to end a bloody civil war that has raged for over twenty years.
While its intentions may be pure, Invisible Children Inc. applies juvenile ideas and rationale in an attempt to relieve one the worst cases of human rights abuse in the history of mankind. It focuses on bringing attention to the situation, yet has no viable plan to effect change in northern Uganda. I am devastated, as everyone should be, by the civil war that is tearing Uganda apart. Nothing, however, can or will change the plight of the thousands of "invisible children" except time.
The largest problem the three founders of Invisible Children Inc. had with the situation in the northern Uganda is that the international community seemed unwilling to lend substantial aid of any sort to the displaced people. They thus advocate that the U.S. and the international community collectively demand peace in Uganda. The consensus reached by almost every country of the world, that intervention is not the answer, stems from the sad but realistic view that nothing can be done.
A civil war is the result of a conflict of interests arising from recent political, social, or economic change. Civil wars are necessary for a country's successful development. No nation in the history of mankind has reached stability without at least one civil war. The international community cannot simply put an end to the tensions between the government and the rebels to end a bloody civil war that has raged for over twenty years.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
Alexander Gan
posted 9/17/07 @ 2:30 PM MST
"To the rest of you, keep your money and remember that the power to alter the flow of time is out of your hands."
Rather, the power to alter the flow of time is out of your wallet, instead, it is indeed in your hands - in your hands' ability to mold the reality around us. (Continued…)
David Frossard
posted 9/19/07 @ 5:23 PM MST
Dear Editor:
I'm confused here. Your editorial essayist claims (several times) that he has "the deepest feelings of concern" for people displaced by current warfare in Northern Uganda. (Continued…)
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