Re: “#StopPhony” Arts and Entertainment, March 13There is a misconception that dissenting and criticizing anything popular makes you seem more reasonable. The recent awareness campaign by Invisible Children through their video “Kony 2012” is undoubtedly not without controversy. I have a different problem with the attitude shown in the article “#StopPhony.” This sort of response promotes the feeling that doing small things like updating your Facebook status, sharing a video or signing a petition is insignificant and in fact, immature if you are not an expert on the intricacies of the subject. This type of feeling makes the world’s problems feel too big and too difficult to solve. This type of attitude is a self-fulfilling cycle, causing inaction and future skepticism on activism with large goals. The easiest thing to do in the face of insurmountable odds is to do nothing. It is also the worst thing to do. There has never been any movement where mainstream society believed that the odds of success were high. Nor has there ever been a movement without possible negative consequences. No one has ever tried to change a regime, policy or societal status quo with large support or a flawless plan. All change originates from movement building, which consists mostly of small actions and small methods of participation. People have different abilities to donate time and resources, and contributing anything is important. Any demonstrated interest is better than no interest, no matter how pedantic and uneducated you presume the people on your news feed to be.
Brandon Bass ’13