I’m about a month late to this party, but have you guys seen Kickstriker.com?
Inspired by Kickstarter, the site purports to “cut out the middleman in online activism, allowing funders to directly support the causes they care about.” Potential funders can contribute to a Mobile Black Site (tagline: “discrete tactical vehicle for interrogators on the go”), DIY drones, or my personal favorite: the hunt for Joseph Kony. A contribution of $50,000 will net you one of Kony’s teeth, while $100,000 will get you his skull (less any teeth that have already been disbursed).
Kickstriker is the work of three graduate students in NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program, Josh Begley, Mehan Jayasuriya, and James Borda, who came up with the idea during a classroom discussion on Kony 2012. Intended as a commentary on the fine line between this type of activism and crowd-sourced warfare, the site has triggered reactions that suggest said line may actually be nonexistent. As Spencer Ackerman reports, the satirical nature of the project is not obvious to all viewers, and Kickstriker has gotten a number of press inquiries that take it at face value.
Josh, Mehan, James, well played, sirs. We owe you a drink. Well, three drinks. You don’t have to share.