Dennis Gosnell, Assignment Editor

Activism has always been an important part of American culture. Whether it was the forefathers standing up to Great Britain, African Americans standing up in protest of segregation and prejudice, or even now the 99 percent standing up to the one percent of Wall Street.

In this way, activism holds a special place in the hearts of Americans, as it gives them the opportunity to show their frustration over the direction their lives have been pushed.

However, how does one determine if a cause is just or an ill-considered manipulation? Many have the right to be angry at the way Wall Street has abused their financial power, yet standing up to the problem Wall Street represents causes an even more substantial problem.

What happens if the 99 percent wins the battle and financial reform takes place? People who rely on Wall Street and financial institutions for everything from housing to retirement funds to savings accounts would be affected.

Just thinking about the amount of hard-working individuals who would lose their jobs is staggering. Action without thought is careless. Does something need to be fixed? Yes, but does it need to be fixed blindly? Probably not.

Occupy Wall Street seems to have been a fad, signs of dissent have all but faded from the public eye as interest and exposure have dwindled to tiny droplets falling from a shutoff valve.

The public has moved on to a new target and a new problem that began decades ago in Uganda. The name of the movement makes it seem like people want a rival of a hotdog or the Coney Island boardwalk.

Kony 2012 is a movement started March 8, to stop the forced military servitude of children in the Lord’s Resistance Army that is based primarily out of Uganda.

Should this newest activism issue be dealt with? Yes, but the question underlining all of these actions are why now and not before? These two issues have been around for many decades and now people seem to be dancing like puppets.

The answer of course is the outbreak of social media and the greater ability for people to propagandize issues, giving more hands the ability to stir the social beehive into irrational directions.