yup..Live 8...It was fricking awesome eh?
So Marty thinks he went to go see a rockin' concert...and that's all he cares about. Good Times. And of course that is who the media shows us: those eejits who have no idea that the continent of Africa is on fire while we stand about admiring the glow.
I have my friends asking me if I think Live 8 will actually help Africa? Did it actually raise awareness to the many Marty's out there who are blissfully ignorant? Yes.
Did Live 8 *directly* effect change in Africa ? No. But that is not what Live 8 was about. Many have said they should have raised money too but Live 8 was a huge publicity rally aimed at applying pressure on the leaders of 8 nations. It's all about earned media. (like a big old tuiton rally) Will it work? Well I'll tell you this....if the G8 summit results in anything less than a bloody miracle there will be a lot of people watching.
Geldolf has managed to get the issues of Debt, trade, and Aids in Africa on the top of the agenda at the G8! That is not an easy feat and I think that is a huge step forward. Leaders won't do a thing if they don't have the will of the people behind them. Now we have to see if the economists will win out...or if these so called leaders can look ahead, be bold, and create a 'marshall plan' for Africa. We need leaders who are ahead of their time...we need new solutions to old problems.I watched some of the coverage and was impressed by the way the event went down in London. With Annie Lennox on message with her song "Why" complete with images of African children with bloated tummies playing on the big screen behind her. Heart wrenching yes....but have we become de-sensitized to these issues? and those images?
Now I await the summit and I hope that we don't get more excuses. I want results.
If you do too then join me and let's Make Poverty History.
Song Du Jour: Waiting for a Miracle ~ Bruce Cockburn
"You pretend you're strong
In the hope that you can be
Like the ones who've cried
Like the ones who've died
Trying to set the angel in us free
While they're waiting for a miracle"
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7 comments:
I thought that would get you going.
Get serious Weeds, who cares about Africa? I don't. Guess why? 'Cause I don't live there. All those sanctimonious rockers/celebrities don't either. I would have a scintilla more interest/respect for what they have to say if even one would demonstrate how they have personally sacrificed for the cause. MTV has a particularly grating G8 commercial where they tell us all to 'add our voice'. Each one of the posturing celebrities (Pitt, Hanks, Diaz, PDiddy, etc) could each give 10 million without flinching, and volunteer for the rest of their lives. Then I might take notice. As a guy said to me in the bar the other day while watching the spectacle "Why the hell should I listen to some guy on stage lecture me about the G8, when he probably doesn't have a high school dilploma?"
One more thing, what about the responsibilities of the people in Africa not make their own lives so brutal? We act as if our western secular society just fell out of the sky and bonked us on the head(we're soooo lucky!) Wrong. It has been paid for in blood many times over. We are better off because we have made a conscious collective decision to live better than beasts. On CNN last night there was a story about a village that had no water because some dogs had fallen into their collective cistern and fouled the water. They helpfully poked the carcasses for the cameraman with a long stick. "Hey villagers, drag the corpses out and burn them. Then clean the water or dig another hole. Don't just stand around dying of thirst." The village chief explained that they were waiting for the government to come and clean the well for them. The voice over on the piece was suitably grave as he explanied that wasn't "much time to help these villagers."
I assume most people who read this blog don't actually pay any taxes (the gst on a pitcher doesn't count), but as someone who donates half his income to our little northern socialist paradise the thought of more tax money being poured down a black hole gives me no comfort.
Sceptic Duke
I believe the word you're looking for is "skeptic". The way you wrote it, it would be pronounced "septic". How fitting.
Who cares about Africa Duke? Give me a fcking break...you should care too because the violence and corruption there has spilled over. A generation of people with no hope can easily turn into a global security issue.
That said, sure these obnoxious attempts from assorted celebrities rub you the wrong way but you have to admit that the 'unwashed massses" only listen to celebrities. They don't follow politics, they are too busy reading US and People and they'll actually listen to what Brad Pitt says. It's a sad state of affairs indeed, but you can't deny that the power of celebrity is part of our culture.
What about the responsibilities of Africans? I agree with you, our freedom came at a great price...so will thiers. They battle it everyday. And Duke if you are watching CNN for covrage on Africa then you should consider the source.
And what an arrogant way to look at the situation. You take for granted that you were raised in the west and educated in a way that is not available to villagers. Have you perhaps thought that without education these people have no idea why the water is contaminated. What seems like common sense to you and I is not common sense in their culture.
You have to appreciate that and respect that these cultures are not modern.
Shit, about a year ago I was reading a story about a local African politician in a village that was stoned to death because there was a fear of vampires and they thought he was a vampire so they killed him.
Without education and without infrastructure to educate how are they supposed to become educated?
It is important to recognize the cultures in Africa and I think that investing in Africa is critical to the world economy. If you think that investment is just being poured into a black hole I suggest you ask where that aid goes and how much of it actually reaches africa. Alot of this so called aid is spent here in Canada on researchers to write papers about how thew aid is working, or the aid is tied some way which limits how these gvenments can spend it.
Shit, I have to get to class.
And Bogg...you can't just call him an idiot...Pull your head out of your ass and tell me WHY you think Geldof is an idiot. Then I can at least argue against you.
And I am not spell checking so I hope there are not too many spelling/grammar errors.
Weeds
Oh I see, you are under the (false) impression that Geldof hasn't been working diligently on behalf of Africa in the interim.
I am happy to inform you that he has indeed been working in Afirca and Washington along with Bono over the last 20 years. He's met with Paul Martin a couple of times too I remember back when Martin was Finance Minister he met with Geldolf and Bono and that resulted in Canada putting a moratorium on debt payments to the Heavily Indebted Countires that owe us Moola. He goes to Davos for the world economic forum each year too. Pay attention Chewbogga!
Weeds
There Boggy, I found and posted a pic of Geldof from a few years back. He's been raving about the whole time...Ask anybody he's been really obnoxious over the last 20 years...
Yes he is smug. You might be too if you had spent about 10 years in Africa holding children and watching them die of curable diseases. I think that would make you pretty jaded.
He is obnoxious because nobody else wants to take the situation seriously.
Well if it is just the rock star bit that bugs you...just consider the fact that he is also the founder of an international NGO and the chair of the Africa Commission for the G8. (he's actually written working papers with Dr. Sachs and his new report as commissioner outlines a "marshall plan" for Africa.
I agree if he was just lead singer of the Boomtown Rats it would piss me off too, but he does have legitimate qualification for his "holier than thou" stance on these issues.
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