07.03.2005 || 21h57

a few thoughts about Live 8

now here's something I wish that Bob Geldoff had thought about: if the organisers of the recent Live * concerts had charged $30 or $50 a head, they'd have raised a *tonne* of money that could have been laid to good use. Instead, a whole bunch of people played into a well-intentioned charade, namely the pretence that G8 governments are going to be shamed into forgiving Africa's debt.

How ridiculous is it to stand on a stage and yell to a crowd about how we're all going to change the world, and not even be able to actually hand over something at the end of it? how much cash did the Live 8 concerts raise for African debt relief? None. I know, I know: It wasn't about money, it was about pressure. Bullshit. PR masquerades to get Bob Geldoff sainted won't, in the end, do any good. I prefer Mark Kingwell's prescription: Donate 10 percent of your income to international relief every year. I didn't hit 10% in 2004, but I hit what I could afford, and I'm aiming to live the Kingwell approach, or at least that part of it. I think that if each and every citizen constantly mailed or e-mailed their parliamentarian, never shut up, and lived as a citizen of the world, we'd actually see something happen.
It's easy to get a bajoolian people out to see the biggest names for free and call it a movement. It's a lot harder to actually do domething that works -- because that hits us in the wallet, and that's where everyone stops talking about saving the planet.



||Gods save the Queen,
||cf

back || forth

older shite

One last little note... - 09.21.2006

de-stressing, biking and terrorism - 06.06.2006

Mildly stressed... - 05.29.2006

More crime stupidity - 05.28.2006

Scary stuff - 05.25.2006

diaryland.com
Oh yeah, the page and everything
on it is �2000 - 2005 to me, alright ?
don't copy without asking.