My Live 8 Complaint

Alright. I hope I don't sound like a horrible person, but this is just my opinion. Live 8 was to raise awareness about poverty in Africa. That's great, but most people are aware that there is poverty in Africa. I know it was the celebs way of showing that they care and that more people should be concerned about poverty in Africa, but come on.

Here's my complaint. When did musicians become so chicken? Why don't they pick a cause that is more controversial and desperately needs awareness? I think that the concert would have been a great success if it had been about peace. The world needs to know that people are concerned about peace all over the world and the famous musicians have the voice and the ability to do it. When did things change? 40 years ago they had the guts.

Imagine this. Concerts all over the world with big music legends playing for peace and peace awareness. That would have been impressive.

 

Helping the poverty in africa is helping to bring peace.

Although I do know what you are saying. Not only have they become chickens, most of the time, i dont even think they want peace that bad. Alot of them are so controversial.

 

As an anarchist, all I can say is that there is a whole lot of talking, singing, etc. about problems, and very little "doing". The concert did absolutely nothing for those world leaders. As long as there is a law that states that executives, and subsequently politicians, MUST hold the interests of the shareholders as the top priority, no lasting humanitarian changes can be established.

If those people REALLY wanted to do something productive, they would've held general strikes in their respective countries demanding that their governments pay a generous amount in money and resources. Instead they all saw some performances, screamed "Make Poverty History", and went home feeling that they did their part.

That's about as useless as voting.

 

Most people know about 'peace' (and all sane people want it in some shape or form).that is not controversial at all, personaly i think a vast amout of people seeing a 'peace' concert would thionk 'bloody hippies' harking back to 60s ideals etc etc...i don't know how unfair that would be ?.

Saying 'peace' is easy making difficult choices is hard.. Lots of people think if you right 'give peace a chance' and ask both sides to sign it, magicaly all the differences go away.

Personaly (and i am bias because i support the idea of 'Make poverty history') it was a attempt to 'live in the real world' not make slightly unrealistic 'goals' .

 

real world mathew ?...........unrealistic goals ?..........please enlighten me fuckface.

 

what a thing to say, talk about apathy.

and this:

"Most people know about 'peace' (and all sane people want it in some shape or form).that is not controversial at all"

well yes it is controversial these days. Americans today are considered traitors if they call for peace. and it seems many people are so cowed by the fear of terrorism that they will accept war on any terms, are these people sane? well, maybe not, and we're surrounded by them.

 

Hardly apathetic.

If we can agree on what a president won't do: maintain peace, direct our country with our resources to GENEROUSLY help others, request that all people accept others regardless of "difference", and agree on what a president will do: usurp the power of the people, start conflicts, attack civil liberties from the left or the right ( take your pick, outlaw gay marriage or guns, both restrictive actions are wrong ), and trick folks into believing their vote will make a positive change, then why the hell are we voting?

Direct action is the only way change can be manifest. And I'm not promoting violence. If people put half the effort into Food Not Bombs and similar programs, protesting wars, and most importantly, organizing labor, that they put into bitching, a LOT of the world's problems would be petty compared to the overwhelming mess that they are now.

 

We vote for more than just presidents. A lot of action starts at state levels and below, and of course as you stated, with the individual.

I agree, and DO, and hope others will join in doing, a lot of the actions you're espousing-I work with and for organized labor, I support several kinds of food relief efforts, I protest when needed, in more than one way (boycotts, direct protest, and more), and I VOTE. I can't even imagine not voting, even in obscure local referendums. Sometimes voting is all we've got. and it DOES make a difference.

"If every Deadhead in the state of Florida had voted in the last presidential election, it would have been a very different world today," says Bob Weir, speaking of the 2000 presidential election.
And (my words) not just deadheads but EVERYONE who gives a shit.

 

Great idea! Impliment it!

Sometimes I get annoyed with "That's OK, but my cause is more important" complaints. They did their thing to support the cause that they wanted to.

 

I understand where you're coming from, but isn't an entire continent stuck in poverty and starving important enough?

 

A poverty stricken country is important enough. I guess all I'm saying is that I felt that concerts around the world promoting peace with big named headliners from all genres of music would do a great deal. I'm just wishing that they would have the guts to do it. It won't hurt anyones career to support the end of poverty. Peace in these times, especially where america is involved, is a more controversial topic.

 

Keep in mind you have to understand there are multiple reasons for starvation in Africa.

#1) You live where the land is basically sand. Not much help we can give you there, sorry.

#2) Your government has decided the land would be better used for cash crops (to buy guns) and when aid arrives, to move the food from the trucks onto the open market for money (to buy guns)

#3) You have (cough MUGABE) a guy in charge (cough MUGABE) who has decided that starving you is cheaper (cough MUGABE) than shooting at you - or you're in an area where you're a Wambwango and the area is controlled by the Mbwubwus and they would rather see you starve than have to kill you one at a time.

 

ok.. a bit late but let me step in.

I'm very sceptical about the Live 8 stuff as well. As has been said before, people KNOW the African continent has problems.. and they also know that it's a tough one. What bothers me about the concerts is indeed that it seems like a nice white men's initiative to sing songs of peace for their poor black brothers so when they go home they can feel good about themselves and what they did for the world. Why weren't the stages filled with African artists? It would have been a great chance for Bono to help some of his African colleagues to get more attention! The public would be there for the famous bands but at the same time they would get to know about the artistical richness of Africa.

I dunno.. the whole Live 8 thing just had this partonizing, almost degrading vibe to me.

 

My first impression on hearing about "Live 8" was that the organizer, Bob Geldof, was trying to upstage himself on the highly successful "Live Aid" concerts he put on in '85, which raised something like $100 million (not to mention more recent DVD sales) for famine relief in Africa, this time to coincide w/ the G8 meetings. I think Africa was chosen because it is Geldof's cause celebe, and it works from a financial standpoint... and maybe, just maybe, the guy really cares about starving kids in Africa...

 

Ok..here's my complaint...

i don't believe that it was the celebs way of showing they care...it's their way to get themselves some damn publicity...

Now tell me wouldn't it have been impressive if those multi millionaires donated a million of their own dollars to help starving people ? ? That to me would show me that they really cared

ok..one more thing..i heard on the talk radio that some of the celebs were eating steak and lobster..LOL they WERE EATING WHAT!!! in a concert to bring awareness about a poverty problem...???? i'm so confuzed..

i also heard madonna was acting like a child sayin to keep mariah carey as far away from her as possible...that is really acting like a caring adult..

i also hate to bad mouth mccartney..but..he supposedly complainin cuz someone hugged another artist before him...WHAT!!

these people are crazy in my opinion...it's just lame to me...i wish they would donate some money other than for a tax right off....

 

It is alright i can handle that kind of thing from him.. he runs hot and cold with me most of the time. You must of missed the few times i called him names (only in response i never start such things). I appreciate the thought, but me and him understand one another on this point (personal attacks).. I actualy think it is amusing.. i understand his flagrant abuse towards me is strange (and if you wish to suspend him then thats your call), but he means no real malice towards me.

Right Paul ..
drumminmama thanks...

Rar1013 a lot of these storys have a grain (pardon the pun) of truth ..but are wildly exagerated by people more cynical about such things than yourself. People are never really happy throwing praise at 'rich' people doing something good..

 

why not 2 concerts =)

 

shouldn't live 8 have been about something like de commoditizing food to make it so that famine wasn't an issue, farmers just get paid by the gov't more for more food, standard amount, it goes into a big hopper, a nation needs food it gets food and prices are nationally set if there is famine somewhere they get a huge discount......


of course then the fundy's would say it's another step toward one world government and we'd be up the river without a paddle......

 

Actually, in Canada they had a few African culture bands. Some very low profile groups using tribal drum rythyms, and influenced guitar. They also had an entire stage in Johannesburg which contained pretty much nothing but African artists.

Good point. I just imagine all the artists like Madonna and Will Smith going home in their SUV's with a big smile on their face feeling good about what they've done, and then curling up in their over-sized mansion, gorging themselves on Steak and Lobsters and throwing out the tail cause it's not the prime part, curling up in their Double King sized beds with their $10,000 seal skin comforter........


One point about voting too.....people think not voting is a vote for someone who isn't running, meaning you don't like the choices you have. People don't care to pick the lesser of two evils. What people don't seem to realize is that there are dozens of parties you can vote for. And every vote those lesser parties get is a vote that makes them stronger. Well, except in the states it's pretty much a fascist regime making it look like a democracy....there was no way the republicans were going to lose the last election, they are in power, and they know how to stay there, and they don't need your vote to do it. But in Canada, we are seeing the emergence of a 5th major party. In our next election there will be 5 in the debates, since enough people had the sense to go outside the norm. But I'm ranting now..............


One more thing I wanted to say about Africa. I know that in a poverty stricken nation, if you're down on your luck, all you have is family, and well, sex to keep you happy. But wouldn't it make sense for people to stop reproducing so much? I mean, why are there so many children if the parents know that they can't support them? It's kind of their own fault that way. Any nation in Africa I'm sure has multiple times the population of Canada. I even question whether I'll have children cause of world over-population, and I WOULD be able to support a child, and they would have a good life here.