Live8
So I hear they threw a concert this Saturday and poverty in Africa was over with by midday Sunday. Oh, it wasn't? That's weird, cause usually these "raise awareness events" are huge successes. We're running out of world problems. These musicians keep knocking them out in a long weekend.
My wiseassery aside, I watched about an hour of the concert. It was mostly to see Pink Floyd, who were excellent. I think that there were multiple cities involved in this concert because there was too much naivete to be held within the limits of one. You could forgive all of Africa's debt (which I am against) and increase direct aid fourfold (which I am against) and nothing would change. Well we would be out a lot of money, would feel better for a few days before another cause du jour comes along, but that's about it.
Not all of the Third World is poor. Some nations have become amazingly wealthy and successful in recent history. Countries with corrupt dictatorships as their governments, nationalized markets, and war are not in this column. In a continent like Africa with almost limitless natural resources, you really have to try to fuck up your economy. Well, they have and they succeeded. But for some reason, the enlightened activist Western crowd wants to blame us. We did this to poor Africa. How dare we give loans to a nation and expect them to be paid back?! Whatever.
And if I have to hear that ass from Coldplay bitch about fair trade not free trade, I'm going to puke. Just because you walked around a few poor villages doesn't mean you have a handle on what the cause of economic problems are.
EDIT: "Coldplay's Chris Martin announced from the London stage, '[This is] the greatest thing that's ever been organized in the history of the world.'"
What a pompous, self-important piece of shit. Yes, you're stupid fucking concert is greater than the writing of the Constitution, the Normandy invasion, or the moon landing. Jackass.
My wiseassery aside, I watched about an hour of the concert. It was mostly to see Pink Floyd, who were excellent. I think that there were multiple cities involved in this concert because there was too much naivete to be held within the limits of one. You could forgive all of Africa's debt (which I am against) and increase direct aid fourfold (which I am against) and nothing would change. Well we would be out a lot of money, would feel better for a few days before another cause du jour comes along, but that's about it.
Not all of the Third World is poor. Some nations have become amazingly wealthy and successful in recent history. Countries with corrupt dictatorships as their governments, nationalized markets, and war are not in this column. In a continent like Africa with almost limitless natural resources, you really have to try to fuck up your economy. Well, they have and they succeeded. But for some reason, the enlightened activist Western crowd wants to blame us. We did this to poor Africa. How dare we give loans to a nation and expect them to be paid back?! Whatever.
And if I have to hear that ass from Coldplay bitch about fair trade not free trade, I'm going to puke. Just because you walked around a few poor villages doesn't mean you have a handle on what the cause of economic problems are.
EDIT: "Coldplay's Chris Martin announced from the London stage, '[This is] the greatest thing that's ever been organized in the history of the world.'"
What a pompous, self-important piece of shit. Yes, you're stupid fucking concert is greater than the writing of the Constitution, the Normandy invasion, or the moon landing. Jackass.
