Thursday, June 30, 2005

Live8, g8, Geldof, Bono, and Others


It seems important to blog something about the Live8, G8, Bob Geldof activities. I read this in one of Mick Hume's columns in Sp!ked OnLine, which captures the tensions well i think:

"No doubt the pop stars and other celebrities involved in Live 8 and the Long Walk to Justice campaign see themselves as radical troublemakers, holding the politicians' feet to the flames. Yet in a sense they are more like unwitting stooges of the political class, helping to give the politicians more credibility in getting their message across. That is why government ministers and politicians of all parties have been falling over themselves to express support for Live 8. It is why chancellor Brown, not a man one would ever associate with street activism, has called on people to support the mass demonstration in Edinburgh planned to coincide with July's G8 summit of world leaders in Scotland. It is worth recalling that the Commission for Africa, which issued a highly critical report on the international community's attitude to Africa and is now commonly referred to as 'Bob Geldof's Commission', was actually set up by Blair to perform that role." (link to article)

With the G8 protests just around the corner, I doubt this will be the only entry on this subject. We still don't know how easy it will be to get to Edinbrugh on Saturday, though it seems likely that getting to Gleneagles will either be impossible or pointless. There also seems to be considerable confusion about what is happening on each day. The 'Geldof' day of the 6th is unrelated to the 'Make Poverty History' day of the 2nd.

It can be quite difficult to discern how 'important' Live8 and the G8 is for the rest of the world. We have spoken with people in Spain and the USA who have certainly not heard much about 'Make Poverty History' campaign. Over the last few weeks, the multiplex cinemas have been screening a new Orange advert featuring Ewan McGregor and the MPH work. The format is consistent with the recent Orange cinema adverts, where the celebrity makes their film pitch to the Orange funding committee.

makepovhitOrange

5 Comments:

At 8:37 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I remember in 2001 when U2 were on their elevation tour, I remember desperately trying to get a ticket to see them, but as I picked up the phone and re-read the advert I had to hang up, and here is why:

During that year the standard price to see a band in the SECC varied from roughly 17 pounds, to around 24 pounds. However, U2 were charging 40 pounds and upwards. And the other cold fact is they only played the SECC because Billy Sloan, entertainments reporter, made a fuss about them snubbing Scotland, threatening the band that their image would be ruined if they would not perform. Could the snub have been for the same reason McCartney missed out Scotland and the rest of Europe during his ‘Back in the World’ tour? (It was reported the tour was not VIABLE in Europe, coming from a member of the Beatles who is worth a reported 750 million pounds from record sales alone).

If these stars truly within their own hearts wanted the debt in Africa to be cancelled, then I’m sure it would have been wiped out long ago. They should just ask people like…Chris Evans (who was once worth 75 million) how to let go of the vast majority if their unnecessary wealth. U2 should also consider their ticket prices and the people who buy them, the public, for whom many are only working for the minimum wage, just a step or two up from the poverty line, and one heck of a burden to the government.

 
At 3:32 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm a great fan of Bono not as much for his music but for the fact that he used his celebrity status to make the world a better place to live. Now, if only instead of asking for the world to dig into their pockets to stop poverty and rectify other issues, he and other celebrities should dig into their own. Jeez! They rake in so much money. What's $1,ooo,ooo for them? The usual donors are ordinary people getting by with so much less.

 
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