Home / In depth / Show /
Live 8? Not so great
It has been but five weeks since Live 8. I thought this a reasonable time period to wait before reminding people about Africa.
I was horrified at how much the media bought into the concept, especially the broadsheets, who can usually be depended upon to speak up with a level of baulk or at least have an opinion beyond the press release. Alas, the line was duly toed by all and sundry. Something was amiss.
Few of my generation will remember anything of the original Live Aid and as such can not really compare it to its recent successor but what is known is that twenty years ago the event saved thousands and thousands of lives through direct aid.
The money raised was spent on emergency supplies to slow the famines of the time and then more long-term plans were implemented, involving water programmes and other amenities such as the implementation of school and hospital systems.
There are many that are opposed to concept of ‘aid’, claiming that it is ultimately disruptive and causes further dependency in the future but, in the case of Live Aid, that means bugger all because lives were saved. Surely that matters?
Live 8, on the other hand, held a more major, more contemporary weapon against famine in The Petition. Eh? EH? How many lives are a few thousand signatures going to save? Oh no. These aren’t actually going to save lives, but they will “raise awareness” to the problems that Africa is facing right now. Right?
This obviously means that everyone now knows the names of the countries that are in trouble? Any sort of trouble: famine; war; drought; poverty, debt. Name me five. Name me one.
Don’t forget that the main target of this War On Ignorance was the G8 summit. Did the world leaders have revelations of magnanimous proportions? Is everything out in the open? Did anything happen? Was there even any backlash from the media against these reckless political martyrs? Do you remember any?
The levels of sycophancy and self-gain attitudes surrounding this debacle were simply astounding. In the wake of the news that Bob Geldof is now receiving up to £50,000 to go give talks wherever he is hired it is not difficult to see who was in it for what purpose.
Sure, Geldof does plenty more charity work and apparently ‘raises awareness’ over a number of topics but nothing comes for free. The rather dishevelled face of Live 8 is testament to that.
And what of those who performed at the event? Why were they there? What did they really believe in? Was it merely shameless self-promotion with the amiable aside of helping the poor Africans. Did they really believe that singing a couple of golden hits from their heyday would help?
This was all merely a façade for the furthering and prolonging of this current level of capitalism. The strong lefties have long campaigned against aid for poverty because they know that the only way for capitalism to survive is in the presence of poverty elsewhere.
Live 8 managed to allow The People to believe that they’ve really done something about ridding the world of horrible poverty by watching their favourite band play a couple of numbers and buying a white wristband. Now they’ve done their bit, they can forget about Africa.
Just as you had done before you started reading this article. Live 8 will have been heralded a resounding success, whereas all it has actually achieved is allowing Africa to continue in the same poverty as before, just with fewer people talking about it.
Perfect.
Words: Raziq Rauf
Sign Up to Post Comments
Reply
-
Live 8? Not so great
exactly -
Re: Live 8? Not so great
I so Agree. What I thought was really irritating was the fact that the march in Edinburgh was sidelined by Live8. There were more people at that march than at the London Live8 gig. We were marching, we didn't just go to a gig which happened to be making some kind of statement, we were actually using our democratic right of protest. -
Live 8? Not so great
well said. it all seemed too naive and self-righteous.
There's been no news of what, if anything, has happened because of Live8, other than record sales. There seemed to be more news of Pink Floyd's 1300% sales rise than what the decisions made by the G8 will actually do to help Africa, if anything.
i know little of the problems in Africa, i admit, but i do know that you'd need to sort out their government before they can even use aid properly to help those who desperately need it, let alone utilise the 'awareness' that was raised.
i also know that hundreds of thousands of people are going to die tomorrow from hunger and it feels like all we can do is sit here and argue about what's not being done. It's heartbreaking and desperately unfair. -
Live 8? Not so great
To be fair, the London bombs did significantly skew the media coverage of G8 and Africa. -
Live 8? Not so great
well, i think that's a very well-written piece, but i tend to agree that the london bombings will have detracted from the impact of Live8 considerably.
also, i think you may have your "lefties" and "righties" mixed-up. left-wing veers more towards communism (in its extreme) and communal gain, whereas right-wing veers more towards fascism, self-gain and, therefore, capitalism. therefore, it's more likely that the strong righties "have long campaigned against aid for poverty" than the strong lefties. lefties tend to be more about getting everyone's rights equal, not imbalanced.
but, still, you raised some very interesting points, and did it very successfully too. -
Re: Live 8? Not so great
Obviously, I meant righties. Damn the (non) proof-reading DiS editor fascists. A mere typo I assure you.
Granted, the bombs did take attention away almost immediately but stories were still written in the aftermath of Live 8 and they were few, far between and rather pointless. Will they go back to the topic of Africa after the bomb shit has died down? I doubt it. -
Live 8? Not so great
i was so pissed off by this article that i actually created an account at last just to post in it.
I think you are wrong in your attacking of live8 and you've done it in an oh-so-predictable manner, its almost like you've been scouring message boards and cutting and pasting bits and pieces.
with regards to the G8 summit, how do you measure the difference that Live8 made exactly? Sure they didnt attack all the points raised, maybe they woulda done the same regardless, but who knows. And like has already been mentioned, the bombs did kinda take the focus off things probably just enough for them to escape attention.
Bob Geldof gettin 50k to do speeches, if people wanna pay him that then thats up to them. i'm pretty sure he's rich enough already that he doesn't need to spend weeks of his life organising an event just to get a few extra quid here and there, dont you?
you slag off the performers also, but do you not think they would have got more abuse if they refused to do the event?
You can't just expect everything that Live8 pushes for to happen in the 5 weeks following, but it has made a difference. I heard some 10 year old kids talking about the problems of Africa the other day, saying how they wished they could help. Now I don't know about you but when I was 10 all I wanted was to be rich n buy anything and everything.
The only major flaw in this as far as I was concerned is the media attention given to Africa normally which is a rotation of riots/death/politcal wrong-doings which I dare say creates a great feeling of "if they're gonna be like that, why should we help em?"
I know my english skills aren't the best (im an engineering student) and I should probably finish this up with some end point, I dont really have one. I guess I'm just dissapointed that you've chosen to write such a predictable anti-Live8 article really... -
Live 8? Not so great
i like that last guy. he's more optimistic, which is good. i think the main point of Live8 - which everyone seems to have overlooked - was to allow Snoop Dogg to educate younger viewers in the area of explicitness, and thereby RAISE AWARENESS of naughty words. what a bloody trooper, i say.
-
Re: Live 8? Not so great
its just the negative view expressed in this article reminds me so very much of, i'm sorry to say, The Daily Mail. -
Live 8? Not so great
at oxfam we still have all the make poverty history stuff up and running in the shop ... but no one bothers anymore -
Re: Live 8? Not so great
I do struggle with the face of the make poverty history campaign. so may be it does raise awarness, but....
1) buying a wrist band is all well and good, but its buying your nike, reebok & gap etc etc products that keeps thousands of people in poverty. people aren't educated or informed about what they are buying and the consequences of buying it.
2) the subjects of poverty, global warming, and foreign policy are all intrinsically linked. bush wont sign up to kyoto because countries such as india and brazil atmosphere......how does he expect them to progress if they are't allowed the very same development that we 'civilised countries' got from our very own industrial revolution ? as raz says, its a case of our current system surviving at the cost of somebody elses.
-
Re: Live 8? Not so great
I'm not a fan of Live 8 at all. Bullshit.
I don't care if I share this view with the daily mail. EVEN THE MAIL must be right sometimes! -
Re: Live 8? Not so great
does anybody actually know what the Daily Mail said about it?
usually 'people' say things without knowing what is what is all. -
Live 8? Not so great
Live8 was a moneyspinner for a lot of people
Not least AOL/Time Warner, Universal and SonyBMG
call me a cynic but the oligopoly of majors treated this 'charity' event as an all day TV ad and a very profitable one at that
but more than that it was research and developement for the global media groups as they got to find out just how direct the internet can be as a sales aid (U2 and macca's version of Sgt Pepper topping the download charts in 17 countries less than an hour after broadcast for example)
As for the G8 summit, obviously the bombs in London caused a major distraction but I don't think they affected the outcome of the summit in real terms - it was pretty much decided by civil servants in the months up to the summit what exactly the leaders would be signing up to.
Obviously the bombs in London were a terrible atrocity but hadn't we had Bono, Chris Martin, Brad Pitt et al telling us only 3 days before that in Africa a child dies from poverty every 3 seconds? 30,000 people a day dying from lack of food, medicines, resources etc.?
Two weeks after live8 we see news reports of biblical scale famine in Niger and now Mali - both a combination of borderline nutritional/economic existence and climate change.
Truth is the US administration and others see a profit opportunity when it comes to climate change - they are actively seeking to create an entire industry of high tech environmental 'solutions' whilst at the same time burying their heads in the sand over Kyoto and even the existence of global warming
Personally I feel that climate change is THE most critical threat to human life on a global scale - no one nation can ever be immune to it and to think the way certain officials do that technology is a weapon that can overcome any foe is quite simply wrong. Since the conquistadors colonised south and central america up to the present day the west has been touting the notion that technical/technological superiority equals moral superiority. This is the falsehood that modern life is built on and it is responsible for so so many evils that it is chilling to contemplate.
G8 and Live8 did NOTHING for Africa - NOTHING AT ALL - despite the best intentions of a vast number of people.
I wish I could add something positive to this but unfortunately nothing springs to mind...
-
Re: Live 8? Not so great
there were some rumours about the dubious origins of the wrist bands themselves involving cheap labour... -
Re: Live 8? Not so great
those rumours and press reports were the reason (or so i was told) that in oxfamshops like ours we stopped charging for the wristbands ...
in theory they were free ... in practice we always "suggested" they make a friendly donation to money box on the counter -
Live 8? Not so great
The whole neo-colonialism of Amnesty/Live 8/Geldof really got me. Africa was exposed as the 'white man's burden' and something that WE should fix, cos it can't fix itself, cos basically Africans are retards.
Live 8 and all this charity bull only makes Africa dependant on Europe/the West. What we really need is free and fair trade and to let African countries build themselves up from within. Live 8 didn't really achieve anything, but even if it had, the aid Africa recieves is laden with long term repayment contracts and underhand business contracts. Even the aid from NPO's leaves countries relying on something that will inevitably be withdrawn in a matter of years.
Nice peace Raz. Geog meets music: !!!
e
d -
Live 8? Not so great
I heard one update for the G8 summit on the radio and that was about it. Obviously the bombings did take a lot away, but there was a lot of hype surrounding this and everyone had virtually forgot about it.
PS. On a more opionated topic, the whole line up of Live 8 was shite. -
Re: Live 8? Not so great
Erm, Live8 was EXACTLY about your very point. It was about raising AWARENESS about free trade.... it was exactly about Africa fixing itself. The main thrust was of dropping the debt - something that African countries need to happen for them to start developing. Much as you may disagree, Africa is a 'white man's burden' - because we've made it so. The fact that our governments in the west are continuing to strangle any chance of development in these countries proves the point I'd say. OK, there are serious problems with several leaders of the African nations - but they ain't gonna go away overnight....
And what have Amnesty got to do with it? Amnesty International are an international human rights organisation. As an Amnesty member, I don't recall any specific Make Poverty History campaigns.
Christ there's a lot of very fucking cynical people on this thread. Are any of you guys actually doing anything to try to make a difference? I bet not. Probably still buying your Nikes and stuffing Big Macs down your throats.
Jeez, at least some people were TRYING to make a difference through Live8.... OK, you can all get back to your breakfasts now. -
Live 8? Not so great
Sure it had a reeealy shite aspect to it,but the thing is ,it was better than nothing.
Of course , it diluted the other efforts that really mean something.As Monbiot wrote recently - Geldof and Co. were actually giving their blessings to the goverments(ergo,the corporations) who are responsible for ...everything. Blair Bush etc. actually took part in this.i think thats self defeating.It gives the impression that the neocons and neolibs are working to 'make poverty history' ,and nothing could be farther from the truth -
Live 8? Not so great
It was used to put pressure on the G8 leaders.
Geldoff contributed to the Commission for Africa Report, which is also the UK line on what should happen in Africa. You should read it. It shows there is a lot of will to make a better future for Africa. The report was endorsed by Hilary Benn, Gordon Brown and Blair.
It was clearly harder to get other countries to sign up, hence Live8.
It seems strange that people doubt the UK's commitment to Africa considering our leaders made it the issue of their G8 presidency.
I'm normally a sceptic but the UK has done really well here and brought the rest of the world with it. There seems to be a lot of comment on here which is completely unaware of what has happened/is happening.
That doesn't mean that more shouldn't be done though. -
Live 8? Not so great
A predictable and largely content-free piece of self-aggrandising sixth-form journalism, I’m afraid. Virtually every broadsheet’s editorial section made exactly these points at the time (they certainly didn’t ‘duly toe the line’), and many people were surprised by just how much was actually achieved at G8 with regards to poverty (possibly including many of the Live 8 organisers, who were obviously asking for much more than they expected to get).
And this bit…
"The strong righties have long campaigned against aid for poverty because they know that (basically – don’t get your backs up on the politics too much, kids) the only way for capitalism to survive is in the presence of poverty elsewhere."
…is basically a bald-faced lie. I’ve never heard any serious commentators making such arguments against direct aid: many (on both the left and the right) have argued strongly against indiscriminate government-to-government aid, but that’s because it demonstrably doesn’t work, not because they’re conspiring to prop up the EVILE CAPITALIST EMPIRE~!!! or any other such raving nonsense.
This sort of thing is exactly the sort of mindless Groucho-Marxist twattery that ought to make people genuinely interested in working to improve the lot of poor Africans tear their hair out (a group which includes Sir Bob, however sinisterly autocratic he may seem these days, and however much he’s getting for his bloody lecture tours). Live 8 didn’t save the world, but it will probably end up achieving a hell of a lot more than any amount of incoherent smash-the-system rhetoric ever will. -
Live 8? Not so great
Erm...
1) The Who were amazing! (No...I mean AMAZING. Floyd were vintage Floyd...as in piss boring and about as rock and roll as a pair of slippers)
2) I know numbers aren't particularly headline grabbing, but didn't they write off a f**kload of debt at that G8 summit. Would they have done so without the campaign???
3) Poverty will never be history. One mans poverty is another mans wealth, and there will always be someone richer than you. Make trade fair... absolutely, but Make Poverty History always seemed a silly campaign title to me. -
Re: Live 8? Not so great
you are SO Daily Mail -
Re: Live 8? Not so great
"Poverty will never be history. One mans poverty is another mans wealth, and there will always be someone richer than you. Make trade fair... absolutely, but Make Poverty History always seemed a silly campaign title to me."
Now really you should know that's not the kind of "poverty" that needs to be made history
-
Re: Live 8? Not so great
I'll second that -
Live 8? Not so great
I agree that Live 8 was essentially meaningless, it provided a huge spectacle rather than a genuine talking point. But, not only was alot of debt wiped but lets not forget what happened on the day the G8 summit met.
London was the target of terrorist bombs on a day when the main news would otherwise have been about the Olympics and the events at G8. Where we usually would have had endless articles about wiping debt, instead we just got round the world coverage of the horrible bombings. Well, to those who say we won't let the terrorists win can f**king think again- they wiped every other major political event from the news agenda. -
Live 8? Not so great
Lets not forget what happened on the day the G8 summit met.
London was the target of terrorist bombs on a day when the main news would otherwise have been about the Olympics and the events at G8. Where we usually would have had endless articles about wiping debt, instead we just got round the world coverage of the horrible bombings. Well, to those who say we won't let the terrorists win can f**king think again- they wiped every other major political event from the news agenda. -
Live 8? Not so great
messr diver is a bit of a cynical bugger, no? i'm all for being cautious of media caricatures i.e. saints or sinners, but its not the people behind live 8's fault. the media wrecked live 8, by creating the buzz that for three weeks, if you wear a snazzy white band, you're doing a nice thing for some poor little faraway orphan kiddies who will then be saved in some messiah-esque miracle. The G8 came and went. Live 8, as far as i can tell, had little to zero effect on its outcome - brown and blair were gonna get the issues on the table with or without pete doherty murdering a T Rex tune. So the thing left was, Awareness. It was raised. And now its gone. Africa is now a cloudcuckooland where every problem has been solved, so we can stop being conscientious Earth citizens, and return to our whinings about the 0.0002% rise in tax. The Daily Mirror changes its slogan of the day from 'make poverty history' to 'we will stand firm'. from changing the world, to changing your dietary habits.
its so easy to take the conspiracy approach, and slam the do-gooders, but I think (and i can but think) that sir bobby tried to do a good thing in live 8, that could have changed our stance globally on such a pivotal issue. don't blame him, blame 'old news'. -
Live 8? Not so great
meh, make it messr rauf -
Live 8? Not so great
This is one of the worst pieces of political writing i have ever seen in my life. I have read plenty of dodgy fanzines and poor student magazines in my time but none have been so shoddily put together or poorly expressed.
Despite what you may have heard, eloquence is important.
You seem to believe that raising aid money is more significant than changing the global political structures that damage Africa. This is deeply naive. Africa will suffer and starve every year if we continue to opress and exploit it. Giving aid in a big push every twenty years will leave Africa in the doldrums.
There are many areas of African political life (corruption, patronage, lack of infrastructure, aids etc.) that we can do little about but providing African governments with the opportunity to pour their revenue back into their country (Rather than western coffers) is surely a good idea.
Allowing fair access to our markets should surely help as well. With trade barriers and subsidies lowered or removed poor nations would no longer be dumping grounds for our cheap surplus, and thus there farmers would be able to make money feeding their own people - fancy that?! These are things that will help in the long-term; that will allow improvements in African nations to run deeper.
The G8 summit was not a resounding success. Bush and co. did take the opportunity presented by the London bombings to dodge some vital issues. Yes, Global Warming is *the* biggest problem we face.
Was the Make Poverty History camapign a resounding succes? No. Did it help force some changes? Yes. Has it helped make African poverty look more like the responsibility of politicians (wha can effect change) than aid agencies (who repair damage)? Yes.
So the world wasn't saved. But it did more good than bad, which is a rare enough treat for a major political event that i'm going to savour it. -
Re: Live 8? Not so great
Best reply yet. Thank you. -
Live 8? Not so great
'The G8 promised to boost aid to Africa by $25bn and cancel the debts of 18 countries. '
Hmmm, yes, big failure to save lives. Tragic that. -
Live 8? Not so great
Africa's problems can't be solved with money.
Poor sanitation, illiteracy, tribalism, greed, and corruption are issues that need to be solved from within. Really, you want to solve the problem. COLONIZE THE GODDAMN CONTINENT. Africa actually has gotten worse since independence. Sure we were given liberty from colonialists, but it gave rise to despicable dictators (idi, mobuto, mugabe, haile mariam - although not a direct result of colonialism, just guilty by association).
I know this sounds absurd coming from an african, but the departure of colonialists has left the continent in ruins. The disparity between the haves and the have nots is incredible. Without a middle class there will always be coups and dictators. So, maybe we need to have africa recolonized until some semblance of an organized society can be achieved to rule autonomously. until that day, africa will remain a disaster zone... -
Re: Live 8? Not so great
at oxfam we still have all the make poverty history stuff up and running in the shop ... but no one bothers anymore
I bought a new wrist band a couple of weeks ago becuase my original one was definitely not white anymore. I think I'm going to continue to wear one until something is done, and thats because I honestly beleive in the cause (my arm is not adorned with a hundred random wristbands purporting unity with a hundred different charities/dodgy corner shops). I know its not much, wearing a wristband isn't going to save the world and I'm fully aware of that, but at least it will show that I haven't forgotten about why I started wearing it in the first place.
I liked the article though :) -
Live 8? Not so great
Interesting that the countries with the best resources, GDP, average life expectancy, average standards of living e.t.c. are the North African countries which are Muslim. I.e. Algeria, Morocco, Libya, Tunisia and Egypt.
Ethioman... we don't want to colonise your continent any more. There is a middle class in many African countries, yet they are not spoken about because a famine or other apocalyptic disaster looks more dramatic on telly than a businessman in Lusaka or Dar Es Salaam trading stocks and shares or whatever. -
Live 8? Not so great
Someone from my work went to edingburgh for a month, a month to protest, she sed she did this because she couldnt live her life not making a difference. She's a self loving, fancypants, she didnt tell me what she was protesting, she only told me she dressed up as a pirate. The reason we countries screw over africa is so bitches like her could afford to miss a month of work to dress up as a pirate. some poeple need to smarten up. -
yes
god it was shit
-
How sad
How sad, low, and pathetic must one be to resent a music event that helps defeat poverty.
So what if it was shit?
Those artists could have stayed at home, and sat on their arses and not done a whit to help struggling countries; but they didn't. they helped.
so who cares if it was shit?It's the thought that counts
Comments (40)
- Post a new comment on this article