Wednesday, June 01, 2005

Sir Bob - cage rattler extraordinary

When Sir Bob Geldof starts asking the questions that most caring human beings want to ask - demanding, for instance, that the world takes notice of poverty - how come the 'doom sayers', the 'spoilers, the 'negatives' and the 'cynics' are immediately having a go at him?

Luckily and thankfully for the rest of us Sir Bob will ignore them and keep asking the right question - thank God he never takes things personally – he would have given up years ago.


He remains focused on simplicity – challenging things he sees as simply unfair and morally unjustified.

It seems to me that some people see the world as a place where change is not welcome and we should carry on ignoring matters that are not immediately in our own back yard.

Regardless of the personal motives for Geldof doing something like this - and I happen to believe the man is genuine - surely he needs our total support on the crusade to re-assess the priorities of the worlds 8 richest economies.

Who in their right mind can argue with re-distributing some of that wealth to our fellow human beings?

Sir Bob is a genuine cage rattler, a rocker of boats and fits perfectly into the Tom Peters description of someone wanting to see change;

'Nearly 100% of innovation – from business to politics – is inspired not by ‘market analysis’ but by people who are supremely pissed off by the way things are.'

I hope Sir Bob keeps asking directly the difficult questions to the worlds 8 leaders and I hope they give him the right answers.

More power to Sir Bob I say

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Bob Geldof was one of my heros. When he was the head of the "Live aid" movement I was a teenager but saw him as a real hero. That is heroism based not so much in talent -I cannot remember any of his songs- but in courage and convictions.

Anonymous said...

Always liked Geldof. When I was growing up in Ireland, he was known as 'Loud Mouth' ... even after Live Aid, though it was more difficult to maintain this view of him when literally the whole planet was celebrating what he had done.

Maybe that's why he lives in England!

Trevor Gay said...

Felix, Brian and Noel - love him or loathe him one cannot ignore Sir Bob.

I admire his focus and determination - he keeps things simple in a complex world and as you all know ... I will drink to that :-)

Thanks all for your support to my Blog.

Keep it simple

Trevor

Anonymous said...

I've always thought -and said - we need the radicals, the freaks, the cage rattlers - to keep the rest of us moving. Otherwise, we'd all still be sitting in a cave knawing on a bone and making fun of the guy rubbing those two sticks together...

And, who the heck cares why he's doing it. The point is - he's trying to make a difference - and is! Surrounded by the incredible overabundance of food - and pretty much everything else here in the U.S. - there are some days I just want to scream...when I think of how many people could be helped if we could somehow manage to share.

Troy Worman said...

Excellent post!

It is good to see Geldof back in the news. I am a long-time fan. My first exposure to Geldof was via late night music videos. Pre-MTV. The Boomtown Rats, Elvis Costello, and David Bowie are what I remember. Funny. I don't recall it being produced on your side of the pond. Perhaps it wasn't. Regardless...

I was a fan of Geldof's music before I was a fan of the man. In fact, I was a fan of the Boomtown Rats before I had any awareness of economies and tragedies and autrosities. If someone offered me the opportunity to return to any age, I think I might choose 6. Not 19. Not 20. Not 21. But 6. Those were good times.

Interestingly, looking back, Geldof and Costello and Bowie all had a profound impact on my music tastes as a young man. None of my friends knew who they were, which only made me love them more. And I used to screech at the croning of my mother's beloved John Denver.

Denver. Geldof. Costello. Bowie. One of these things doesn't belong with the others.

Then came Live Aid. I was a young Liberal in a Republican world. Idealistic and naive. I actually thought things were going to change.

Actually, I think a lot of things were changed. A lot of people were changed. I was changed. Forever.

I may have had a leftist bent to begin with, but Geldof and his cohorts made me feel like a part of something bigger and I still carry that feeling with me today.

Trevor Gay said...

Thanks Mary - briliant observation about the caveman - they also said Columbus was a weirdo if my memory serves me correctly :-)

And Troy ...what great memories ... Bowie, Geldof and Costello ...all great exports from this side of the pond my friend

UK may not lead the world in much but in popular music since 1960 we have no peers :-)

Troy Worman said...

Agreed.

Anonymous said...

Bob personal wealth is over 50 million pounds. He had no moneybefore this. A great earner for bob.

Trevor Gay said...

Good for Bob - he deserves every penny. I am surrpised it as little as 50 million. He deserves so much more.

If footballers (and I am a great football fan) and movies stars make that sort of money - more in fact - why shouldn't someone who is trying to raise awareness of the suffering of fellow human beings? - and in any case .... why is his personal wealth an issue anyway?

Unlike most of us Bob Geldof tries personally to make a difference - he is prepared to speak openly with the sort of honest words that most politicians and commentators don't have the balls to say in my opinion.