Regardless of your belief about the rights and wrongs of the campaign led by Bob Geldof about world poverty the Live 8 concert in Hyde Park, London on Saturday was an outstanding success
Annie saw a TV interview by Jonathan Ross with Sir Bob before the event started and he made the following short but very powerful remarks.
Like him or loathe him (and for the record I like him a lot) Sir Bob never pulls his punches and always uses his words wisely.
He said;
"When you go to bed after the concert ask yourself; What it is we've seen; What it is we've remembered; What it is we've done it for?"
Says it all doesn't it?
Thank you Sir Bob for at least trying to make a difference while moaning cynics stand on the sidelines doing absolutely nothing personally and then having the nerve to complain that Live 8 will make no difference.
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5 comments:
Interesting. I know for my part Live 8 went by without a notice. Maybe it was on a bad weekend for the average US citizen to be involved--many are travelling, camping, barbecuing, etc. Don't get me wrong, I give to charities of many stripes, but if Live 8 was supposed to tell me a story that would get me to warm up the Visa for African relief--it failed.
Thanks Mike -
The Live 8 concert was not intended as a fund raising event for Africa - it was to get the G8 leaders to wipe out debt for Africa.
Your Visa card is safe.
Sir Bob Geldof said all the way along this was not about fund raising - it was awareness raising.
My main point is that cynicism is ok - the world has many cynical people .... but to me the annoying thing is cynics never seem to have something positive to put forward.
In my expereince cynics tend to criticise and condemn any positive attempt by people like Sir Bob who - unlike the cynics - actually does get off his backside and try to make a difference rather than just sit on the sidleines ignoring things that can be changed.
So my question remains - It is ok to be cynical but what positive thing is the cynic doing personally to improve the well being of people in Africa?
That's the thing about cynics Trevor, they don't DO anything positive, creative, or uplifting--they only judge what others do and always find it lacking.
Now, there is a difference between being somewhat cynical and a cynic. I am somewhat cynical because I often question the merits of the actions (as opposed to the hype about the actions); and sometimes question the motives behind the actions. A little cynicism is healthy. Being a full-blown cynic is just obnoxious.
My main point regarding Sir Bob was that it didn't seem to make much of an impact, at least among me or my "peer group." I understood the mission about debt relief, which I have always supported, but I also thought it was meant as a fundraiser. Not having even remembered it was happening last weekend as I enjoyed my holiday--I didn't see any of it. Was I meant as part of the target audience? If so, Live 8 failed in that respect. If I was not targeted for this--why not?
Thanks Mike - I totally agree with you that healthy cynicism is good -I am one too really :-)
I cannot stand as you put it 'full blown cynics' - they are negative thinkers and I would say dangerous.
I am sorry the Live 8 concert did not really get over the message to you in the US - we had reports here in UK that the Live 8 Concert in Philidelphia had an audience of one and a half million people which is awesome - six times the number in Hyde Park, London - but obviously the timing with your holiday weekend was not great.
The coverage over here last weekend was cover to cover and the impact was enormous.
We must now just leave things to the politician - the G8 leaders to do the right things.
As far as Sir Bob is concerend he will remain a hero in my eyes until I am persuaded the man is anything but totally genuine and committed to helping people less fortunate than the 99.999 percent of us in the western world.
I always respect people who actually try to change things more than those who stand on the sidelines bemoaning their lot.
Briliant exchange Mike - thank you for your great comments my friend
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