Live 8 My Baby

 

Left Overs

Iain Reeve, OP Columnist

 

ive 8. Is it a concerted effort by
well-educated artists to pressure
governments to increase aid while
educating the masses about issues dealing
with world poverty? Or, is it an excuse for
a bunch of conceited, out-of-touch musi-
cians to jack their jaws about how they
think the world should be, pressure gov-
ernments that aren’t listening, and try to
educate a disinterested population?

So which is it? As with almost every-
thing, the truth lies somewhere in the
middle. I certainly count myself among
the part of the population that has grave
concerns about how world resources are
divided, and about the mass poverty, star-
vation, and disease running rampant in

 

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8

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the developing world.
Thus, in a way, I welcome
any attempt to A) increase
public knowledge of the
issues, and B) put pressure
on governments to meet
their aid promises, espe-
cially Canada, since we
established the .07 per-
cent aid goal.

But is Live 8 honestly
the best way to do it? Are
people going to go home
after the show and march
on Washington, Ottawa, and
London, demanding more
aid? Are George Bush,
Paul Martin, and Tony
Blair going to sit back
drenching their clothes
in tears as Bono blasts out
the verses of “One,” and
realize that they need to cut
all foreign debt? Not bloody
likely.

Despite the cheery vision of Sir
Bob, things are not likely to improve
significantly. The best evidence?
Remember Live Aid? Same dance, similar
issues, and what came out of it? Bupkiss.
Sure, you could argue that it increased
knowledge of the issues, but in the end it
amounted to very little actual change for
the people who needed it. As with any
attempt to motivate the population and
teach them something, change has to
come from 4 genuine desire to do so, not
from a desire to see The Killers.

And who in the bloody blue blazes
devised the lineup for the Canadian con-
cert? Most of the people who ate going to
show up to see the likes of Blue Rodeo,
Burton Cummings, and Neil Young, may
not even live to see the deadline for the
.07 percent aid goal. Okay, that’s an exag-
geration, but by comparison to all the
other shows, there was a significant lack
of youth-oriented bands in the Canadian
lineup. Tegan & Sara, Sam Roberts, and
(shutter) Simple Plan make up the youth-
ful ranks. This is so faulty; if there is
anyone they should be preaching to, it’s
the young people.

Although, if you read the June 30
National Post, you may notice that business
leaders and central bank presidents are
expressing concern over the G-8 focus on
Africa, as opposed to what they define as
important medium-term economic issues.

 

Issues on their desired timetable include
oil prices, excess borrowing by the US in
Asia, China’s overvalued currency, blah
blah blah. Yes, these certainly are pressing
issues that stand to gain or lose ordinary
people several—if not a dozen—dollars.
This certainly must be placed on a higher
plane than the daily pestilence and starva-
tion that dominates everyone’s favourite
pear-shaped continent. Can’t these guys
give up one Goddamned meeting to
worry about Africa? As if every other G-
8 to follow won’t be about exactly what
they’re worried about. Just wait a year.

So did Live 8 influence this change?
Maybe. I still have hesitations. It’s just sad
that the only way we can motivate people
in our society is to give them free enter-
tainment. Also, I’m starting to get a little
sick of the oversimplified, naive remedies
for poverty that musicians, actors, and
others of their ilk are consistently hitting
us with. While many of their hearts are in
the right place, they are just as removed
from the common man—in their cars big-
ger than houses and houses bigger than
towns—as the politicians they chastise.

Thus, while I support the cause, I do
not like the idolization of musicians as the
greatest progressive political minds in the
world.

July 13/2005