Live 8 Swooning?Bob Geldof had a conference call with some of the leading blogs of the Left and Right to petition support for his Live 8 rock concert and cause. To say that the Republican contingent was impressed would be putting it mildly:
Captain's Quarters:
It's exciting to see people reach out to the blogosphere on a nonpartisan basis to affect real change in the world. Keep your eyes out for more developments, here and at other blogs.Little Green Footballs:
Despite my skepticism (rock stars with causes, oh boy), I was impressed with Geldof’s knowledge of the situation, and by his group’s ideas to make sure that whatever aid is generated will not simply be pocketed by corrupt African dictators. Ultimately, the vision seems to be to promote freedom and reform on the African continent. Geldof said, “Robert Mugabe will not be included.”Power Line:
To say that I was impressed would be an understatement. Geldof is an extraordinarily knowledgable guy. Equally important, he is not soft-headed about Africa's problems. He emphasizes free markets and the need for political reform, which should be, and according to Geldof will be, a condition of the assistance that he advocates.Now maybe it's just refining your message for different audiences, but I have a little bit of a tough time reconciling the Bob Geldof described in those posts with the
twit described here:
Speaking about the nature of the Edinburgh event, Geldof told the BBC: "It's going be a party. I like parties, I'm quite good at organising them and this is going to be the biggest party ever held.
"If the principals who are in the middle of this party - the eight leaders who can control the world's economic destiny - don't want to come to the party, then don't show up in our country, you're not welcome to the party.
"If they don't want to change the world just that little bit - so that a continent eight miles from Europe, the poor people of that continent don't have to die, live on our television screens every night for ever - if they don't want to stop that, if they don't want to do what they've always promised, don't come."His partner in the endeavor seems even less sophisticated:
Geldof's Band Aid partner Midge Ure is co-ordinating the protest. He said plans were being made for a convoy of planes, cars, trucks, ferries and private boats to take people to Scotland.
"We don't care how you get there. But you have got to get to Edinburgh and let them know what we think," he declared.
"Give up home and school for a week. It will be just like the Ban the Bomb protests in the sixties - something special."Like I said, it could be different styles for different audiences; I respect Ed Morrissey, Charles Johnson and John Hinderacker, so when they say Geldof's not an idiot we have to listen.
But "getting rid of poverty" is a fool's errand. There are lots of things that can be done to help people--provide clean drinking water, reduce blindness by making sure that kids get proper vitamins, etc. That's what we should be doing, and on an individual basis, not on a governmental basis.
BTW, anybody who thinks we right-wingers have to wait to be told what to think should check out the comments on Captain Ed's post. Pretty vigorous debate, and just by my personal estimate, little agreement with the bloggers. I'll take a Coalition of the Chillin' approach to this one as well; let's wait and see what happens.
Ed Driscoll has some
thoughts on the concert as a circular firing squad. Be sure to check the link to his Weekly Standard piece on the original Live Aid in 1985.
Here's another excellent piece from a blogger
who did some digging.
Smash has
another positive post. One detail he adds that I hadn't read elsewhere:
Here’s the clincher: Geldof wasn’t asking for donations. He admits that food aid and even debt cancellation, while helpful, are of limited utility in the long run. Instead, he’s asking us to start a conversation about how to stimulate long-term development in Sub-Saharan Africa. “This isn’t Live Aid 2,” the website reads, “LIVE 8 is about justice not charity.”Here's a
very negative piece on Live 8 in the Telegraph.
