eor

Okay it's stewed around inside me for long enough. I really have to come out and admit I have very mixed feelings about Live 8.

I mean really is this about justice? Or is it about people who have all the advantages and privileges relieving themselves of responsibility?

The theory is that the people of the G8 countries are calling on their governments to relieve Africa of burdensome debt, remove unfair trade practices, and stop the exploitation of those countries as cheap labor zones. I'm not sure why it was just Africa that got included, but maybe that was an attempt to make the parallel to Live Aid 20 years ago and not include all those other countries the G8 economies use for fodder.

What will it really accomplish? The governments might ignore the whole thing. In which case, we, the privileged people, in order to form a more perfect denial can say they ignored us, despite all our efforts. The governments might make big promises and commitments. Then we the self-righteous can say, "oh, aren't we good!" When it comes time to raise taxes we can conveniently forget those promises and keep our wallets tightly closed. Either way, it's the government's fault.

Very neat. I doesn't ask the people of the G8 countries to do anything. Don't walk to the store. Don't boycott companies that have predatory trade practices. Don't stop buying disposable products. Don't consume one iota less. Don't even skip the Starbucks today and put that dollar into an organization that is creating infrastructure in Africa. Don't bother to do anything but sit on your ass and feel good about how socially conscious you are.

In 20 years Bob Geldof will be too old and tired to do it again. You'll have to find some other way to feel good about yourself.