g8 concerts

[bobtheduck]

i assume all those stars donate a million or two to the cause from their own pockets?

[jocasta]

I thought Brad Pitt was embarrasing...preaching to crowd about what WE need to do....how much does he get per film $20 million?? hmmm.

[twiglet4frog]

was that before or after he ate his blackcurrents and red cherries with cream in the vip area that he demanded if he were to make an appearance at the concert! i mean, we can have a celeb starving now when his fee per film will cancel out a small percentage of third world debt!

I think the stars are tight, they think there presence is enough to influence spending, i think one of the most nicest is Bill Gates who always donates (although admittedly he is worth billions). recently he donated out of his own personal funds a �497 million cheque to a british AIDS research fund that is hoping to find a cure and medicines to ease the suffering in africa. He has also set up several funds worth millions to build and develop schools in poor countries. We need more influential people like him that the governments want to keep sweet on the case.

[shaneystar]

Now twig we musn't forget that although they play for free....Elton still needs money for flowers and that other guy (the one hooked up with Kate Moss) needs dosh for drugs and long holidays in The Priory.

[Artful]

You are being harsh, I think, shaneystar. Elton John donates a fiar amount apparently as does, damn, forgotten who I was going to say - and that's not sarcasm. But I think there is much given anonymously.

I'm cross I missed Brad Pitt as I'd have liked to have heard the pomposity I could imagine him coming out with. Personally I think he should put some of his money into taking out acting lessons.

[bobtheduck]

yes brad pitt who has more money than he knows what to do with clicking his fingers at me trying to preach and make me feel gulity... unreal!

[mystress]

But you see,these people inhabit an "unreal" world,in which there is No poverty,disease or death!

In fact many of them ARE dead already,but nobody has dared to tell them! LOL

[MargeB]

I think you're being harsh on Brad, he gave up his own time and effort to a good cause, so what if he needs to  get some berries and cream to keep him feeling jolly?

[luckyboy]

How do any of you know that pitt does not give a lot of his money to charity and good causes..cynicism is rife in this country..usually from people who do ziltch themselves.

[bobtheduck]

i would be more likely to listen if someone who earns 100mill a year wasnt preaching to me

[stevie21]

I'm with luckyboy here. How do we claim to know exactly what Brad Pitt does with his time or money?
It's convenient to pidgeonhole him and assume that he's a rich, self absporbed waster but he could be a great bloke who is very helpful to lots of charities for all I know.

I'm just jealous that he's been with Jennifer Aniston. Yummmmmmmmm.

[MargeB]

I agree with you stevie, her performances were outstanding..

[ESCENA]

I don't trust their motives.

Bono's yeah, he has been in music politics for some time so i believe that he uses his power for changing things and Bob. Not the rest of them.....The richer you become and the more you get a grip of the powerfulness of multinationals, the more you may feel the need to convince yourself and people around you that you can bring real social changes .

I don't know........African people have been dying of AIDS and poverty for many years, but only lately have artists working for or motived (? ) by multinationals gotten sensitive about it . Can it be possible that multinationals are searching for a new market for their products now that Western markets have been saturated and they need to level up African life quality so that they can exploit later on? And that they maybe thinking that African people can become for them the new , handable labor army that they need since European/American workers cann't be hold down anymore?

[Artful]

Why is everyone obsessed about Brad Pitt; I brought him up simply as an example. I now regret it, poor guy; as stevie said how do we know what he does with what he has, anyway it's his business and no-one else's. MargeB said, he gave up his time and that's more than what others have done. The ?er (yes, bobtheduck) is questioning in general.

ESCENA, 20 years was a long time ago when people like Geldof, Elton John were bringing the problem to the fore. We have been made aware of the problem for a long, long time and not because of any how flown politician or all-caring government has wanted to DO something about it. You don't trust their motives! What can they want? EJ is a hit in himself, BG has been well-known for over 20 years and they both sell w/out this media hype...

[ESCENA]

We became aware of Africa problems because they made few songs for 1-2 years ... Of course, just because you care to make a lp once every 20 years doesn't make you a
sensitive artist but i take it as some artists like Bob and Bono's music activities dedicated to social issues do have truthful motives due to their continuity over time.
Then the majority of them didn't say a word about poverty for 20 years while during this time Africans have been dying and struggling with all kinds of exploitation and now they 've decided that it was time to fight again. Kylie???Mariah? Kate Moss? Please!!!

Stars belong to their companies and are public opinion leaders , you don't know how much money they may have received under the table. They may not need media hype for themselves but they are important as spokepersons for their multinationals.

Charity its a nice and smooth way of dealing with issues of social injustice and economic difficulties. People feeling good for giving some money unconcerned with multinationals' powerfulness while multi keep ripping us off.

[bobtheduck]

sorry artful what did you call me?

[shaneystar]

I agree with Escena and bobtheduck on this.They raised a lot of money 20 years ago.Where has it has gone? What have they done with it? The tin pot despots and dictators have syphoned it off for their own use while their people live in poverty. I flatly refuse to donate so that people like Robert Mugabe can live in the style to which they are accustomed while others starve.Look at the tsunami disaster....people are still sitting there in makeshift shelters .Where has all that money gone?

[luckyboy]

live8 is/was not about raising money, it was about raising awareness and people power by putting pressure on the G8 to act to attempt to cure the blight of third world poverty..it may never be successful, but its much preferrable to sitting on ur hands and doing nothing as the cynics and critics of geldof, bono etc seemingly would prefer.

[shaneystar]

Well then they should be consistent and have it every year instead of once every twenty years.I'm not criticising Sir Bob and Bono ,I think they have a social conscience but I think some of them jump on the bandwagon to promote their own interests.Plus I don't sit on my hands and do nothing.I have knitted countless baby tops from a pattern provided by Oxfam which are sent to Africa.

[ESCENA]

luckyboy,

Do you think your attending a concert puts pressure on Blair or Bush? I am with the artists on many intiatives of them such as lifting up trade barriers so that African products can compete with Western products or creating infrastructure in African countries.

But if we are to tackle poverty we should tackle it everywhere, in Germany, in Latin America, in Britain, we should attack every structure and agency that sustains, generates, lives from it in any country not just in Africa.

They are around 20m unemployed in EU , does anyone care if they can make a living? If they are competable to other employees, if they can feed their children, if they can pay their medical bills?Can these Europeans fight their own poverty which is usually caused by multinational/state interests? How are we supposed to make the world better when we don't fight the people that make it worst for both Americans,Europeans,africans,etc?

[twiglet4frog]

problem with africa is they havent anything that we want and havent the money to build anything we want so our countries struggle to find anything to help them, what i mean is that the gulf states do well cos they have oil that western G8 worlds want! and not only have they got it but they have the money and basic infrastructure to sell it to us and use that money to build better infrastructures, in africa they havent anything to the scale of that and with debts, they cant spend money producing something to sell to the G8 countries(creating jobs and therefore income for their people) and because of this the governements fall into survival of the strongest competitons, where the strongest literally wipes out the competiton!

What they need is democratic governements who are advised, taught and educated by G8 governements on how to learn how to run the basics of a country, then relieve them of the debt burdens so they can start building an economy, and then G8 countries have the companies that can go out there set up workable industries and tourism trades etc benefitting more money for our own countries, but also helping a country become more appealing to trade and industry and therefore jobs and incomes for its people.