as I beat my head against it. Over and over and over again.
Live 8. I’m watching the BBC – the British answer to insomnia – news. Young skulls full of mush doing a lip-sync at a local school. A group of children talk about how the US, UK and other countries are rich and they are wrong because they don’t give to the poor. And if they give money everything will be better.
What???
Western countries give billions of dollars in food, aid and support to Africa every year. I tried to look for the exact figure but will have to update this later.
Don’t get me wrong; I think the idea of Africa improving and developing is great. There’s nothing wrong with it. But, is the West the cause? Or is it something else? We’ve heard about the greedy West but there’s another side to this story. Is it a quiet subject because corrupt governments are too difficult and messy to remove? You bet.
Why is there no conversation about how the governments in Africa actually work? Where’s the freaking UN? Don’t they solve the worlds problems one New York motion at a time?
Let’s imagine the G8 decides to write off their debt? What will happen the next day?
I do believe there is a lot that can be done in Africa but the only people who will be able to make a change are Africans. The US and the West can provide education, money and goods to help enable them to make a real difference but white folks from Europe, Berkeley and some has-been from England aren’t the ones.
It saddens me that another generation of children and liberals will think tomorrow really does something. I’m all for a good concert and a little rock and roll but don’t confuse that with having government reform, business plans, education programs and enthusiastic Africans working to build roads and commerce.
Geldof’s right that only governments can make a difference but no one wants to admit the way Western governments could really have an impact. Ironically, these were the ‘No War’ crowd over Iraq. Hmmm.
I wonder how many Africans will watch the event?
