Live8

The Live8 concerts are being performed this week and we here at Bloody Nib Manor are, well, underwhelmed. The cause, an attempt to raise money for the 'survival' of Africa, is, I suppose, one to be lauded, but there are two problems with the whole thing. Actually, there are more than two problems, but if one were enumerate the number of problems with any project Martin Luther would have been buried as a Catholic priest and Alexander the Great would be known as Alexander the Boy Kisser.

But let your faithful correspondent get to cases.

Think back (or if you're a young sprite, get in the way back machine) to the Concert for Bangladesh. If you remember, back in the 70s that particular piece of real estate was in pretty bad shape. The country had just seceded from Pakistan, the weather had caused all sorts of havoc, and India wasn't willing to offer much aid. George Harrison, by far the deepest thinking Beatle (John Lennon was a poseur of the Jim Morrison sort i.e., a neo Dadaist) although a little screwy in matters of religious faith, and by all accounts a very kind and caring man, decided to mount a concert and recording to benefit the benighted people of that South Asian nation.The result some thirty odd years later is that Bangladesh hasn't changed much. The weather hasn't been as bad as it was thirty years ago, but the condition of the populace is about where it was then.

Then there was LiveAid. LiveAid was a Geldorf project. If I remember correctly, and I may not, it was a concert for the benefit of the victims of an African nation -- Biafra, I think. The result? A bunch of money collected and not much of hit getting to the man in the street.

Then there was the We Are The World thing. I don't remember what it was a benefit for. By that time I figured that rock musicians were not the best indicators of how to solve the world's problems. The result? A snappy little tune written by Michael Jackson that was referred to in hushed tones by NPR radio hosts. Otherwise, not much.

Now we have Live8 and it is supposed to somehow raise money and focus the world's attention to the situation of the average African. Good luck, Mr. Geldorf. The money will probably do nothing but fatten the pockets of African leaders, and the world's attention will last until the television cameras are turned off. If the average African is lucky the benefit he will get from the concert will be a new stick to scratch the dirt with. Meanwhile Robert Mugabe, Nelson Mandela and company will get new Toyota Camrys.

The problem in Africa is not with wealth. Africa has great natural resources. The problem with the nations on the African continent is the leadership. Most Sub-Saharan nations are kleptococies. They aren't democracies, republics or even socialist paradises. No number of concerts is going to solve that problem. It would be like having a concert for Cuba. The problem isn't with Cuba or Cubans. It's with Fidel Castro and his cronies. But then, those in the entertainment industry, whether film, television or music, do not seem to think Castro such a bad guy and perhaps they want to bring the average African up to the level of the average Cuban so the average African can have the wherewithal to try to escape a bad situation in the same way that Cubans keep doing.

The second problem is the entertainment at Live8. Here is a list of the acts that the media presents as the big attractions: Paul McCartney, U2, Madonna, the Who, Elton John, Pink Floyd and Mick Jagger. Most of those acts hit their peak twenty years ago, at least. In McCartney's case, he really saw his best days almost forty years ago. Consider the fact that most of the people who were fans of these acts are busy trying to pay their mortgage, for their kids' soccer shoes or weddings. And to expect those between the ages of sixteen to twenty-five to get excited about this bunch would be like George Harrison putting Perry Como and Rosemary Clooney in the front of the Concert for Bangladesh. Live8 is trying to appeal to the eternal adolescent when, once real life whacks one in the head, there is no such thing as eternal adolescence except for those who never got around to working the 9 to 5. Mr. Geldorf has added some younger acts, but considering the fact that the average young person, despite a bit of disposable income, is too busy trying to pay the rent to worry about some poor guy in Africa, there's not a whole lot of cash to be found. I somehow get the feeling that the money raised from Live8 will end up in the same place that the money from the Concert for Bangladesh, LiveAid and We Are the World ended up -- in the pockets of the kleptocrats.

Mr. Geldorf hopes to influence the G8 conference to forgive debts and pour money into a hole. In short, the problem with that is that as long as one treats people like children they will behave as children. There are some people who seem to feel that Africa, despite having greater natural resources than say, India or Southeast Asia, is a land of children. It is a land of, to use a term I've used before, "little brown babies." The duty of the modern world is to give the leaders of Africa a blueprint, an instruction manual of how to take care of themselves If nothing else, the G8 countries should hand the African leaders the rule that was so successful for John Wesley and the British Methodists -- "Make as much as you can. Save as much as you can. Give as much as you can."