Posted on 07/04/2005 1:48:59 AM PDT by End Times Sentinel
By Rebecca HarrisonSun Jul 3,10:35 AM ET
Few Africans watched the star-studded Live 8 gigs meant to highlight their plight but many said on Sunday any bid to relieve poverty was welcome -- even faraway rock concerts performed for rich whites.
Up to 2 billion people watched broadcasts of Saturday's Live 8 concerts, performed on four continents to help draw attention to poverty in Africa and press the world's most powerful leaders to cancel debt, boost aid and scrap unfair trade barriers.
Yet in Africa where most people are too poor to own a TV, only a fraction of those meant to benefit actually saw the event billed as the world's biggest concert and those who did were puzzled by endless footage of white men with guitars.
"I don't know who Bob Geldof is," said Edward Romoki in downtown Johannesburg when asked what he thought of the man behind the concerts. "But people are speaking about poverty and there is plenty of that in Africa -- maybe a concert like this can put Africa in the news and change things."
Maxwell Shirima, a 25-year-old who makes around $5 a day selling oranges at the side of the road in Tanzania said he had no idea there were any concerts being staged to help Africa.
"I haven't heard anything about it, but anything to help us is good," he said.
ACTION NOT WORDS
Africans who knew about the concerts thought they were a good idea but wondered why their own musicians had been sidelined -- a criticism that prompted the last-minute addition of the much smaller Johannesburg gig.
"What do participating musicians know about Africa?" asked Susan Outa, a student in Nairobi. "How do we know whether half of them have even visited a single African country?"
At the Johannesburg show on Saturday some 8,000 people stared nonplussed at a giant screen beaming live footage of U2 and other western acts little known in Africa from glitzier concerts in rich countries.
But while artists said they would have loved to share the stage with international stars such as Bjork and Bono, they said the local concert offered a chance to educate young Africans about the issues behind their daily strife.
"As a young African man this gives me a chance to talk to other young Africans about the issues that are stopping them from being free," said Zola, South Africa's king of kwaito -- a version of hiphop that grew from the townships.
Between pumping tunes, Zola and other performers drew huge cheers as they preached debt relief and free trade to a crowd largely unversed in international economics.
Despite skepticism over how much a bunch of rock stars could change their lives, many Africans were hopeful a meeting of the Group of Eight (G8) richest countries next week would yield results.
"I hope the G8 will find a solution to our problems," said unemployed 21-year-old Isa Mlambo in Johannesburg. "They always promise, but I am hoping this time they will take action."
Kenyan student Phillip Khisa reckoned Africa must first fight its own battles and wondered whether even debt write-off would help a continent blighted by corruption.
"You know we have a greedy government. Even if they cancel the debt, it will not help if the government is greedy. Senior government officials should cut their salaries first."
(Additional reporting by George Obulutsa in Nairobi and Helen Nyambura in Dar es Salaam)
Owl_Eagle
(If what I just wrote makes you sad or angry,
I guess I have to give the liberals a pass on this one. Many of them are so stupid as to believe that Africa is poor because we aren't, so they honestly see this as the remedy.
Kenyan student Phillip Khisa reckoned Africa must first fight its own battles and wondered whether even debt write-off would help a continent blighted by corruption.
"You know we have a greedy government. Even if they cancel the debt, it will not help if the government is greedy. Senior government officials should cut their salaries first."
Interesting. Looks like Isa Mlambo is your typical liberal and Phillip Khisa is your typical conservative. Kind of like Hannity and Colmes - tune in to Khisa and Mlambo on an African TV set near you (or an African TV set just a few hundred desert miles from you).
Hundreds of Live 8 viewers complained to the BBC after a series of foul-mouthed outbursts by performers.
Madonna, Snoop Dogg, Green Day and Johnny Borrell - lead singer of Razorlight - let slip swearwords during the live charity show, which was televised by the corporation.
Rapper Snoop Dogg repeatedly chanted "mother******" during one song while Green Day, who were shown performing in Berlin, shouted "Come on f****** Deutschland". Madonna yelled at the crowd: "Are you f****** ready London" while Borrell screamed "I say sign the f****** petition".
The Africans are not alone in being puzzled by this one. Yeseterday the sound bite on ABCNews Radio was of Will Smith from the Philadelphia concert bloviating on about how the G-8 leaders could eliminate poverty in Africa with a stroke of the pen.
I'm sorry, but that's just stupid. Africa has serious problems, and the G-8 has nothing to do with it. And if folks want to lock the Continent in concrete, they should demand debt relief. No lender, international busybody or otherwise, will ever lend another dime to Africa if they are to be let off the hook every 20 years or so. And no African country will ever invest another dime toward the repayment scheme if they know they can just steal the money today and be relieved of the burden down the road.
Soft loans are the baby steps of economic development. If Africa does not take these steps, it is doomed to be an economic backwater in perpetuity.
Because Live 8 was based on a colonial premise that European elites know more than Africans do about Africa.
The elites are Pollyannas covering their eyes to corrupt and abusive African governments.
Botswana has the least corruption and also has the best situation among African Nations, but It is too much fun for people like Will Smith to blame the G-8 for problems caused by people like Mr. Mugabe.
Will Smith delivered my favorite all time one-liner in the movie "Independence Day" when he corked the Alien but Mr. Smith is a very, very, ignorant person.
It needs to SHOUTED that "aid" like this is HURTING AFRICAN PEOPLE BY KEEPING DICTATORS LIKE MUGABE IN POWER!! Do mis-educated people like Will Smith understand that Mugabe is worth BILLIONS?! That HE could write off Zimbabwe's debt with a stroke of a pen and he would STILL be a billionaire? God, this ignorance gets me so angry!
Dear Live 8 entertainers
Thank you for your tremendous efforts to bring the plight of Africans to everyone's attention. I want to do my part and you are my example. I will give the same percentage of my wealth as you to solve this problem. Please find enclosed a check for $0.50.
Until the corruption is dealt with, shoveling more money at Africa won't do a darn bit of good.
Now that is funny! :)
I watched a little of the Live 8 concerts and couldn't help but laugh. They showed a commercial called 3 seconds where a laundry list of liberal who's who were snapping their fingers every 3 seconds. (Brad Pitt, George Clooney, etc.) It was to show that a child in Africa dies every 3 seconds. I wondered if that 3 seconds included the ones who were killed through ethnic cleansing. I imagine over half of these caring individuals have never even been to Africa.
There are two big problems Africa needs to overcome if they are to advance: 1) too much tribal warfare that spreads across borders, and 2) too many corrupt authoritarian regimes that cause no end of suffering for the people of that continent.
Why just Africans?
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