Live 8
Keith Parkins | 29.06.2005 12:48 | G8 2005 | Analysis | Globalisation | Social Struggles | London
'The boys and girls with guitars will finally get to turn the world on its axis.' -- Bob Geldof
Can a handful of musicians armed with guitars rock the world to its bedrock, to its very socio-economic foundations? If not, then who can?
Live 8, a series of free concerts planned for 2 July 2005 in each of the G8 nations. Timed to coincide with and put pressure on the G8 Conference at Gleneagles, Scotland.
Following on the Jubilee 2000 and Drop the Debt campaign, millennium goals were agreed on debt and development. At the present rate of progress, these goals were not being met, were not likely to be met.
To put pressure on G8 and to coincide with the UK hosting the G8 summit and assuming the presidency of the EU, Make Poverty History was launched to pressure world leaders to drop the debt of the world's poorest nations, increase and improve aid, and negotiate fairer trade rules.
To increase that pressure, to raise awareness, and to reinforce the call for a million people on the streets of Edinburgh, Bob Geldof launched Live 8, a series of eight rock concerts in each of the G8 countries. Sail 8, a modern-day Dunkirk, was to bring them across from France.
http://www.heureka.clara.net/music/live8.htm
Can a handful of musicians armed with guitars rock the world to its bedrock, to its very socio-economic foundations? If not, then who can?
Live 8, a series of free concerts planned for 2 July 2005 in each of the G8 nations. Timed to coincide with and put pressure on the G8 Conference at Gleneagles, Scotland.
Following on the Jubilee 2000 and Drop the Debt campaign, millennium goals were agreed on debt and development. At the present rate of progress, these goals were not being met, were not likely to be met.
To put pressure on G8 and to coincide with the UK hosting the G8 summit and assuming the presidency of the EU, Make Poverty History was launched to pressure world leaders to drop the debt of the world's poorest nations, increase and improve aid, and negotiate fairer trade rules.
To increase that pressure, to raise awareness, and to reinforce the call for a million people on the streets of Edinburgh, Bob Geldof launched Live 8, a series of eight rock concerts in each of the G8 countries. Sail 8, a modern-day Dunkirk, was to bring them across from France.
http://www.heureka.clara.net/music/live8.htm
Keith Parkins
Homepage:
http://www.heureka.clara.net/music/live8.htm
Comments
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Live 8 in France...
29.06.2005 14:41
So, Make Live 8 History !
Fred
Wealth and Poverty
29.06.2005 22:22
23.06.2005 23:30
‘Make Poverty History’ makes wonderful headlines, and gives the well-to-do another crusade to become self-righteous about, but isn’t it just another case of ‘flavour of the month’? It seems that African poverty is now used as an excuse to ignore pressing social problems in Britain and the rest of wealthy Europe, and is a convenient tag to be all ‘caring’, whilst studiously avoiding the issues of poverty at home. When will we ‘Make Poverty History’ in the UK, and when will the growing economic divides between the ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’ be addressed, or is this too much like reality? We have people in Britain, who are either unemployed, or, if they want to work, have to start at some chronic low wage. The low wages in one area ‘supplement’ the high wages in another area. All poverty in this way, here and in the third world, is artificial and could truly be made history if the bulging wage packets of the well-to-do were curtailed, a fair minimum wage was introduced, and there was a concerted drive to make the well off pay more tax, and tax breaks were given to the poor. What works in Africa might even work in the UK. What I do not understand, is why the well off and the middle classes vociferously call for fairness and equality and economic justice in the third world, but are stone silent when it comes to fairness, equality and economic justice in Britain? I am sure many poor and working class Brits are puzzled by this. The same people who are greedy and selfish in Africa, be they black or white, are a reflection of the same greedy and selfish people in Britain, who want to challenge poverty and injustice on one hand, but want to have all the money, live in the best areas, have all the best jobs, and pay as little tax as possible. Until we recognise, all over the world, that ALL poverty is artificial and is really due to greed and selfishness, whether in downtown Timbuktu or indeed Liverpool, the same problems will keep occurring, and the same hypocrisy and double standards will scar our societies, create unnecessary problems, and mean that some are destined for misery and want, whilst others have more than they can ever spend. The world system in this way is deeply unjust, and a few well meaning ‘crusaders’ will not change that. I pray for the day when more of us can live in better economic circumstances, not just the well-to-do and the super-rich.
Ragged trousered, well..you know...!
Curious