Home Politics & Debate
If you need urgent support, call 999 or go to your nearest A&E. To contact our Crisis Messenger (open 24/7) text THEMIX to 85258.
Options

hows africa doing then?

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
geldof and the g8 ...i did say you would all mostly forget all about the plight of africa after the publicity you drank in and defended so readily, came to an end.
the conversation in here has died ...quicker than the millions slowly starving to death ...hello sir bob ...hello bono ...hello followers and supporters ...
shallow as a fucking puddle some people.

Comments

  • Options
    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Oxfam write me lovely letters asking me for money sometimes. I put them in the bin because I can't afford to give more than I already do. but it tells me what's going on. Niger is bothering me a great deal, because I can't believe it's allowed to progress so far, with so little done.
  • Options
    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Fiend_85 wrote:
    I can't believe it's allowed to progress so far, with so little done.
    i can't fucking believe the people in here have remained so fucking silent ...i've been waiting ...wondering ...when someone would say something but not a fucking word.
    but ...get a pop star or two ...and bandwagon comes to mind.

    i did say ...as soon as it was all over everyone would forget ...especialy those who disagreed.
    trendy ...fashionable etc etc ...but mostly bandwagon.
  • Options
    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Fiend_85 wrote:
    because I can't believe it's allowed to progress so far, with so little done.
    why not? no one realy gives a fuck or feels utterly powerless.
    until of course it's fashionable for a few weeks then places like this fill up with concern ...and then the shows over and it's on to the next nugget of informaytion and events.
    people who pressume themselves to be educated ...inteligent ...caring ...being taken along for ride after ride ...
  • Options
    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Personally, i think thers a reason large countries chose to allow people to starve to death and die from aids, wen they can prevent it so easily. Its like the population of africa is slowly dieing off and no one seems that bothered...
  • Options
    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Jonny8888 wrote:
    Personally, i think thers a reason large countries chose to allow people to starve to death and die from aids, ...
    whaaa?
    big and rich placres like the western powers?
  • Options
    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    yeah
  • Options
    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Jonny8888 wrote:
    yeah
    henry kissinger publicly stated in the seventies that america would at some point have to depopulate large areas of africa ...so who knows?
  • Options
    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    why not? no one realy gives a fuck or feels utterly powerless.
    until of course it's fashionable for a few weeks then places like this fill up with concern ...and then the shows over and it's on to the next nugget of informaytion and events.
    people who pressume themselves to be educated ...inteligent ...caring ...being taken along for ride after ride ...
    To be fair, we haven't heard a huge amount on the news about Africa as it's currently been consumed with the bombings and the government's execution of an innocent man and so on... It's not really the fault of the people, but the media.

    That was the point of Live 8, to publicise what's going on on that continent and the changes that are being made. Thousands of people turned up to show their support in Edinburgh too, just to show Mr Blair and the world leaders that we do care and offer our support to make changes (although I didn't quite get why Palestine Solidarity were there).

    What bad did the Live 8 do the country?

    Oh and for the record, at least in Edinburgh there were a lot of cool people, many of which belong to different organisations that are going to change the world for the better hopefully.
  • Options
    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    We haven't heard a lot, but it has been there. And ultimatly the reason we haven't heard a lot, is because it doesn't sell, because NO-ONE REALLY GIVES A SHIT.
  • Options
    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    To be fair, people, many of which belong to different organisations that are going to change the world for the better hopefully.
    oh my dearest moon ...your whole post was full of the same sentiments of my youth.
    no i aint taking the piss.
    i grew up in a world of entertainment and information ...but they were hijacked for a while by the peace and love commie generation ....
    we actualy had fim and music that had been hijacked by lsd.
    the whole fashon movement thing was geared to make love not war ...peace and love and feed the hungry ...etc etc.

    i often wonder wether or not that was our last chance.
    the media now is violent and mostly about have and death.
    not a good mix to produce any peace heroes me thinks.
    i can see the hippy in you ...
  • Options
    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Fiend_85 wrote:
    We haven't heard a lot, but it has been there. And ultimatly the reason we haven't heard a lot, is because it doesn't sell, because NO-ONE REALLY GIVES A SHIT.

    Hmmm, I'd say there are plenty who GIVE A SHIT - and if it "doesn't sell" how comes Slob Welloff got so much coverage out of it?

    Niger's having a terrible time - thanks to the IMF with its condition that Niger sold of the grain reserves just as the drought was kicking in - Sudan's in a mess - Zimbabwe hasn't gone away - Ugandan women are being abused while on hunger strike in Yarl's Wood.

    The news is out there - and I really don't believe that people refuse to buy broadsheets cos they cover Africa.

    All in all, I don't think this was one of your best interventions in a debate Fiend.....
  • Options
    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    What bad did the Live 8 do the country?

    It made people think they'd done enough for the moment.
  • Options
    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    oh my dearest moon ...your whole post was full of the same sentiments of my youth.
    no i aint taking the piss.
    i grew up in a world of entertainment and information ...but they were hijacked for a while by the peace and love commie generation ....
    we actualy had fim and music that had been hijacked by lsd.
    the whole fashon movement thing was geared to make love not war ...peace and love and feed the hungry ...etc etc.

    i often wonder wether or not that was our last chance.
    the media now is violent and mostly about have and death.
    not a good mix to produce any peace heroes me thinks.
    i can see the hippy in you ...
    Yeah, it's the media that's holding the world back, that's destroying people's self-esteem, keeping women subservient, instilling ideas of "romance", making shame on people who are overweight or who want to be individual... But the fact is there are still people out there who care.

    I'm not proud to come from a generation that is more likely to vote for Big Brother than to vote for the Prime Minister, but look at what Live 8 did. Even if, for example 75% of people who went to see the bands play didn't give a toss about Africa, 25% may have and even if half of those find their interest wears off, there would still be more people working for Africa's future in the first place.

    I don't mean to sound nasty, but you can't automatically assume that anybody who got themselves involved in the G8 march or Live 8 was doing it to be fashionable. It's not the case with everybody. Take the anti war protests, it gets people interested and provides them with information they wouldn't otherwise come across.

    I agree the media doesn't seem to support peace, it is violent these days, but it's the perfect conditioning tool run by the fat cats and governments. If all of a sudden people woke up to all the injustice and corruption in the world they'd be in danger of losing their money.
  • Options
    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I did say we were all obsessed with the london bombings when africa was still getting on with life... struggling. Then I got called racist for saying africa has loads of problems. :confused:

    Though having said that, I didn't actually get involved in the G8 march or liveaid or anything.
  • Options
    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Hmmm, I'd say there are plenty who GIVE A SHIT - and if it "doesn't sell" how comes Slob Welloff got so much coverage out of it?

    All in all, I don't think this was one of your best interventions in a debate Fiend.....

    It's called novelty, your's has worn off.
  • Options
    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I've heard Niger is facing one of the biggest famines in it's history at the moment, there are also countless countries involved in civil wars, where literally millions are dying, i heard a news reporter last night saying while live8 focused on what the West could do for the long term good of Africa, it has failed horribly in the short term humanitarian aspect, so while we all danced in Hyde Park and sang with our pop stars, Niger was getting mauled by locusts, as if we knew, wanted to knew or cared at the time eh? (i'll include myself in this criticsm)
  • Options
    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I don't mean to sound nasty, but you can't automatically assume that anybody who got themselves involved in the G8 march or Live 8 was doing it to be fashionable. It's not the case with everybody. .
    i agree with that but ...by attacking everyone ...those who do care usualy appear out of the woodwork to give you some hope.
    i was kind of hoping to hear more good news ...more glimmers of hope ...more stories of what action is actualy taking place.
    the idea of the thread was to learn something ...unfortunately it didn't work very well.
  • Options
    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    The results of the Summit, for people who don't know...
    • G8 nations have agreed to cancel debt in 18 countries (sadly not all of them).
    • The G8 has agreed to a $50bn (£28.8bn) boost to aid (by 2010 I believe... Five more years of suffering).
    • Universal access to drugs to help HIV by 2010.
    • No progress on climate change (surprise surprise).
    • Possible talks in the future about trade.

    AS for action taking place... There are always aid agencies out there in countries in poverty, but sadly there isn't enough support for them and blowing the whistles on many big corporations on the way in which they trade and exploit people is near impossible. I mean just look at the Union workers assassinated by Coca Cola in Columbia.
  • Options
    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Unfortunatly for the average pleb like me. All that can really be done is give some money to oxfam, and hope that everyone else who said they cared during the G8 is doing the same...

    Oxfam have already sent a "please give us some money" mail shot.
  • Options
    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I was discussing aid with a friend of mine who has a lot of experience with NGO's and he said (using an example of a medical clinic in Central Africa) that they could do more with £100,000 on the ground there than the big charities can do with £1,000,000. The problem is not that there isn't enough aid, it's that there isn't enough expertise out there to spend it properly.

    To re-frame that problem, I give you an impoverished village in, say, India and £100,000. What are you going to first? Dig a well? Irrigate? That's about £50 spent. What next...?
  • Options
    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I was discussing aid with a friend of mine who has a lot of experience with NGO's and he said (using an example of a medical clinic in Central Africa) that they could do more with £100,000 on the ground there than the big charities can do with £1,000,000. The problem is not that there isn't enough aid, it's that there isn't enough expertise out there to spend it properly.

    To re-frame that problem, I give you an impoverished village in, say, India and £100,000. What are you going to first? Dig a well? Irrigate? That's about £50 spent. What next...?

    Build a school?
  • Options
    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Its true though the whole way funders operate is to give money to UK based charities who then have to use loads on administration and then send the rest out to partner organisations in developing countires.

    It makes loads more sense to give money directly to organisations based in the south - but because of problems of corruption and accountability they have to channel that money through northern based organisations - which is all a bit silly - though does provide me with a job.... (I even said in my interview that my job shouldn't really exist - i guess at least i'm being realistic)
  • Options
    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Build a school?

    Definitely a good start.

    A lot of villages have one of those and are still poor. Buld a better one? Where are you going to find teachers? Money can't create them, it can only pay them when you have them.
  • Options
    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Whilst aid is important, we need to be helping villages help themselves. They need wells, tools to farm with, they need schools, transport, they need rooves over their heads and clothing.

    In the UK it would cost a lot to employ a teacher, or driver, or builder but in those countries it's dirt cheap.
  • Options
    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    how would I use that 100,000@
    ...get back to you later.
Sign In or Register to comment.