conjectural navel gazing; jesus in lint form

live aid redux

I have been wondering about the Live8 concerts coming up. It should be an interesting media event if nothing else. I remeber the tragedy of Ethiopia and the work to put an end to hunger back in the 1980's. This newest effort has been referred to as an idealistic ego romp for groups like U2. To be honest, I am not certain what to think yet...at least not about the concerts. I am supportive of the efforts. That is why there is the ONE ribbon on this blog and why I have installed the Live8 badge to your left. There are one or two facts that are compelling.

50,000 people are dying every day of extreme poverty.

That one has me floored. It is not that there aren't poor people everywhere. But there is an issue of sustainability that I wrestle with. Can people sustain themselves on the income they earn? If not, does all the blame/responsibility fall upon the local or national governments of the poor nations? It is such a complicated issue. This latest effort to end world hunger, Live8, has impressed me with the way that they are trying to come up with sollutions to complicated issues and allowing the issues to remain complicated. Geldoff and the others are actually bright people who have a deep understanding of the issues.

And somewhere along the way I started to trust their voices. Lately, this kind of trust is rare in America. I am slowly trying to overcome my own cynicism.

Let's see what we can do. Tell your congressional representative what you think.

Also, go to this post on the Technorati site to see what they are up to. That is where the badge and the tag came from.
Joe Trippi said this.
Power Line said this.
live8 edinburgh

Posted by tripp at June 28, 2005 03:09 PM