By: Editors
July2005 - EditionThree
( view editor’s questions from previous months )
Editor’s Questions are different items presented by a different Editor every edition. Thought provoking, and hopefully something that will stimulate some minds.
| Editors Question: Live 8 is a series of 10 concerts on 4 continents with a total of 150 musical artists performing, beginning in Tokyo, Japan. They hope to bring more awareness to poverty, specifically in Africa. Do you think that this will impact global poverty on a large scale? |
Repond to this question below. Your response, along with the editors’ will be visible to other viewers as well.
July 5th, 2005 at 6:22 am
It’s very possible that it would help poverty, but in my opinion, most of the leaders are just waiting for the other leaders to do something about it. Money is short and money used for weapons seems to be the main priority.
I read somewhere that all the present leaders will most likely not pursue or be eligible for another term. There is no incentive for them to help sick and dying people in another continent. It’s the pure selfishness that creates poverty in this world.
-ray lee
July 5th, 2005 at 7:05 am
It may create some heightened awareness of world poverty but only for a short while. I believe people have become desensitized to seeing their favorite musicians speaking out and calling attention to various social issues.
~ tim elliott
July 12th, 2005 at 3:25 am
In a world where we care little about anything.. you will see a brief impact on people caring.. but then it will fizzle… it is Africa.. a place that nobody has really got any real connection with… you have these guys playing in a concert saying… “Feed Africa” and then they go off in there $200k cars and their $5 million dollar homes and do nothing…
it is goinhg to do nothing… in the mid to long run….
July 13th, 2005 at 7:58 pm
Danny: I agree with you. However, these people who say “Feed Africa,” are in fact putting in the effort by saying it? They brought people together and got the message out. Isn’t that more effort than many other people? Celebrities have a tremedous amount of impact on people–just look at all the advertisements and marketing strategies that involve them. In fact, they do have a great influence and in this case, they have expressed their message to everyone around the world. Whether or not they donated money on their own behalf is one thing, but they sure made the effort to put on a show and tell other people to donate.
-ray lee
July 15th, 2005 at 8:00 pm
Update: $50 BILLION dollars were pledged by the G-8. Do you think the concerts had anything to do with it?
-ray lee
July 20th, 2005 at 8:10 am
come on Ray…. this is going to go nowhere.. until we find something that the industrial world can utilize (exploit) in Africa, then nothing is going to be done about the continent, becuase in all honesty, it is a dead continent to the rest of the world. They got the word out for two or three days. But really does anyone really think about Africa after that. Hell the only reason I even think of Africa right now is becuase I am writing this in response to you. Other than that, no reason… I think about the middle east everytime I get gas. I think about Asia everytime I buy clothes for my daughter. I think about South America when I go to starbucks to get my coffee… Tell me when and where I would think of Africa on a daily basis. Okay, there are a bunch of people starving over there. That is sad. But hey, nothing is being done by it and nothing will be done about it until we can find something to exploit on the continent.
July 21st, 2005 at 4:40 am
Danny, much of the reasons why people think of Africa now is precisely because it has been ignored for much of the last century. Not only are people dying from poverty, but also dying from sicknesses such as AIDS. Who knows what other diseases and viruses will originate from there. In order to understand how to contain and prevent these things, we must first take care of the people there.
As much as I do not believe that Africa will see all of the $50 billion US pledged to them, a believe a good portion will be and it will help the people there. Without the concerts, many people like you and I will not have thought about Africa at all and now that they have gotten everyone’s attention, it’s about time we help them out.
-ray lee
July 21st, 2005 at 5:52 am
yeah… the people will see about a tenth of that money… as most of that money is going to get funnelled into some warlords hands.. or the head of governments bank accounts…. until we find something on the continent worth anything.. the place is going to be a bastion of poverty and starvation…. nothing that you, me nor concerts will really change…..