A Few Songs to Soothe Our Hearts

Sir Bob Geldof has rightly, if with the egomaniacal bombast of someone who seems to believe he's in charge of the upcoming the G8 conference, said what needs to be said to Canada and the rest of the Western world, namely that we need to commit 0.7 per cent of our GDP in aid and start facing the effects of Western commerce on Africa. Of course, Sir Bob should also pull his head out of his arse, look himself in the mirror and ask what he has personally done to fix the problems he so easily places at the footsteps of the G8 government leaders.

Sir Bob wouldn't be "Sir" Bob without the cultural phenomenon that was Live Aid, the zenith of charity in the eighties, but only a footnote in the history of poverty and unrest in Africa. Sir Bob wouldn't have the power, wealth and influence that he has without being a sharp, connected, and well-funded businessman with the smarts to work his money, accumulate wealth, and become a far better capitalist than most of the world leaders he criticizes, save for Paul Martin, who will most likely go down in history as being a fine businessman.

In short, Sir Bob, Bono, Sir Elton, and all the rest of the premiere artists who will perform in the Live 8 concerts are as much the problem as the solution. They represent all that is good, bad, and sadly, apathetic in the West. They are commerce personified, with an occasional interest in charity; a social salve for our conscience and a useful distraction when the news proves too great to ignore.

Too often and too easily we turn to government and our leaders to "fix the problem," as if they are wizards with the power to move mountains, walk on water, and feed millions with a quick spell and a flourish of the wand. The fact is that the problems facing Africa will not be solved by just forgiving debt, pledging more and more aid, or trying to remember the chords to "I Don't Like Mondays."

Not that we shouldn't applaud Geldof and Bono for pursuing the issue, creating awareness, and bringing the issue to the fore, but there is no sense pushing the problem into the spotlight unless you have something better to offer than torn up credit cards and promises for big fat Christmas presents.

The problems in Africa are systemic. Forgiving debt and providing aid will do little more than give a chronic debtor a little reprieve, and help the bank vaults in Switzerland bulge just that little bit more while corrupt leaders squirrel away some of the money, buy arms with the rest, and let their citizens starve in the finest tradition that is modern Africa.

If Sir Bob and his traveling band of minstrels liquidated so much of a third of their collective billions, and Geldof used it to work his capitalist magic investing in AIDS research and developing true African business ventures with the same aplomb he did turning a buck booking internet travel packages, far more will have been done for Africa than by a smatter of platitudes and one-day media orgy. The Live 8 concerts will do more to help the flagging careers of most of the participants than they will to put food in the bellies of Africans.

The problem is not nasty governments raping and pillaging the Dark Continent. Western governments work for us, the voters. In most cases they reflect what we want, and do what makes us most happy. If there was a culture of true altruism and philanthropy in the West, then real, substantial help would be offered to Africa, and not the sort of Band-Aid, stopgap solutions that have kept Sally Struthers begging on our television sets for two decades.

But we are consumers. We want the latest and the best, cheap oil to power our toys, and not a humble lifestyle where our wealth and efforts contribute to the well-being of others. We live lifestyles of leisure and consumption, lifestyles that will be vividly on display on July 2nd. Until that changes, the people of Africa are on their own. We have iPods to buy, music to consume, and Elton John can simply never be seen twice in the same pair of shoes.

So thanks for the distraction Bob...it sure beats Sally Struthers.