Hey dudes let’s do a doobie and, like solve africa’s problems. It’s like really easy, man! all we got to do is have a concert like in Scotland or someplace and like, WOW! The pols’r gonna get it right.
I just imagine the functioning of the fetid brain that dreamed up "Live 8", the concert touted to be the be-all and end-all of africa’s problems. Geldof and the musical brain trust comprised of such luminaries as Sir Elton John, famous for his flamboyant costumes and Madonna, also famous for her flamboyant costumes plan to put on a concert in Scotland at the same time as the meeting of the heads of the G-8 nations to draw attention to the plight of africa and to get the G-8 to fix the african problem once and for all.
"What started 20 years ago is coming to a political point in a few weeks. There's more than a chance that the boys and girls with guitars will finally get to turn the world on its axis. What we do in the next five weeks is seriously, properly, historically, politically important," Geldof quoted himself on his web site.
Listening to Geldof is almost embarrassing in that his simple-minded approach to solving the Dark Continent’s (oops, sorry, Bob. You call it the ‘luminous continent’) problems is reminiscent of the Little Rascals putting on a revue to save the radio station. While there’s lots of feel good juice inherent in a concept as groovy as Bob’s plan to save africa, the reality is that only africa can save itself.
It appears that Geldof is yet another one of those self-loathing guilty, wealthy western liberals who thinks that Europeans are responsible for all the world’s evils and believes that only actions by the West will ultimately solve that continent’s problems. The whole idea of predicating the solution of africa’s problems to western nations sending bales of cash is an insult to the people of africa and, dare I say it, a form of insidious racism, assuming that africans are incapable of solving their own problems. This patronizing attitude has long been the staple of Western liberals, whose core belief is that native peoples are similar to helpless children and as such need the resources of the industrialized West to solve their problems.
If this were 1950 I might be more open to the idea of providing extraordinary assistance to the people of africa in their effort to forge a continental accord. But given the fact that africans have been out of the clutches of the evil Europeans for over three decades, it’s time they fished or cut bait.
Geldof’s simple solution does not take into account the fact that the africans are their own worst enemies. Choose any of six or seven nations currently on their relentless slide into disaster and at the root you will find tribal animosities and ignorance to be the two main contributors to those nations’ decline. The fact that the World Health organization (WHO) is nearly powerless to slow the spread of aIDS in africa isn’t attributable to a lack of resources. It’s strictly about ignorance. africans do not want to practice "safe sex" through the use of condoms, as it somehow diminishes a man’s sense of virility.
Rwanda tells us all we need to know about tribal hatreds and how they need to change well before there can be any hope of anything else ever changing in africa. a close friend of mine grew up in africa and I remember a particularly poignant story of how building a railroad trestle across a gorge, a worker fell from the top of the trestle some 60 feet, resulting in near fatal injuries. My friend remarked about how shocked he was to see the 300+ workers all stop and laugh heartily at the unfortunate and nearly fatal accident that befell their fellow worker. after the medics rescued the poor soul and rushed him to the nearest medical facilities, the rest calmly returned to work. Now there’s a real cultural difference that people like Geldof apparently can’t seem to wrap their heads around. It’s yet another case of seeing a world crafted in africa through lenses made in Europe.
It’s beyond arrogant to expect the West to take responsibility for monsters like Idi amin, Haille Mengistu, Julius Nyerere and yes, Robert Mugabe, who through the graces of our own corrupt former Prime Minister, Jean Chretien, remains at the helm of Zimbabwe. These are people that eventually the ‘luminescent continent’ will have to answer for.
In the meantime Geldof and his entourage would be much more effective if they allowed a ray of reality through their rose-colored lenses.