... why do Bono, the self-styled second coming of Jesus, and eternal mindless dogooder Geldof not hand over what they would have paid in tax over the years towards paying off Africa's debt or towards schools, contraception programmes or to helping the people who are really working to make things betterin Africa? Because I don't believe Making Poverty History is the main aim of this concert...

Up until now I've treated Live 8 with what can only be described as disinterest. Harsh it may sound, but I don't believe it will achieve anything. I'm not convinced the amount of aid going into Africa is the biggest problem, just the most fashionable one. More worrying is the corruption endemic in African governments*. So much money goes 'missing' in Africa once the governments get their hands on it, you have to wonder where your donations would end up ('resting' in a bank account in Switzerland would be the first place I'd look). So no, I'm not convinced Live 8 will 'feed the world'.

What I am convinced of is that Live 8 is a chance for lots of famous musicians with over-inflated egos to pat each other on the back and show how wonderful they are and what compassionate caring people they must be, persuading the public to donate more money to Africa. Remember that a lot of these people pay little or no tax (Bono and Geldof can both take advantage of an Irish law granting tax-free status to money earned from artistic endeavours) so rather than make a donation out of their own vast fortunes they want the governments to pour your tax money and mine (not theirs since they don't pay it) into what seems like an economic bottomless pit. Hypocritical much?

Follow up:

They also seem reluctant to make the disgraceful EU CAP.
The U2 website says this about the aims of Live 8:

They are demanding G8 leaders take 3 steps to make extreme poverty history...
1. double the aid sent to the world's poorest countries,
2. fully cancel their debts,
3. change the trade laws so that they can build their own future

They've achieved 2 and you never hear the end of 1. But what about 3? Perhaps it's just shit media reporting but you hear a lot more about more aid than you do about unfair trade laws, the most obvious of which is the CAP.

We as VAT payers subsidise European (especially French!) farmers through the CAP. Since they produce so much, all that is overproduced is sold off to Africa and with our taxpayer subsidies, they can undercut African farmers which means more poverty as the money comes back to Europe. Geldoff doesn't seem to have prioritised this problem as much as the much trendier cause of "writing off the debt" which I don't believe will contribute half as much to 'making poverty history'.

Add to this the fact that apparently Paul McCartney threatened not to play Live 8 unless he was allowed to open and close the gig . That's how much these celebrities really care about third world debt!! At the same time, Saint Bono's fucking enormous ego wouldn't allow him to play unless he was opening (hat tip to A Tangled Web for this part of the story).

As a result, U2 and McCartney will do a joint rendition of Sgt Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band, "reworded to honour the achievements of Bob Geldof" - in other words another pat on the back for a fellow member of what is primarily a self-congratulating mutual appreciation society.

* Look at Zimbabwe the former "breadbasket of Africa" has gone from providing most of the continent's food to being an impoverished net importer led by a maniacal racist facsist dictator. Before we give them any money we should re-colonise Zimbabwe and put in a real democratic government - it's partly Britain's fault that the country is in the mess it is and we should do something about it! At the same time, South Africa, the supposed shining light of democracy in Africa looks on with not so much as a disapproving tut.