Hmm while it might be a little late to start debating the topic... well there's nothing like a good old argument to get people thinking so here's a question - do you think that Live 8 is a great thing, and worth the publicity, or do you think it's a load of cow dug?

I think that it is undoubtably a good thing to be helping them in any way we can, but well... it just makes me feel a little uneasy to see so many rich rockstars telling me I should be giving more money to charity...

here's a few other things I don't like about it:

It to me just seems like a way for a heap of people to buy a ticket, go to a concert to see stars that they would normally love to see, have a great time and then feel good that they've 'done their bit' and 'tried to make a differance' and then go home and get on with their lives.

Why are there no African performers there? I recently saw a docco on African hip hop groups that are trying to educate their people about aids and help them out. Surely it would be great to get some up-and coming African performers up there on the stage, and give them some fame and success, because of two reasons: One, with money and fame, they will be able to help out the community around them, and Two... if anyone is qualified to talk about poverty and aids, it's these people who have grown up and made their living from the slums and shanty towns of africa. When Celine Dion talks about poverty and how bad it is for these people, I just can't take her seriously.

Why aren't they using the publicity to pressure the governments more about their dealings in Africa? Yes, they're asking for debt relief, but they're not exactly pressuring anyone about it. Geldof claims that it is better to encourage governments nicely to cooperate... I'll beleive that when I see it. As it is America has promised mroe debt relief, yet this 'extra' money is only coming out of the budget already set aside for foriegn aid.
I think maybe they should use the huge publicity that they've been talking up to really apply some pressure - they claim it will reach how many billion people? Look what Robert Mugabe is doing to his own people right in front of our eyes, yet the leading nations do little more than tell the already poor African nations to deal with it themselves.

On the other hand, I can see the logic in getting a heap of well-known bands and celebrities to try and sway public opinion and hopefully influence the decisions at the next G8 summit. Maybe this is the only way to get the world's political leaders to do anything special...

Well, those are a few of my thoughts on it... of course I don't disagree that raising awareness to relieve debt is a great thing, but I feel that they could, and should have done more. For the amount of publicity it has had, it has in fact failed in a lot of respects when you take into account the things that they could have done.