Live Aid II

Not surprisingly, the rumor of a Live Aid II "to ease third world debt" which was flying around the net this weekend has now been denied by Bono, with a statement that includes the remarks, "For me it's not really about charity at this point, it's about justice," and "Right now we're after billions (of dollars) not millions." The amount raised by the first Live Aid was $220 million; Africa alone still owes rich countries almost $300 billion. The amount Live Aid raised is what they pay in interest in a week on their old debts.

It's telling, I think, that people criticize Bono's spending time on justice work that results in billions of dollars going to the problem and actually makes a difference, but hurry to cheer a rumor that he might be spending time on charity work that would have almost no meaningful impact.

Another nice quote from the article, about the countries that have failed to keep the pledge of giving 0.7% of their GNP to development (which is all of us but Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and the Netherlands): "This is renegotiating your deal with God downwards."