Aging Rockers and Live 8; A Lack of Honesty

Money, get away.
Get a good job with good pay and you’re okay.
Money, it’s a gas.
Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash.
New car, caviar, four star daydream,
Think I’ll buy me a football team.

Money, get back.
I’m all right jack keep your hands off of my stack.
Money, it’s a hit.
Don’t give me that do goody good bullshit.
I’m in the high-fidelity first class traveling set
And I think I need a Lear jet.

Money, it’s a crime.
Share it fairly but don’t take a slice of my pie.
Money, so they say
Is the root of all evil today.
But if you ask for a raise it’s no surprise that they’re
Giving none away.

-Pink Floyd, "Money"

Unfortunately, it seems, at the very least, that Dave Gilmour does want a slice of your pie.

Guitarist Gilmour says, "Like most people I want to do everything I can to persuade the G8 leaders to make huge commitments to the relief of poverty and increased aid to the third world.

"Any squabbles Roger and the band have had in the past are so petty in this context, and if reforming for this concert will help focus attention then it's got to be worthwhile."

It isn't as if those G8 leaders are the actual folks who will have to pay the "huge commitments" these "most people" are demanding be paid. Sure, it is almost a given that if you are near or at the top of the political authority chain in a G8 nation, you'll have a comfortable retirement.

But the financial demands of the Live 8 organizers and supporters won't be quenched by the leaders at the summit.

What it's about

This is without doubt a moment in history where ordinary people can grasp the chance to achieve something truly monumental and demand from the 8 world leaders at G8 an end to poverty.

The G8 leaders have it within their power to alter history. They will only have the will to do so if tens of thousands of people show them that enough is enough.

By doubling aid, fully cancelling debt, and delivering trade justice for Africa, the G8 could change the future for millions of men, women and children.

So says Bob Geldof in an introduction. Elsewhere,

LIVE 8 is part of a day of action across the world which kick-starts The Long Walk to Justice that calls on the leaders of the world’s richest countries to act when they meet in Gleneagles on 6th-9th July. On July 2nd in London, Edinburgh, Washington, Berlin, Paris and Rome millions will be coming together to call for complete debt cancellation, more and better aid and trade justice for the world’s poorest people.

Elsewhere,

Live Aid raised over $100 million. But 20 years on poverty, famine and disease is still a major problem in Africa. The public have shown how important this is to them now it is time to get governments to act.

Elsewhere,

Every single day, 30,000 children die, needlessly, of extreme poverty.

On July 6th, we finally have the opportunity to stop that shameful statistic.

8 world leaders, gathered in Scotland for the G8 summit, will be presented with a workable plan to double aid, drop the debt and made the trade laws fair. If these 8 men agree, then we will become the generation that made poverty history.

But they'll only do it if enough people tell them to.

That's why we're staging Live 8. 5 concerts, 100 artists, a million spectators, 2 billion viewers, and 1 message... To get those 8 men, in that 1 room, to stop 30,000 children dying every single day of extreme poverty.

Emphasis in the original.

The Live 8 website cites the American The ONE Campaign as an affiliated "Global Call to Action Against Poverty" organization to speak with for more local information. TOC says

What is the goal of The ONE Campaign?
The ONE Campaign seeks to give Americans a voice, to ring church bells and cell phones, on campuses and in coffee shops, for an historic pact to fight the global AIDS emergency and end extreme poverty. We believe that allocating an additional ONE percent of the U.S. budget toward providing basic needs like health, education, clean water and food, would transform the futures and hopes of an entire generation of the poorest countries.

[...]

How does ONE link to international agreements to fight poverty?
ONE links directly to the international effort to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. 1% more of the US federal budget would help save millions of lives and be a major commitment towards achieving the internationally agreed upon United Nations Millennium Development Goals. If it is delivered, we would achieve 0.35% of national wealth going to Official Development Assistance - half way to the international commitment to achieve 0.7%. Longer term, so long as we can prove the money is working, the goal is for the US to continue to increase effective assistance until it meets the international commitment to give 0.7% of the national wealth. This is an appropriate goals for ten years time, or 2015, the deadline for achieving the Millennium Goals.

There's more if you want to dig through it. I'm all for getting rid of economic and trade subsidies and this goes for anyone, not just large corporations. I'm all for getting rid of trade barriers so those who want to sell me something won't have to run the gamut of import regulations and tariffs that are so often based on the local demands of a politician's constituency. I'm all for canceling the international debt of third-world nations (especially state-to-state loans), even if doing so sends a mixed message to individuals within those countries about the importance of living up to one's word in a contract. I'm all for the

What I'm not for, however, is the use of a government's power to tax it's population in order to provide for others. Even if TOC is perfectly cool with reducing spending elsewhere in the federal budget to free up the $25 billion they say they want, I still wouldn't support it. There may be millions of Americans who are OK with being taxed to have some of that wealth redistributed to others. I am not and opting out of the tax system (i.e., just ignoring the IRS) means facing some nasty consequences. A fraction of my income is either taken without my permission or handed over under threat of violence; in these circumstances, I'm pretty pissed at anyone who wants more.

In this case, I'm even more unhappy with the message being fronted by Live 8. I quoted text from their website above. Now, I'll quote a few more sentences.

LIVE 8 is calling for people across the world to unite in one call – in 2005 it is your voice we are after, not your money.

[...]

LIVE 8 is about justice not charity.

[...]

We don't want your money - we want you!

If I wanted to be polite, I'd say this is disingenuous. If I wanted to be honest, I'd say this is open-faced bullshit.

Governments acquire their resources from the people they govern. Without non-governmental production, states wouldn't be anything like what they are now in power and scope. The Live 8 organizers aren't being honest with you. They do want your money; they just consider it to be the state's cash, available to hand over for a worthy purpose. The organizers are attempting to spin this as something we individually won't have to sacrifice for, when it is that very act of voluntary individual donation and effort that would make this more than charity.

I don't consider something justice when unjust means are used to obtain justice. Would any of the organizers or supporters condone stealing from their neighbor (the cranky guy next door who hates taxes) and then giving that money to pay for the economic harm inflicted by American cotton subsidies on poor farmers? Where is the justice in that? I say far from taking the proper steps to compensate legitimate victims, it creates new victims.

When I hear that a band whose music I really enjoy is bringing back the original lineup primarily to bring more attention and pressure on the "leaders" to cough up more of their budgets, I don't react with a compassionate "aww!" I react with a tired sigh, one of many in a long string exhaled each time some human jackals in benevolent clothing want "us" to be more generous.

I might be more generous, if I was allowed to keep more of my own fucking money and didn't have it squandered on the whole spectrum of pointless, counter-productive, and corrupt shit the United States does with our tax money. As it is, I'm raw enough from the automatic generosity conducted in my name and without my consent.

Posted by Drizzten at June 13, 2005 09:42 AM