Bob Geldof

Sending money isn't the answer. It's not that easy.

looks like he is doing well these days. Jesus Christ he looks like shit.

He's rocking the old wizened look.

You want to shoot someone and throw shit at your TV because they want rich countries to feed poor people?

Throwing money at countries doesn't solve anything. You need to help the countries to help themselves.

He's rich. Wonder how much of his own wealth he sends? Oh that's right, he gives up his time for them.

Endless aid gets sent to Africa every year. How much of it do you think actually goes to people that need it ? Corrupt governments take most of it. So people like Geldof popping up all the time saying everyone must give more, isn't what the people who actually do need the money and food needs...

People like Bob and Bono Drive me nuts!!!! All the "Financial Aid" countries send tons get eaten up by administrative fees. it is a big Corporate machine.

On a Side note. Hell People have lived in these 3rd world countries forever. leave em alone. That's How mother Nature intended them to be.

He must own the Keith Richards workout tape.

Corruption is the main problem in Africa and not a lack of money or resources.

Africa needs Al Sharpton.

a friend of mine worked for an NGO in Tanzania for 2 years - supposed to teach people how to run their own small businesses. after what he told me, it was like trying to teach monkeys nuclear physics. i am sorry, but most of that continent is simply hopeless.

The world's richest countries already send plenty of money, with which they "indirectly" finance brutal dictatorships.

This will sound hard, but it's true.

Every 1 person saved this year = 2-3 people in 20 years time. Unless war, disease and starvation kills them.

The land was never able to support the number or people it now does, sending food, teaching them to feed themselves, giving them a fishing rod instead of a fish. Are stupid white middle class solutions. To a problem they can't even comprehend.

Telling a tribesman it's wrong to kill an elephant for his tusks. When the tribesman family are staving to death. Is never going to get results.

And as J. Falcon says most of the money poured in goes to tribal leaders.

USA: 230 yrs old.
Most nations in Africa: 2000+ yrs old.

You'd think having been in existance for over 20 centuries longer than the world's richest country you would have had enough time to put some things in place and develop your society and standard of living up enough to be able to at least keep your country's head afloat.

Just saying.

People with nothing over there living in mud huts with no water nearby and having 8-12 kids with no way to feed them.

Sure, whatever, let's send them more food, and more next year, and never acually figure a way for them to fix their neverending problem. I can definitely see where some folks are getting a bit annoyed with Sir Geldof.

Like most have said in this thread, people like him only have the solution of throwing even more money there, without actually thinking about how this will ever change anything long term...

Most borders in Africa were drawn up by European colonial powers in relatively recent history.

I always hope that when Lenny Henry does his charity tours that he'll never come back. The horror of finding him back and on TV with another dreary and totally unfunny stand-up. shudder!

Hang on, who are you saying is the worlds richest country?

GDP, it's not much of a question. It's a simple matter of fact.
Government does not equal country.

Um, there were societies existing there, nations, massive tribes and territories etc, long before things like "USA" or "North America" were even dreamed of,

was my point.

How long has "Ethiopia" been a nation, for example? In one form or another I'm pretty sure it existed back as far as the time of the Pharoahs and Moses.

I'm not saying it. Maybe Geldof is. I meant to put that part in ""s.

Does it matter? It's really not the point of the discussion and would be an irrelevant thing to go off on a side argument over, no? Who cares. It's most likely the USA that he's focusing most of his criticism at when he says "the world's richest countries aren't doing enough."

Well the actual nation known as Ethiopia today has only existed sine the late 1800's or so but yeah the tribal cultures of Africa go back many centuries. It's a little like comparing modern Italy to the Roman empire.
Part of the problem is that tribal/cultural areas and national borders are usually not in agreement. I agree with your main point though.

Highest GDP - yes
Highest Debt - yes (101% of GDP )

Highest GDP per capita - no

I'm just pointing out a fact, not trying to get into a pissing match.
Government is just one entity in a capitalist society. Most of the government debt (80%+) is held by Americans.
So no, the US government is obviously not the "richest" but the country as a whole is. That doesn't mean it's distributed well.. it just is what it is.
In a perfect world a government should break even.

The world's richest countries don't do enough to help the, err, world's richest countries.

Fuck everyone else.

I think we should help darfour & darfive so oneday there may be a darsix
ds

Get in touch with some of the real problems, land-grabbing, especially by US companies and investors...Indians love it too it seems.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-dev...nd-east-africa

Farmers are pushed off their lands, millions of tons of food is produced and then exported off continent...

Leasing 1 million hectares of land for $25,000? Sweet deal for the investors...while locals sit outside the fence - patrolled by para-military - and starve to death.

Proves what I said. Under proper management the land produces food. Under local management it very often doesn't.

Now go figure out a solution.

Do you disagree with the idea of rich healthy people helping poor starving people or is it just Geldof you dislike?

I dislike people like him who have much to say about what others should be doing. While at the same time offering no valid solutions...

Yeah what right minded person would want a whole dollar of their taxes being spent on saving the lives of sick and starving children

Oh right.

"Bob Geldof?s first major charity involvement took place in September 1981, when he performed as a solo artist for Amnesty International's The Secret Policeman?s Other Ball.

Co-founded Band Aid in 1984 to raise funds for famine relief in Ethiopia.

Organised Live Aid in 1985, also to raise funds for famine relief.

Organised Band Aid II in 1989.

Produced Band Aid 20 in 2004. Also in 2004, he helped British Prime Minister Tony Blair organize the Commission for Africa. Along with 16 other Commissioners, the majority from Africa, the Commission planned to undertake a year-long study of Africa?s problems. They drew two main conclusions: that Africa needed to change, to improve its governance and combat corruption, and that the rich world needed to support that change in new ways. However, world leaders did not take the findings seriously, so Geldof organized Live 8 in 2005 to increase awareness of world poverty and urge world leaders to create solutions for helping the poorest countries. He is now is a member of the Africa Progress Panel, an independent authority on Africa derived from a key recommendation of the Commission for Africa.

Bob Geldof has supported the following charities:

21st Century Leaders
46664
Aegis Trust
Amnesty International
Bottletop
Cinema For Peace
Estamos
Live 8
Make Poverty History
ONE Campaign
Population Services International
RADD
Raisa Gorbachev Foundation
War Child
Whatever It Takes
Willow Foundation

Read more: http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/24-bob-geldof#ixzz1uwOSxisV"

Yeah you're right. He does nothing at all.

Africa is a huge problem, won't be solved with just money for sure.

a lot of people are jaded on donating money to these countries simply because dumping money into them for the past 40-50 years has done virtually nothing.

Africa let the white man take their diamonds

And also let the white man persuade them that growing cash crops like coffee would be a much better idea than, you know, food.

And it has nothing at all to do with the fact that every single African leader since independance in each country has been on the make?

and who allows these leaders to survive by providing, arms, training, money and much more?

There's no debating that Geldof has done a lot of good charity work in his life, but do you think this also helped him and his image as well in some way? He has benefited from this as well, make no mistake about that. I think it is ignorant of him to say we should all send more money to Africa when the Developed countries are still struggling after the recession. I'm all for Charity, I donate a decent percentage of my yearly salary to several charities but there is a point when you have to look out for yourself as well for later in life.

*sigh*

You guys, I tell you. Splitting hairs all the way. :D No, actually the entitity known as "ethiopia" has existed in several forms, mostly monarchies, for thousands of years. It and a few other areas of Africa are some of the oldest known populated areas of the world in fact.

You guys are focusing in on today's country's and borders, all irrelevant to my point. I'll say it again for you... Those tribes and empires and nations that have existed in Africa have had thousands of years longer to build and evolve as a society than we in N America have. While the Nations of Europe were building things and forming governments and exploring the world the Africans were busy.... what?

And today there are so many areas over there containing massive groups of people who are now incapeable of digging a proper latrine (shithouse) so they don't have to wallow in their own filth, they can't farm or raise livestock, don't know how to irrigate, they can't educate their young without outside aid because few in history ever bothered to learn anything to pass on. They know nothing of the democratic process and it seems few in their history even thought to either think of it for themselves or take a cue from other nations of the time. No, it seems that all a lot of folkes in Africa's rich history have been able to do is figure out how to live in shacks and huts, punch out a dozen or more babies and spread disease.

People over here and from all "rich countries of the world" have been sending money and aid since I was a kid in the 70's, and before that even. I don't think it's a bad or evil thing for McD or anyone to start asking when the problem is going to start getting fixed or why it never does and is looking more than ever like it never will.

Then you've got the aformentioned Pope who I believe still to this day denounces the use of birth control, a thing which all these impoverished Africans seem to have a firm educated grasp on... RELIGION. Thus their overpopulation problem perpetuates itself ad infinitum and the rest of the world ever-continues to hear cries of "Feed us! Feed us!" or "rescue us from our new oppressors!!"

I've given to United Way and the Red Cross and food banks etc in the past, and I absolutely do want to see those people over there helped, but damn right people are going to start questioning the effectiveness of the effort (how dare they?!) when there never seems to be any progress showing. Millions upon millions of dollars were raised during the "We are the World" and "Tears are Not Enough" fundraising song drives in the 80's, yet here we are in 2012 thirty years later and what, still Sir Bob is harping his same tune. Why? Because it's never going away.

Sorry, I'll send money for certain major disaster releif funds etc, but most of the dollars I give away will go to more local causes, such as the homeless, animal shelters, poor kids, etc. Sir Bob is going to have to come up with a new song.

I never said he does nothing. I said he offered no valid long term solutions.

Don't make up stories...

What the hell are you talking about. Huge sums of money has been sent every year without fail for ages now. Isn't there still starving children ? Oh that's right, the money sent isn't enough. We must send more. How much more do you reckon, you know to feed the whole of Africa, for this year, next year, and every year after ??...

Bob Geldoff is an angel with a dirty mouth. I don't agree with him on everything or even like more of his music beyond four songs. However,he has done more to raise awareness and aid than near enough any actual politician in my lifetime. How many people do you think saw that news report and sat on their asses and did exactly nothing? Those far, far more rich and powerful than he was at the time and still did nothing and he and Midge Ure got off their backsides and did something pretty darn big.

Long term solution? Well beyond the agricultural programs that the organizations they have helped to create have implemented teaching locals how to grow in that climate amongst other things..no nothing.

And most of us in this thread have done what? Yeah.

I think in this day and age, people are just more skeptical of people's motives when it comes to charity. People like Geldof and Bono certainly do benefit from their charitable works, its not like they do it silently and on the grassroots level. Or when Bono's "Charity" ONE was outed for not actually being a charity at all, but an organization that raises "Awareness" about the issues, and gives expensive swag to the press.

Add to that the fact that in the umpteen years that African Relief has been going on, Most of them aren't any better off than when aid started (its not like they show you the now thriving villages, that are now self sufficient, that were set up 20 years ago, with new wells, and chickens, and goats and farm land) I would guess most of that skepticism comes from reports about inflated admin costs, or Transportation costs to get aid to the people, bribing officials and warlords, or the food that rotted after being dropped off, because no one picked it up to distribute it, or it got sold to finance a war.
It's hard to look at the problem without a sense of futility.

The guy is a veritable saint Sarah, I don't think anyone's really questioning him or his accomplishments. I think there's been some very valid points raised in this thread though.

When does the poverty and starvation crisis in Africa end? Never? That's not good enough. Live Aid alone raised nearly $300 million back in the mid 80's, that money and all money raised for this cause since had to come from somewhere. I'm pretty sure it was 100's of thousands of people all over the world that contributed. I've contributed in the past. I'd like to think a few others in this thread have, or at very least someone else in their families has.

I'm sorry, it's in my nature to problem solve. This one has statesmen and scientists and world economists and experts of all stripe and manner working on it but no solution can be found why? Yeah. CORRUPTION has been named by Geldof and others in his circle as being the biggest obstacle over there, and it comes from other Africans. In other words they're their own worst enemy.

If every "fatcat rich person in the USA" and 10 other of the "world's richest countries" were to each donate $1, or $10, or a $100 the problem (and Geldof's criticisms) will still be here 20 years from now.

Making people feel like shit for not giving enough isn't the answer, obviously.

OK, so list the solutions he has offered that you think are not viable then.

Seems to me, and I could be wrong here, you've never read any of the solutions he proposes, but I'm sitting waiting to be proved wrong.

It appears that everyone moaning in this thread has no idea at all what any of the African Aid charities actually do, where the money goes, what is accomplished. This thread reads like the Daily Mail letters page.

How many charities are there out there looking for help? More than I could ever name to you no matter how much research I done. I give money to a few different ones each year, quite a bit of money at that (for me anyway) and what do I get in return? A phone call a few months later asking me to give more. I've had 2 phone calls this week alone, asking if I can pledge a little bit more. There has to be a cut off point. So far this year I have donated more than $1500 to charities or sponsoring friends doing events for charities. How much more do these people want me to give? Where does it stop? When my Fiancee and I can't eat, or when I can't buy myself a new pair of shoes.. no, I give what I can afford and unfortunately, it seems most of the world do the same.

How do you do that there