Friday, July 06, 2007

Meaningless?


There is great deal of cynicism surrounding the Live Earth event, slated to begin tonight on CTV. Bob Geldof for perspective:

Live Aid and Live 8 founder Bob Geldof has denounced Live Earth as simply "an enormous pop concert" without concrete pledges from politicians to take action on environmental issues.

Bob Geldof, the man behind Live Aid and Live 8, joined the Live Earth detractors, saying the world was already aware of the dangers of global warming and the event lacked a "final goal."

With all due respect to the detractors, I'm not sure anyone has claimed a "pop concert" will magically solve the problem. In my mind, you can never have enough exposure. The 7000 planned events worldwide, not to mention a potential 2 billion person audience, are significant numbers.

I love how "plugged in" intellectuals and the punditry assume that the average person around the world is already engaged on the issue. In a primary way, probably yes, but I don't think we are at the point of saturation where there is no educational component and/or motivational element to influence. One example comes to mind that I saw recently, a series of "man on the street" interviews with Beijing residents, where the term "global warming" was generally alien. How can exposure hurt?

If we don't attach all these grand goals to a simple concert series, then the true benefits are easier to see. The controversy falls into the "any publicity is good publicity" category, because it stirs debate, keeping the issue on the frontpage. It also provides a sense of hope, an opportunity to change a mind or two, learn a tidbit here and there. See it for what it is, it all looks good from here.

6 comments:

Steve V said...

eredux

Interesting link.

Karen said...

I understand the controversy.

I think Geldof has moved on and wants committment, not just awareness.

It would have been great to combine this with world leaders coming out in between acts, to commit. In the end though, you're right, there is still exposure to be had.

Will it reach the places it needs to reach...was it promoted enough in those areas? I don't know the answer.

In the end, it will be a good series of concerts and hopefully it will push the message. It's not meant to be a magic bullet, it's about pushing, nudging, getting people excited.

You mentioned a good example Steve. For me, any time you bring a critical mass together with one message, it's a good day.

We'll see loads of negative reaction, I hope we also are given a positive perspective.

Steve V said...

At the very least, it is driving the American wingers insane, which is never a bad thing :)

Anonymous said...

Geldof operates under the illusion that having heads of state make commitments has some kind of credibility even though none of the "commitments" made ny those talking heads following *his* "pop concerts" have amounted to a hill of beans.

He needs his meds adjusted.

Anonymous said...

Perhaps Geldof doesn't like it that someone else may be stealing a little of his thunder. I'd like to know how much "personal" money Bono and Geldof give to Africa.

Geldof says everyone knows about global warming - ah, they also know very well about Africa too.

I think it's interesting that China is involved in the Live Earth - that's a real bonus.

Steve V said...

After watching a good portion, and the accompanying message beyond the music, the event was clearly a success. Listening to some of the commentary, it would appear Geldof is wrong- not everyone came in with full knowledge.