Evidently the Spice Girls will not be allowed to play at the Live Aid II concert coming up because their brand of music is too shallow for the enlightened pop stars. But evidently Eminem, Outkast and Linkin Park are exactly what the starving kids of the world need. I guess their music is what passes for deep thinking in pop music these days.
After the original Live Aid concert (I was 14 and stupid, so I loved it) PJ O'Rourke wrote one of the funniest essays I have ever read, entitled "Fiddling While Africa Starves." You owe it to yourself to find his book Give War A Chance and give this essay a read (as well as the essay on Jimmy Carter that is pee in your pants funny). The idea that what the world's poor need is stupid and solipsistic rock stars to sing their crappy music in order enlighten the masses in the name of abstract goodness is an idea that only, well, a stupid solipsistic rock star could hold. Does "Sir" Bob Geldof really think world leaders will change policy because Eminem "sings" another song about beating up his ex-wife? What the poor of the world really need to do is get rid of the corrupt murderous leaders, stop killing each other, and try to enter into the world economy (that means free markets). Interestingly, this is exactly what the United States is trying to help the nation of Iraq do. You can read more about it in Thomas P.M. Barnett's brilliant (but flawed) The Pentagon's New Map.
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