Thursday, April 26, 2007
Idol Gives Back: Circular Logic?
My family watched American Idol's special event "Idol Gives Back" last night. My daughter was excited because Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood were going to be on and perform. They showed clips throughout the night of kids in Africa who are starving and dying from malaria. As it turns out, a $10 mosquito net can save 5 lives. At one point in the show they said enough nets could save over a million lives per year. Now, don't think I'm not sensitive to the subject because my daughter got online and we made a donation....and this is basically me trying to be funny.....but if they don't have enough food now and people are dying all over the continent from starvation - aren't the 1,000,000 people saved from the mosquito nets just adding to the food shortage? Sorry. Trust me, if Sam Kinison was alive and still doing stand-up, I'm sure he'd point that out as well ("see this? it's sand......."[start at the 4:00 mark]). I know the real solution is to have enough money so that nobody dies from a mosquito bite or malaria. It's sad, but equally sad were the clips of kids right here in the US with some of the same issues. As bad as the little girl felt who's mother works three jobs and they still can't pay all the bills, I don't think she'd trade places with one of the kids in Africa for two seconds! Seeing the clips is much worse than just reading about the poverty level there. Try explaining to a seven-year-old that being born in the USA is like hitting the life lottery. "Why don't they have enough food?" is a very valid question and a very hard one to answer. I'm not sure I did a good job of answering it last night.
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3 comments:
Being born in America IS like winning the Lottery. And I give thanks for it every year at Thanksgiving and at other times when I am reminded of it such as when I read your post.
Why don't they have enough food? Cause the bad men with the guns take the food for themselves and leave the majority of the continent to starve, that's why.
Did you see the movie Blackhawk Down? When the UN came to give grain to the people, men with guns shot them dead and took what they wanted. And it's like that all over Africa... the continent God abandoned (or so it is said).
It doesn't matter where in Africa you want to send food and aid it reaches only a small percentage of the people it is intended to help. Even in tent cities full of refugees the food is stolen and sold on the black market. This is Africa. It doesn't matter if you send money, these people are going to die.
American Idols can pat themselves on the back all they want it will do no good.
Blame lack of mosquito nets if you will. Blame droughts that bring famine. Blame all sorts of natural disasters. Blame the AIDS epidemic. Blame the greedy Westerners looking for ivory, oil, diamonds, gold, uranium, and doing whatever is necessary to control it.
At the root of Africas troubles is the inability of autonoumous self-government of Africa by Africans. When the Brits, Belgians, and French began to turn rule over to their native counterparts in the 60s is when the trouble began. It escalated through the 70s and 80s reaching a crescendo in the late 90s and early 2000s. but it continues today. Even Africans long for the good old days of colonial rule.
Rwanda, Zimbabwe (Rhodesia), Liberia, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Uganda, Chad, Sudan, man, I can't name them all. People being killed by the millions every year. Ethnic genocide on top of AIDS on top of famine, on top of floods, earthquakes, hurricanes and theivery.
In Zimbabwe only 28% of available food is distributed (Source: U.S. State Dept)!! 3.3 million have died in the Congo in the last 9 years under the guise of controling it's natural resources.
There's very little we can do. I feel bad about it. But I can't worry about these people. Sending American Idol (or Catholic Relief, or Red Cross or U.N. or whomever) $10 (only $2.80 of which will ever even see a needy African) will not make me feel good nor will it feed anybody in need. Better spent saving for my retirement in America where I am extremely thankful I was born!
i was a little disappointed that this post wasn't about billy idol...
i was a little disappointed your mom carried you full term
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