Ever talk to anyone who went to the Tibetan Freedom Concert? Here’s an news flash:
This time he (Geldof) wants change through political pressure, calling for debt forgiveness, a doubling of aid to poor nations and fair trade to allow African countries to compete. Organizers say up to 2 billion people will tune in to watch the concerts.
The biggest crowd was in Philadelphia, where hundreds of thousands saw actor Will Smith, P Diddy and Stevie Wonder.
But limited television coverage in the United States could dampen the impact of such an impressive show of people power.
Tip to concert organizers. People aren’t attending for the cause. They’re attending for the concert showcase. People could care less who is organizing it, and if you delude yourself for a second into thinking people are “organizing” for an end to world poverty, guess again.
Hold a rally three months for now to end world debt in Washington. See how many people show up. Does it mean we don’t care? No, but to construe a concert into a protest for change is either playing concert-goers as fools, or playing policy makers for idiots.
“I don’t think the awareness thing is working,” said Sue Kim, a 22-year-old student, in Philadelphia. “There’s going to be a lot of drunk people and what are they going to remember?”
Anyone want to guess how many people will be discussing world debt a week from today?