Skip navigation

Indymedia UK is a network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues

Monbiot: Geldof Betrayed Poor

George Monbiot | 07.09.2005 12:20 | Analysis | Globalisation | Health

Even as the G8 promises fall apart, Geldof stays silent

Two months have not elapsed since the G8 summit, and already almost everything has turned to ashes. Even the crustiest sceptics have been shocked by the speed with which its promises have been broken.

It is true that they didn't amount to much. The World Development Movement described the agreement as "a disaster for the world's poor."(1) ActionAid complained that "the G8 have completely failed to deliver trade justice."(2) Christian Aid called July 8th as "a sad day for poor people in Africa and all over the world."(3) Oxfam lamented that "neither the necessary sense of urgency nor the historic potential of Gleneagles was grasped by the G8."(4) But one man had a different view. Bob Geldof, who organised the Live8 events, announced that "a great justice has been done. .. On aid, 10 out of 10; on debt, eight out of 10 ... Mission accomplished frankly."(5)

Had he not signed off like this, had he not gone on to describe a South African campaigner who had criticised the deal as "a disgrace"(6), Geldof could have walked away from the summit unencumbered by further responsibility. He could have spent the rest of his life on holiday, and no one would have minded. But it was because he gave the G8 his seal of approval, because he told us, in effect, that we could all go home and stop worrying about Africa that he now has a responsibility to speak out.

The uses to which a Geldof can be put are limited. Before the summit he was seen by campaigners as naïve, ill-informed and unaccountable. But he can make public statements with the potential to embarrass politicians. While they don't usually rise above the "give us your focking money" level, they do have the effect of capturing the attention of the press. But though almost everything he said he was fighting for has fallen apart, he has yet to tell the public.

Immediately after the summit, as the world's attention shifted to the London bombs, Germany and Italy announced that they might not be able to meet the commitments they had just made, due to "budgetary constraints"(7). A week later, on July 15th, the World Development Movement obtained leaked documents showing that four of the IMF's European directors were trying to overturn the G8's debt deal(8). Four days after that, Gordon Brown dropped a bomb. He admitted that the aid package the G8 leaders had promised "includes the numbers for debt relief."(9) The extra money they had promised for aid and the extra money they had promised for debt relief were in fact one and the same.

Nine days after that, on July 28th, the United States, which had appeared to give some ground at Gleneagles, announced a pact with Australia, China and India to undermine the Kyoto protocol on climate change(10). On August 2nd, leaked documents from the World Bank showed that the G8 had not in fact granted 100% debt relief to 18 countries, but had promised enough money only to write off their repayments for the next three years(11). On August 3rd, the United Nations revealed that only one third of the money needed for famine relief in Niger, and 14% of the money needed by Mali had been pledged by the rich nations(12). Some 5 million people in the western Sahel remained at risk of starvation.

Two weeks ago, we discovered that John Bolton, the new US ambassador to the United Nations, had proposed 750 amendments to the agreement which is meant to be concluded at next week's UN summit. He was, in effect, striking out the Millennium Development Goals on health, education and poverty relief, which the United Nations set in 2000(13). Yesterday, ActionAid released a report showing that the first of these goals - equal access to schooling for boys and girls by 2005 - has been missed in over 70 countries(14). "Africa", it found, "is currently projected to miss every goal." There is so little resolve at the UN to do anything about it that the summit could deliver "a worse outcome than the situation before the G8." Yet Geldof remains silent.

"We are very critical of what Bob Geldof did during the G8 Summit", Demba Moussa Dembele of the African Forum on Alternatives tells me. "He did it for his self-promotion. This is why he marginalized African singers, putting the limelight on himself and Bono, rather than on the issues. … The objectives of the whole Live8 campaign had little to do with poverty reduction in Africa. It was a scheme intended to project Geldof and Blair as humanitarian figures coming to the rescue of "poor and helpless" Africans."(15)

"Right from the beginning," says Kofi Mawuli Klu of the Forum of African Human Rights Defenders, "he has acted in his own selfish interests. It was all about self-promotion, about usurping the place of Africans. His message was "shut up and watch me". Without even understanding the root causes of the problems, he used his role to drown the voices of the African people and replace them with his own. There are many knowledgeable people – African and non-African – who could have advised him, but he has been on his own, ego-tripping."(16)

I have heard similar sentiments from every African campaigner I have spoken to. Bob Geldof is beginning to look like Mother Teresa or Joy Adamson. To the corporate press, and therefore to most of the public, he is a saint. Among those who know something about the issues, he is detested. Those other tabloid saints appeared to recognise that if they rattled the cages of the powerful, the newspapers upon which their public regard depended would turn against them. When there was a conflict between their public image and their cause, the image won. It seems to me that Geldof has played the same game.


He seized a campaign which commanded great public enthusiasm, which had the potential gravely to embarrass Tony Blair and George Bush. He asked us to focus not on the harm the G8 leaders were doing, but on the help they might give. When they failed to deliver, he praised them anyway. His endorsement and the public forgetfulness it prompted helped license them to start reversing their commitments. When they did so, he said nothing. This looks to me like more than just political naivity. It looks as if he is working for the other side.

I don't mean that this is what he intended - or intends - to do. I mean that he came to identify with the people he was supposed to be lobbying. By ensuring that the campaign was as much about him as about Africa, he ensured that if they failed, he failed. He needed a story with a happy ending.

There is just one thing that Geldof can now do for Africa. This is to announce that his optimism was misplaced, that the mission was not accomplished, that the struggle for justice is as urgent as ever. But while he holds his tongue, he will remain the man who betrayed the poor.

 http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=2&ItemID=8685

George Monbiot


Comments

Hide the following 9 comments

Monbiot

07.09.2005 13:32

Even though Monbiot has illusions in the Greens he is still a fighter for our side and very articulate. Good on you George.

Geldof, go back to sleep and see you in another 20 years.

Bono, just die and get your state funeral over with.

Memory-Hole-Catchers-Mitt


Geldof

07.09.2005 15:22

It's nice to see George Monbiot say what he undoubtedly really thought all along. It's just a pity that in this post-ideological climate, even someone of his calibre needs a fistful of quotes from the victims of policy merely to alledge restrospectively what most skeptics theoretically and intuitively believed at the time it was being made.

Of course, with his dreadlocks, quasi-rebellious punk attitude, and hippy 'empathy' for Africans Geldof represents the ultimate 'lifestyle branding' of charity. Live8 was very accurately described by Chussodovsky as an advertising event. The best that can be said it all is that it shows just how weak the propaganda system is when it has to resurrect these crap relics of the 1980's spectacle and revert to revolting paternalism to escape the real debate over social justice.

anon


G8 good 4 Geld Wolf and Bonio and other media meddlers

07.09.2005 15:49


I thought it was pretty obvious that Geld Wolf (as he is so aptly known in Holland) and Poodle Bliars Bonio
hijacked the G8 and put out the G8 protesters bonfire. Certainly the G8 was a rip off for the poor but it was good news for a bunch of boring old farts and their modern day successers, big concerts all over europe and
loads of media exposure for the two Irish twats both of whom own stakes in big media interests both have links with Endemol the dutch based multi national media empire owned by John de Mol the creator of Big Brother Mr Media in Holland, his family are everywhere on Dutch TV.

Search google for John de Mol + bono in any language and you get dozens of hits.

Geld Wolf and his partners claim that Endemol nicked their idea and that Big Brother is based on their Production called Survival

Blow for mogul's Big Brother claim
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/893180.stm

De Mol teams up to do business with Bono
 http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?subchannel_id=1&story_id=21939&name=De+Mol+teams+up+to+do+business+with+Bono
 http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2005/07/318876.html

www.endemol.com/

Band Aid 20
 http://www.endemoluk.com/formats/index.jsp?dyn=showcase.20041203173816

46664 MANDELA AIDS CONCERT
 http://www.endemoluk.com/formats/index.jsp?dyn=showcase.20031212165358

Endemol owned Initial has been commissioned by ITV to produce U2 Uncovered - a TV special for ITV1 presented by Cat Deeley.
U2 Uncovered will feature exclusive interviews with Bono and the boys as they reflect on their metamorphosis from pop band into a phenomenon that has touched much of the western world, both musically and politically.
 http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/entertainment/66722004.htm


Endemol UK : Home - UK head office Shepherds Bush West London.
ENDEMOL UK is the UK's largest 'non-broadcaster' producer of entertainment formats
for the worldwide market and is dedicated to content that works across a ...
www.endemoluk.com/

These two pratts were well placed to Hijack the G8 and boost there own profiles at the same time ...

Big Brother


Jihad

07.09.2005 16:39

I am 'launching' a 'Jihad' against the 'use' of 'air quotes'. I 'just' 'cant' 'take' 'it' 'anymore'.

Memory-Hole-Catchers-Mitt


OK George, but surely you have betrayed the poor too

07.09.2005 19:20

Bob has saved a few lives with his campaigning, but did we expect him to overthrow capitalism and put the whole world to rights. No! Bob´s only a Saint, not God the almighty, so give the lad a break.

George, tell us how many lives you have saved with your campaigning!

I think it´s time for some Chomsky to elucidate the reality of the G8 world debt, and the indoctrination of the masses, including many of the left and liberals who are worst even than the (neo)conservatives when it comes to betraying the poor, and in the people that "dont count" .

I´ll search something by Chomsky that should explain better what is really going on.

Until later

EM Cebrian


Bread and Circuses

08.09.2005 00:30

Why does anyone think that people like Bono have useful messages? What was Geldof against? "Poverty". Well, who can argue with that? It's even easier to be against poverty when you are a millionaire television producer and sometime music maker, who hangs out with Bill Gates, but why stop there? Why not "Make Bad Weather History" or "Make Cancer History"? What do you want? "A cure for the common cold!" When do you want it? "Now!"

Claudius


'Why'

08.09.2005 09:05

"It" "seems" "there" 'is' 'a' "new" 'convention' "for" "writing" 'on' 'Indymedia' 'so' "I" 'shall' 'conform'.

Memory-Hole-Catchers-Mitt


The whole point of INDYMEDIA is as an alternative to Bob an Bono

08.09.2005 10:55

It's pretty that what ever was said at the G8 and wether or not it was of any benefit to the poor is lost in the way the media reports it all. Bliar and company are experts at manipulating the media and spinning everything into neat little yarns that make joe Public feel cozy and comfy in the fact that the PM is doing what he says he would, even though no one can remember what exactly that was.
Geld Wolf and Bono are simply part of that process, wether they actually believe it or not their high flying live styles are a million miles away from the people that they are supposed to be helping and in my opinion they are just helping themselves to an extra helping of street creds while at the same time maintaining their super star status's.

cabbie


Reply to Monbiot in Guardian

08.09.2005 14:05

G8's historic Africa deal
Thursday September 8, 2005
The Guardian - Letters
 http://www.guardian.co.uk/g8/0,13365,967228,00.html

George Monbiot, as ever, exaggerates to make a point, but on the Gleneagles summit he becomes misleading (And still he stays silent, September 6). He lists aid agency criticisms but omits other verdicts: "the greatest summit for Africa ever" (Kofi Annan); "an important, if incomplete, boost to the development prospects of the poorest countries" (Professor Jeffrey Sachs); or "a major breakthrough on debt" (Kevin Watkins, until recently head of research at Oxfam).

What was achieved at Gleneagles was historic. If its commitments are translated into action, 13,000 people who would have died every day will now live. Some 600,000 African children who, before the G8 doubled aid, would have died from malaria will stay alive. The pledge to provide anti-Aids drugs to virtually everyone in Africa who needs them within five years will save more than 6 million lives. Polio should now be eradicated. Twenty million more children will go to school. Five million more orphans will be cared for.

The G8 promised to fulfil more than 50 of the 90 demands made by the Commission for Africa. Most radical, perhaps, was the promise that poor countries will be allowed to decide their own policies rather than having them dictated by the rich world as conditions for aid, debt or trade deals.

The task now is for the huge numbers who supported Live 8 and Make Poverty History to make sure that what was promised is delivered. This will require vigilance and continued pressure. Geldof and the rest of us always knew that. But Monbiot is wrong on a number of points.

Germany and Italy did not announce after Gleneagles that they might not be able to meet the commitments they had just made, due to "budgetary constraints"; they had been saying that all along, which is why we have been looking at innovative ways to raise the cash - the air ticket levy, the IFF and so on.

It is true that some non-G8 rich nations have talked of diluting the debt deal at the IMF, but Bush, Blair, Chirac and Schröder can be expected to stand firm on that.

It was no bombshell that Gordon Brown "revealed" that debt relief is accounted as aid. It always has been. And in any case the debt deal will take only $1bn of the increased aid of $25bn extra a year compared with 2004 levels.

The new US ambassador to the UN may be trying to water down an ambitious agenda to tackle poverty, but President Bush signed up to radical measures in the Gleneagles communique, and should be pressed to honour his signature.

Of course there is more to do. The additional aid must come on stream rapidly. There must be no backsliding, delays, small print, or additional conditionality on the debt deal. On trade, Bush and Chirac must be pressed to agree a date for an end to export subsidies.

In all this, Monbiot's ad hominem attacks on Geldof are ill-judged. Geldof did not see himself as a white man out to aid helpless blacks who refused to consult them. He was a member of a commission which had an African majority. He spent four months visiting 11 African countries and the rest of the year consulting individuals and groups from 49 others.

The truth is that instead of offering counsels of perfection from the sidelines, Geldof got involved in some messy politics. But through the Commission for Africa and Live 8, he and others pushed through the G8 a far more radical package than any realist could have imagined possible a year ago.

Why, asks Monbiot, has he been silent for the past month? Because after a year flat-out he took his kids away to Majorca on holiday. And well-deserved too.

Paul Vallely
Co-author, Commission for Africa report

reposting


Links

Server Appeal Radio Page Video Page Indymedia Cinema Offline Newsheet