Live aid

Roostar

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The thread about gofundme got me thinking and was closed before i could pose this question. This isnt for arguements etc but i just wanted peoples opinions on the mega rich asking tge general public for donations. The overal wealth of the celebritys involved if they were to all give away a fraction of their wealth would solve endless problems, and then there is their appearance fees.... yes they need to earn a living but when they have the wealth to fly a private jet to bring them the sunglasses they forgot (if rumours are to be believed) surely its a bit vulgar to ask those with much less to be giving up their money? As i say im not looking for arguements and everyone is entitled to their own opinion on the matter, the other thread just got me thinking
 
As i say im not looking for arguements and everyone is entitled to their own opinion on the matter, the other thread just got me thinking

If you have netflix, take a peek at Poverty, Inc

While they were a bit overdramatic IMHO, they have a point in that the system we currently have for foreign aid is often detrimental to the recipients in the long term, and is often abused in a manner that benefits only the givers.

Worth a watch and half a moment's consideration. My personal bullshit detector only registered 40% while watching it.
 
They can ask all they want, but I'm under no obligation to give. What gets me upset is when celebrities petition the government to raise my taxes.
 
They can ask all they want, but I'm under no obligation to give. What gets me upset is when celebrities petition the government to raise my taxes.

There's a couple of reasons for this. 1) it makes them feel good about their accomplishment. "People are hungry and I feel good that I forced greedy people to give...now about that Lambo....."

2) A ton of tax increase advocacy is directed at eliminating the competition. Remember the US Luxury Tax? Warren Buffet advocated for that big time, then cashed in when smaller boat and jet liner companies got crushed under the tax load. He bought them for pennies on the dollar.

Happens all the time. Live Aid was no different. The amount of money that raised was peanuts, but the celebs all felt good about themselves. I was trying to find the info on that one, but almost none of the donations went to anyone in need. It did however pay everyone involved big time. All organizations, accommodation, fees, catering, everything was taken off the top at high prices and no one knows what happened to the rest.
 
Yeh its a shame. I agree with charity and charity work but it seems harder and harder to find ones which actually help in a meaningful way. A lot of big charity CEOs are on the top salaries and people who may not have much money donate expecting the money to go mainly to a cause but in reality it is mostly spent in lining the pockets of the rich somewhere. I remember reading that a lot of aid given to african countries came with stipulations on what they could spend it on etc so they may need water pumps but they have to get land rovers for example
 
Want to help a charity? Work for a local charity. I did for two years and I know for a fact that I made a direct difference to people in need.

The one that really gets my goat these days is when people set up collections when senior members of staff leave an organisation. In effect, they're asking the poorer members of staff to give the richer ones more money. No thanks.
 
It's not just things like Live Aid. I used to be heavy into cycling competitions. Every race has a charity name behind it, so it could sound like something. I used to argue with fellow cyclists about giving to charities and they would say "I give every time I race, by requesting sponsorship, blah, blah, blah." Truth is, cyclist would sign up for anything they can have an excuse to train for. $75 here, $150 there is nothing if you have a half a chance of getting into the Gold or Platinum category. It's bragging rights x10. if there was no prize at the end, they wouldn't do them. Ask the same guys to show up and help pack (not pay) for Food For the Hungry and there were excuses for everything. Contribute $10 to the food being packed, never! There was no biscuits handed out for that and I got the it's a scam excuse from them.

There were some races that really cracked me up though! The ones sponsored my hospitals or medical centers. I always thought business must be slow, because at a minimum they would get 10 serious injuries admitted to them as a result of something catastrophic!

Real charity's are traceable. There are trails for everything. They will gladly use your services, if you would like to volunteer and you can see first hand where things are going. Fake ones try to guilt you into it and there's hardly ever a trail.
 
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Yeh its a shame. I agree with charity and charity work but it seems harder and harder to find ones which actually help in a meaningful way. A lot of big charity CEOs are on the top salaries and people who may not have much money donate expecting the money to go mainly to a cause but in reality it is mostly spent in lining the pockets of the rich somewhere. I remember reading that a lot of aid given to african countries came with stipulations on what they could spend it on etc so they may need water pumps but they have to get land rovers for example


Personally, my issue isn't so much that these charities exist. It's like McDonalds existing... I'd rather not shop there, but they serve a purpose from time to time. Sometimes you just need to take a urgent dump, and you feel guilty using their restroom. So you order something delicious and regret it a few hours later.

My issue is that it's legally difficult for me to offer private charity. When something like Katrina happens, I can't let out and stock my lake house to an affected family for free, and then claim the deduction on my taxes. I either pay big-cross, or I pay twice as much. Even if I get crafty and claim the family as dependents, I still lose due to their loss of health insurance and other factors.
 
Live aid and similar concerts was/is free PR for millionaires. Live Aid being the shining example.

Queen weren't particularly popular at the time (Hot Space was awful, the Works is a great album but they were all doing solo stuff barring John Deacon obviously!). Status Quo had split up. Father of the year Mr Geldof wasn't doing much other than swearing at people and telling them to give money.

Lots of other peoples money gets raised and doesn't make any difference other than celebrities profiles are raised. 32 years on and people are still gullible enough to fall for it. We have Children in Need and Comic Relief here.

Nice to know all these African dictators got lots of AK47s and private jets. Well done Bob!
 
I remember hearing an interview with a pop star from the 1980s who talked about how much "nose candy" was consumed during the recording and filming of the "We are the World" single in '85. I can't remember who it was. Heck, he/she probably can't remember saying it either. ;)

I give to my church every month. Our church does a lot of events throughout the year which helps our local community and various other legit ministries. If people want money from me, I tell them to get in touch with our deacons and pastors at church. That's where all of my "donations" go.
 
I remember hearing an interview with a pop star from the 1980s who talked about how much "nose candy" was consumed during the recording and filming of the "We are the World" single in '85. I can't remember who it was. Heck, he/she probably can't remember saying it either. ;)

They did a similar one in the UK for Live Aid (Let Them Know It's Christmas) They showed Francis Rossi and Rick Parfitt sniffed off their biscuit trying to record. They both said the studio was a big coke den.
 
Live aid and similar concerts was/is free PR for millionaires. Live Aid being the shining example.

Queen weren't particularly popular at the time (Hot Space was awful, the Works is a great album but they were all doing solo stuff barring John Deacon obviously!). Status Quo had split up. Father of the year Mr Geldof wasn't doing much other than swearing at people and telling them to give money.

Lots of other peoples money gets raised and doesn't make any difference other than celebrities profiles are raised. 32 years on and people are still gullible enough to fall for it. We have Children in Need and Comic Relief here.

Nice to know all these African dictators got lots of AK47s and private jets. Well done Bob!

There was John Deacon's band The Immortals and the Biggles soundtrack released in 86 so he probably was at work in 85 on that. I only remember as I was a big reader of the Biggles books and I eagerly anticipated, and was subsequently disappointed by, the film
 
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