So... Band Aid 30

Rubic

Rubic

Equine Karaoke Queen
Apr 15, 2012
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What do you all think about it?

Personally I hate the song (all the versions of it, not just this one). I do find it (and the whole idea) a bit patronising.

I don't think throwing all that extra money at Ebola is going to make it go away any quicker than it would "normally". Ebola has been around, killing people, for years yet (as always) most people are only now aware of it and bothered about it because it is now threatening the "rich" countries like the UK and US. It is a very difficult virus to work with. Research on it and finding a cure is not suddenly going to become quicker because Band Aid have reworked that song and sold millions of copies. They seem to have the tag-line "Buy the song. Stop the virus". That is not quite how it works Bob Geldof, it is science not magic.

I really like some of the artists who have taken part but I can't stop seeing it as a big PR stunt, with managers saying "Do this, it'll make you look really good.".
 
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Agreed - I hate the song too - why can't they do something new? The amount raised is a drop in the ocean compared with the amount spent in research. I prefer to support local charities like Essex Air Ambulance and the RNLI and the government chip in with Gift Aid for these.
 
I support it whole hearted - if the pop song buying public can buy this song to generate funds to help stop Ebola - which is only one plane ride away from us in the UK- then I am all for it - in the ebola fund from EU countries was only 100k last month... anything we can do to help I am up for it.

I disagree that raising funds and awareness will not help find a cure/treatment quicker - throw more money at anything and it will turn something up quicker - I was reading a research paper that only a certain about of £££ is spent on Ebola research and that if they had more money it would turn up something quicker.
 
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I dont have a problem with money being raised for charity, your not forced to give to it or listen to the song. At least people are trying to make a difference.
 
I'm also all for it - how people chose to raise money, or change a life Or even just make another smile is up to them - as long as people do good things for others then that is to be commended
 
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Bob annoys me. Sorry.:oops:o_O
I remember the song the very first time around and the sentiments were genuine then. I guess they think they are now but its all about feed the world isn't it? Not sure how that'll stop ebola? Perhaps a very silly point of view on my part but surely better quarantine will stop the spread? It would be nice to find a cure or vaccine but it seems long way off.
 
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As I understand it the resistance to the virus is weakened by malnutrition, so better feeding and clean water would help combat the disease. So I guess feed the world is still relevant.
 
Trewsers said:
Bob annoys me. Sorry.:oops:o_O
I remember the song the very first time around and the sentiments were genuine then. I guess they think they are now but its all about feed the world isn't it? Not sure how that'll stop ebola? Perhaps a very silly point of view on my part but surely better quarantine will stop the spread? It would be nice to find a cure or vaccine but it seems long way off.
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They have changed some of the words to fit T, but as CWB says, malnutrition makes it worse so feed the world is still relevant
 
I think this article hits the nail on the head for me (for most points anyway). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...-right-to-ignore-Bob-Geldof-and-Band-Aid.html

Research takes time, developing drugs and vaccines takes time. I'm not saying that money doesn't help at all but the way Geldof is raving on you'd think that all this money he is raising will get the cure out there tomorrow, that was more my point. It won't. It takes years to get drugs and vaccines to that all important end point and it seems that point is lost on him and many others.

I don't need to like or buy a single to prove that I care about important issues. People donate to their chosen charities when they can afford it. I certainly hope that the participants of Band Aid also put their money where their mouth is, when they can afford it of course.
 
At the end of the day for me, this project and any others similar raise awareness and raise money for charity.
I wish they had written a different song because the original will always be the best one in my mind and the most emotive. But it is number 1 in many countries already and everyone is talking about it so they have done something right!
 
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When Bob and Bono stop avoiding tax and contribute to the society they actually live in, instead of entreating us to part with our hard-earned cash while refusing to be parted with theirs, then I will take them seriously. Until then, I will continue to view them as massive tossers. And the song is sh*t. I donate to charity and give up my time in voluntary work as well, Geldof's assumption that we're all non-caring tightwads who need to be bullied into giving makes me despise him more. Self-aggrandising knob. Aaaaand breathe!
 
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squidsin said:
When Bob and Bono stop avoiding tax and contribute to the society they actually live in, instead of entreating us to part with our hard-earned cash while refusing to be parted with theirs, then I will take them seriously. Until then, I will continue to view them as massive tossers. And the song is sh*t. I donate to charity and give up my time in voluntary work as well, Geldof's assumption that we're all non-caring tightwads who need to be bullied into giving makes me despise him more. Self-aggrandising knob. Aaaaand breathe!
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Did you see his sky news reaction when questioned about tax avoidance? It made me so angry!
 
Rubic said:
Did you see his sky news reaction when questioned about tax avoidance? It made me so angry!
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I read about it. He thinks he's above having to contribute to society like the rest of us. If I interviewed him, I would just ask him over and over again about tax and the damage done to society by reliance on charity instead of tax revenues until he exploded.
 
Whatever you think of Bob G and Bono, and of the whole idea of fund-raising through entertainment, there are plenty of ways that money can help stop Ebola, not just through research, but through providing care workers, hospital beds, isolation facilities , training and equipment - they're desperately short of everything.
 
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Do we only care about getting proper health care into places like Liberia now that the West is potentially under threat from Ebola? After all they've been desperately poor and lacked infrastructure and resources for decades now. Plenty have died there from malnutrition - eating cheap but contaminated bush meat is what gave us Ebola in the first place. Malnutrition still kills far more Africans than Ebola. Not that it's wrong to give aid and support to these places - far from it - but just to target Ebola seems rather a pet cause to me when it's symptomatic of far wider problems - including massive corruption with aid not always reaching its intended victims.
 
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As Rubic said - it is only the fact that aid workers are coming back to the US / UK /Spain carrying the virus that has stirred up the publicity - precursors to Ebola have been around for ages and this strain has been around since 1976. Food has long been a problem worldwide and I include the obesity crisis as well as lack of food but it is not as "newsworthy" as the threat of ebola reaching our shores, even though there is little chance of it spreading in the UK.
 
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