I’ve been reading a book lately called ” Is that it ? ” and its an autobiography of Bob Geldof. I havent read a book in years. I mean , I’ve started some and not finished them because I lost interest , so they dont count. I have something of a short attention span , and as my school reports will testify , I am easily distracted.
However , this book , is un-putdownable and charts the life of Bob Geldof ( Is He a Sir Bob now ? ) from his childhood as a gawky kid , to the forming of the boomtown rats , right through to the massive ” Live Aid ” mega-event.
I feel something stirring in me , and I felt the same thing when I seen Annie Lennox being interviewed on HardTalk ( BBC news 24 ) about the kids being born with Aids in Africa. As I watched Annies video showing a little 7 year old kid , born with aids , who then contracted tuberculosis which went to his brain. I watched that little kid , and wanted desperately to do something to help………but what ?? I am only one guy who makes music…….which leads me back to Bob Geldof.
All Bob Geldof was , was a guy in a band. Thats how He would describe Himself , even though I think the guy is a legend.
Say what you like about Him , but y’know , He had the balls and the sheer audacity to do something , instead of sitting waiting for someone else to do it. He had the tenacity of spirit to tell the politicians to put their hand in their pockets , because he was so thoroughly convicted by the moral outrage he saw.
In His book , he tells the story of just one of the horrendous things He witnessed while in Africa , trying to understand the gravity of the problem and understanding how the money from Live aid should be distributed. He says in his book
” I came out of one of the long huts and saw a small boy squatting by a pool of his own urine and diarrhoea. He looked about 4 months old but malnutrition is deceptive. He was nearer two , the age of my own child in England. A tattered dusty piece of cotton hung from one shoulderacross His distended stomach. His face was huge , a 2 year old face on a 4 month old body. His eyes were moons of dust and flies. He was crying , and the tears rolled down to the awful swollen stomach before they dried in the heat. Only a few yards away were His family , but they were too ill to notice. The diarrhoea strickled out in a steady flow. Then , as i stood there , the child began to shit out His own intestines. He had nothing left inside to evacuate except the torn shreds of His own stomach which had been ripped open by dry grain. I was watching a child die. There can be no doubt that the little boy is dead now. But He will not die in my imagination, There , nothing can free Him from the agonizing process of death which is fixed in my mind. “
This isn’t old news !
This is still happening , even now………
I am just one man who makes music , but the inequality and disparity in the economies of the world makes me sick to my stomach . Everytime i see people throwing out food , or complaining that they dont have the latest mobile phone , I just feel angry at our attitudes and complacency. Maybe if others share the same desire to do something , we can make a difference too…..but how ?
If anyone has any ideas , i’d be interested in hearing them.
I dont know who it was who said this , but its potent.
” All that is necessary for evil to prosper , is for good men to do nothing “
