Comments on: Idol Gives Back, is our generation giving back?

By: Tom K

Tom K — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 10:17:24 +0000

It was nice of the celebrities to fly in by private jet and give one tenth of what they could easily afford to a decent cause. I’m not saying that they don’t care, but it seems a bit rich that most of them only seem to give money to charity in the most public way possible. I could just be being pessimistic though.

As far as diverting funds from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, that would be an incredibly bad idea. Pulling funds or soldiers from Iraq would leave it as the most fucked country in the world, because the Iraqi army simply cannot cope with the threat from the militia there without British and American help. We may to gone to war there because of false intelligence, and with possible hidden pretences, but the fact remains that Saddam was a dictator, who commited gennocide on a massive scale and should’ve been stopped a long time before.

I think that if America (and therefore probably Britain) wants to play policeman to the world, it needs to do it impartially and evenly. The horrific events in Burma have been ignored by the west for years, and all anyone does about Mugabe is talk, without actually forcing him out.

Either way, it’s going to take more than money to fix Africa’s problems. Countries that should be well off, like Ghana, are being destroyed by corrupt governments who funnel the money from their gold mines into their own bank accounts. Giving money to charities is all well and good, but it doesn’t solve the root of the issue.

By: Ross C

Ross C — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 20:24:49 +0000

It’s a widely accepted fact, even amongst many politicians, that the money funding the war could be serving a much better cause. The war wasn’t entirely wrong, although the reasons used to instigate it were. The money an dtime invested initially helped to liberate many people from what wasn’t a fair exsistence.
However, i can’t help but feel that this is something that both UK and US governments need to move away from. Diverting their money towards making the world, as a whole, a better place.

These shows always stand out to me as a little bit of a slap in the face. When you see so many multi millionaires standing on a stage begging people like you and me for money. I understand that we should all do our part and i commend any one who donates. But dont you think that these stars on stage could make a considerably larger donation than just singing a sgon on tv for free. If each of them donated a significant amount, that in all likely-hood, they wouldnt even miss. Than things like this 100million goal would be a damn site closer. This may be straying from the political side of things but it’s something that always niggles at me when i watch them.

As the post above me says, given the choice, tax payers would most likely rather fund projects to help the 3rd world countries. And i for one am one of them. The wars are lead for all the wrong reasons, as a way to show superiority, a feeble attempt to impress the other mega powers. I fear this is something that will never change. Everyone can acknowledge where our money and help would be most beneficial, but until someone has the guts enough to say enough is enough and pull our soldiers out of war-zones then i can’t see it becoming a reality.

By: John Loughborough

John Loughborough — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 19:49:50 +0000

One of the most clever things that Idol gives back mangaed to do was attract in many different generations by the celebrity guests they had appearing on the show. By having Miley Cyrus on the show they were able to attract many young children which allowed a younger generation to become aware of what is happening around the world. By having Fergie and Snoop Dog they appealed to the teenage generation and by having Annie Lennox, Bono and sports players on the show they were able to attract adults aswell. What helped the show was the fact they attracted all ages which probably made a big difference in the amount of donations being made.

By: Sara

Sara — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 19:36:35 +0000

I agree, all the billions of pounds and dollars that are being spent on the war should be used in helping the people who most suffer in the world. If tax payers were given the option of where all their money was going i guarentee that people would rather their money go towards helping dying and starving children survive rather than to a war that seems more and more pointless everyday. Idol gives back is a good way in showing people all over the world that even though you dont hear about it on a daily baisis people are suffering because of lack of medicines, money and healthy food. It seems nowa days more money is being spent on killing innocent people and less and less is being spent on helping innocent people. It makes you wonder what the HELL the UK and US Governments are thinking.