Celebrity Consciousness

A while ago I wrote about the lack of campaigns on MTV about issues that are not safe. Well what do you know, a couple of days ago I saw an endless list of celebrities calling for an end to poverty. Interesting. Very interesting.

I went on their website. Surprise, surprise. They're calling for a 1% increase in aid. Aid. For fuck's sake aid. Aid. Aid. Aid. What good has aid done in the last 40 years or so? Fuck all. Why? Aid perpetuates dependency. Of course these celebrities would never want to challenge the structures that cause poverty. They're part of it. It benefits them. Will they bite the hand that feeds them all their luxuries?

Check out these facts:

20% of the population in the developed nations, consume 86% of the worlds goods.

The combined wealth of the world's 200 richest people hit $1 trillion in 1999; the combined incomes of the 582 million people living in the 43 least developed countries is $146 billion.

A few hundred millionaires now own as much wealth as the world's poorest 2.5 billion people.

The richest 50 million people in Europe and North America have the same income as 2.7 billion poor people. The slice of the cake taken by 1% is the same size as that handed to the poorest 57%.

A mere 12 percent of the world's population uses 85 percent of its water, and these 12 percent do not live in the Third World.

for more facts click here.

Poverty does not exist because their is not enough aid. Poverty exist because of uneven distribution of wealth, unjust economic systems and undemocratic international structures. These do-gooding celebrities want you to think that they care. They do a 1 minute advert and then go chill in their multi-million dollar Hollywood villages, drive one of their scores of cars and consume as much resources as possible in the shortest time possible. After which they'll go do a commercial for sweatshop commissioning multinational brands. Hollywood is revolutionary. Yeah right.