I just asked a coworker who had moved here from Ethiopia fifteen years ago what she thought of Live 8.

"When they sent all the grain after that other concert in the 80s, the government didn't sell it [word for word transcription, by the way]. It sold it to people who could still afford to pay. These weren't the starving people. So what good is it going to do if you cancel the debts. The government will just have more money to make itself rich with, and all the debts come from paying for wars anyways. How will that help people. Better teach the poor people how to live than make rich, powerful people richer."

She did have some good things to say, though. "It's better than nothing, I guess. Plus it's good to see that Paul McCartney can still sing."

I disagree on the last point.