live-aid

The bravest thing David Bowie ever did was to go on stage after Queen at Live Aid.

The ideological blackmail that has been in place since the original Live Aid concerts in 1985 has insisted that __aring individuals_ could end famine directly, without the need for any kind of political solution or systemic reorganization. It is necessary to act straight away, we were told; politics has to be suspended in the name of ethical immediacy. Bono__ Product Red brand wanted to dispense even with the philanthropic intermediary. __hilanthropy is like hippy music, holding hands_, Bono proclaimed. __ed is more like punk rock, hip hop, this should feel like hard commerce_. The point was not to offer an alternative to capitalism - on the contrary, Product Red__ __unk rock_ or __ip hop_ character consisted in its __ealistic_ acceptance that capitalism is the only game in town. No, the aim was only to ensure that some of the proceeds of particular transactions went to good causes. The fantasy being that western consumerism, far from being intrinsically implicated in systemic global inequalities, could itself solve them. All we have to do is buy the right products.