Foreign Aid 3: Bob Geldoff and More Aid

July this year, Presidents and Prime Minsters from the US, UK, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, Canada and Russia held a G8 summit meeting in Scotland, UK, to discuss more foreign aid, global warming, etc. Bob Geldoff (and Bono and other rock stars) organized the "Live8" series of rock concerts in major cities of the said 8 countries. Their mission: pressure the G8 leaders to commit "more aid", "debt write-offs", to many African countries, to "make poverty history".

One free-market group in London, the International Policy Network (IPN), organized the "Global Development Summit" (GDS) on June 28. I was one of the panel speakers then, it was my first time to see London and UK, thanks IPN :-).

A day before the conference, I revised a famous song (IPN Exec. Director Julian Morris helped me) by Bob Geldoff in the 80s, "I don't like Mondays", and here's what we produced, below. We sang it on stage before the formal conference started.

Original song:

I don't like Mondays
(by Bob Geldoff, Boomtown Rats band)

The silicon chips inside her head
that switched to overload
and nobody's gonna go to school today
she's gonna make them stay at home
and daddy doesn't understand it
he said she was as good as gold
and he can see no reasons
cause there are no reasons
what reasons do you need to be shown
oh-woh-woh-woh

Tell me why -- I dont like Mondays
Tell me why -- I dont like Mondays
Tell me why -- I dont like Mondays
I wanna shoooooot, the whole day down!

Our revised song:

I don't like more aid

The G8 leaders are planning more aid
and that would mean, more taxes
and nobody's gonna go to shops today
they're gonna slash your take home pay
and Blair doesn't understand it
he said he'd wipe out poverty
and he can see no reasons
cause there are no reasons
what alibi you need to be shown
oh-woh-woh-woh

Tell me why -- i dont like more aid
Tell me why -- i dont like debt relief
Tell me why -- i hate protectionism
I wanna shoo-oooooot
The monopolists! :-)

(Chords pattern: C-G-F-G// Am-G, F-G)
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See also:
Foreign Aid 1: MDG Goals = More Debt Addiction, October 26, 2005
The Circuitous and Leaky Process of Foreign Aid, November 03, 2005