Beitrag vom 18.11.2014

The Telegraph

Why Adele was right to ignore Bob Geldof and Band Aid

Bryony Gordon wonders why, when it comes to charity, the rich and famous donate their precious time while the rest of us must donate our money

By Bryony Gordon

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I don't want to be told how to behave philanthropically by a man worth an estimated £32 million, a man who is said to use tax avoidance schemes (it is telling that when a journalist asked him two years ago how much tax he paid, Geldof exploded at her, saying: 'My time? Is that not a tax?' Well, no, Bob, it isn't).

I don't want to be implored to give charitably by a band that travels in separate private jets because they don't get on (One Direction), or by a man who avoids Irish taxes while simultaneously telling the Irish government to help developing countries (Bono).

"It really doesn't matter if you don't like this song,” said Geldof as he launched it, "what you have to do is buy this thing.” But do we? Really? If we don't, does this make us unfeeling and uncaring, or does it mean that we have already donated money to the cause, or a different cause, even?

This, I think, is my main objection to Band Aid 30: it is all predicated on a belief that the British public are mean-spirited and uncharitable, when in actual fact nothing could be further from the truth. It's time the likes of Geldof stopped asking us to give money, and like Adele, started donating some themselves. Charity, after all, begins at home.