Ending World Poverty, One Unsold Bentley at a Time

So, I got off work early today, and I am going to go outside in a minute, but first, I want to complain about the ONE Campaign. I actually wrote this last night, went to publish, and it was GONE, so I wrote it again, so this is just my 'pissed off because I had to do it again' cut and paste. It's really way too pretty outside to be in here.

So anyway, at first I thought this campaign was a cool idea…stars using their celeb power to rally us mere mortals into helping end poverty, starvation and AIDS. But then I opened my eyes. Dude, P. Diddy is in this campaign. During the recent election, he had the gall to cruise down a poverty stricken street in his Bentley! Why do I see this as ignorance instead of assistance? Oh because it is my friend, it is. It’s like Lil’ Romeo’s episode of Cribs back in the day. The twelve year old kid had his own mini mansion on daddy’s property complete with multiple pairs of name brand kicks that had only been worn one time each. Doesn’t he think that those would look better on the feet of some poor kids somewhere instead of all over the floor in his overly packed walk-in closet?

George Clooney also promotes the ONE campaign. Doesn’t he own a private island near Italy? Does he really need that much space all to himself. Couldn’t he fly in a few people from Indonesia and gice them a clean place to stay for a while?

What’s my issue here? Most of these celebs probably have enough money to afford a shitload of stuff while still throwing a bunch of cash at various charities. But something still isn’t sitting right with me to the point where I have a hard time supporting the ‘yahs’ from glassy eyed fans who find their simple white t-shirts and stern looks to be revolutionary in the fight against world poverty and disease.

My irritation here is really in the way that these stars preach for a cause, but don’t demonstrate that they can live without all the glitz and glam until the issue is resolved. Don’t get me wrong, if I had that much money, I would probably park a dream Porsche 911 turbo in my driveway, but not twenty, at five different residencies. It’s about moderation, and few of them truly show that they have it. So until they want to be a little more moderate, meaning…quit throwing monthly yacht parties, quit dropping dimes on private jets, and quit spending the weekends power shopping for Gucci and Valentino, WE will not be able to end world poverty. They’re in the top 2% of wealth and spending, yet they stand there and state that one billion people live on less than a dollar a day. How can they genuinely push for a campaign when they could sell one of their many mansions and feed a fucking country and completely eradicate a few illnesses? And yes, I am leaving politics out of it, but a lot of my thinking is that it could really be that damn simple.

Now, I know the power that a pen and a voice can have in helping to assist with change, and I am not just sitting back waiting for the rich people to make all the changes. And maybe it’s not always about money. But damn, how many people died of starvation and horrid disease in the time it took me to write this? Maybe I’ll go ask Diddy. He could send them a few bottles of Cristal to drown out their sorrows with for the time being.