The Onion investigates:
How Can We Let Darfur Know How Much We're Doing For Them?
Thanks to John Drabinski for the link to this video.
In related news, MTV is hosting a benefit telethon for Haiti. I recognize that for the most part, any attention is good attention, but I can't help but be critical of the use of pop culture for humanitarian issues. Maybe the larger problem is that so many signs around us point to pop culture being the pinnacle of "cool." Celebrities and pop stars are who we look up to and aspire to be like, and in order for catastrophes to be significant in our lives, it takes these role models to tell us that it's moral to stop thinking about shopping and focus on Haiti--except during the commercials.
For more on the history of benefit concerts, check out:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2010/jul/16/archive-missionary-zeal-1985
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Before the telthon over 350 million dollars was raised by the different aid organizations. Yes, the celebrities brought attention, but they were very low key. By the way, do you know that a girl from Hopewell is missing in Haiti. She had just arrived with a college group to teach in an orphanage. She was in a hotel with four other students and teachers and they haven't found them. Not that her life is worth more than the oh so many Haitians who died in this terribleness, but it does bring the tragedy closer to home.
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