Hiya!
I’m becoming increasingly annoyed with people wearing those stupid bloody band things. First, or at least first for me to know of were the anti-bullying ones. These were a semi-good idea. Bullying is a social problem, in all warps of life, there’s always going to be some bully. The bands are a sign of support for the bullied person and are a sign to the bully that says "don’t bully ...alright??". I doubt you’ll ever actually see a bully change his ways so he can wear one of these bands, or even feel the slightest bit intimidated by the hoards of good doers wearing them. But basically I can identify with the good cause behind them. The rest of them are however, utterly stupid. How the fuck does a liverstrong band help??! Okay, so you’ve donated a pound but that’s it. You now get to flaunt that for the rest of your life wearing that stupid bloody band. Make poverty history?! Well I can picture the politicians trembling now- "It’s a popular cause! What do we do! They’ve all spent a pound on it, they must be committed!". People seem to miss the point. They’ve given money to charity, but have they done it because they really believe that western governments are ridiculous in expecting to claim back money from 3rd world countries. I very much doubt it; they have a white band because all their friends have them. Its not even a case of ending apathy, the majority of people wearing these bands will still be ignorant of the actual cause. The only real way that progress is going to be made is action that directly or indirectly impact government. At this point in time (with a general election just around the corner, for the less alert readers) the charities should be focusing their attention on lobbying political parties, and the stupid bloody bracelets for the kids should say "VOTE! (Or get your parents to!)". The sooner the better people realize that you don’t change the world through fashion! By my reckoning were going to have the additions of Labour, Conservative and Lib Dem bands to peoples wrists, which would be completely missing the point. But at least those Conservative ones are going to be rare!