isn't it ironic...

...how well the Hyde Park Live8 crowd represents the world.

A small percentage of the crowd (those who paid for their tickets, and not on ebay either), were allowed in the "inner circle" where they had a perfect view of the stage and were served plenty of refreshments, including alcoholic drinks (Pimms by the gallon from what I heard). The rest of the crowd were too far away from the stage to see anything more than tiny dots and weren't allowed alcoholic drinks. As the majority of the crowd (the deprived group) were behind the privileged minority, they were able to enjoy the concert without having to worry about the injustice going on behind them.

Sure, that's an exaggeration. Not being allowed alcoholic drinks is a minor deprivation and you do kind of expect to not be able to see much of the stage at that sort of gig... BUT

It did strike me that this scenario represents the world really well. The West enjoy their lush, comfortable lifestyle, ignoring the plight of the struggling countries because as long as we can't see them, we don't have to think about them.