Humanitarian Carnival

"The moral hyperventilation of celebrities in Darfur hasn't helped and probably has hindered. But who needs empirics when there is a good story to tell?" Ever have mixed feelings about celebrities who adopt humanitarian causes? While on one hand awareness of a catastrophe is perhaps the key element in any kind of international response, bringing the wrong type of attention or simplistic solutions may just complicate matters. For an excellent rumination on these issues, check out Alex de Waal's October article Humanitarian Carnival.