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Where do people get off saying the Beatles should give $200,000,000 to South America? You know, America has poured billions into places like that. It doesn't mean a damn thing. After they've eaten that meal, then what? It lasts for only a day. After the $200,000,000 is gone, then what? It goes round and round in circles. You can pour money in forever. After Peru, then Harlem, then Britain. There is no one concert. We would have to dedicate the rest of our lives to one world concert tour, and I'm not ready for it. Not in this lifetime, anyway.

John Lennon#25

ActivismCharityEconomicsExhaustionPhilanthropyTourism

About this quote

What does it mean?
Lennon argues that charity money is ineffective without lasting change and refuses to dedicate his life to endless world tours.
In plain terms
Giving money away doesn't solve problems permanently, and he won't tour forever to fix them.
What can you take from it?
Charity needs sustainable solutions, not just temporary cash infusions.

Where it applies

  • discussing foreign aid
  • refusing charity requests
  • planning tours

Putting it to work

  • evaluate aid impact
  • reject performative charity

Questions to consider

  • What makes aid effective?
  • Should artists do charity work?

Another view

It overlooks that emergency aid can save lives even if long-term change is hard.

More from John Lennon

  1. I don't have any romanticism about any part of my past. I think of it only inasmuch as it gave me pleasure or helped me grow psychologically. That is the only …

    Permalink to quote #24
  2. Part of me suspects that I'm a loser and the other part of me thinks I'm God Almighty.

    Permalink to quote #26
  3. It can never be again! Everyone always talks about a good thing coming to an end, as if life was over. But I'll be 40 when this interview comes out. Paul is 38…

    Permalink to quote #23

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