Wembley Stadium in London Sept. 3: Sting, composer and incisive political commentator, coos the lyrics of They Dance Alone, from his second album. "Hey, Mr. Pinochet," he sings, "You've sown a bitter crop - It's foreign money that supports you - One day the money's going to stop." Immediately upon hearing the song, of course, longtime dictator Augusto Pinochet snapped to attention and invited Sting to chair a committee on how to restructure the Chilean government - right? Sorry. Pinochet is still singing a solo. And he recently announced himself as the lone candidate for the upcoming Chilean election. Sting's words probably won't propel him to folk-hero status in Latin America, but he is a force behind the five-continent "Human Rights Now!" concert tour launched by Amnesty International in Wembley earlier this month. This is the latest in the line of multi-musician events slated by the human-rights watch-dog organization. Yet although AI has organized numerous musical events in the past, this one is different. The 21-date tour is not intended to raise money or membership for Amnesty. Instead, the concerts are intended to "raise consciousness." Of course, some peoples' consciousness already has been raised. Reebok, a British foot and sportswear manufacturer, graciously offered to underwrite the tour. Either Reebok has taken one giant step for morally inclined corporations or it has undertaken a huge advertising campaign. And is it really true that these affluent rock stars desire to educate the public about human-rights violations? Certainly, this mounting surge of noblesse oblige on the part of the corporation and the musicians is inescapably self-serving. After all, it's true Peter Gabriel, Bruce Springsteen and Tracy Chapman will sell more albums, and that Reebok will sell more shoes, thanks to the tour's publicity. As always, the causes for which popular artists strive are overshadowed by this argument: that such star-studded events "are merely money-making schemes." Pop star George Michael, for example, has criticized this tour, stating that "Too many people are using these televised events to sell records." But the fact that this tour will promote some artists' careers shouldn't eclipse the fact that it also will promote awareness of human-rights issues. And promoting such awareness is arguably the single most effective tactic in fighting governments' human-rights violations. Surely the ends outweigh the motives, just this once. Even the most cynical critics will acknowledge that no funds are being raised other than those to cover the expense of staging the tour. They ought to take a step further and accept thatthese artists are sincere in their concern for human rights.
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