U2 can be a...
Posted by Oeufman on 25 January 2008 - 2:56pm.
Never mix politics and religion. Never mix vocalists with global economics. It's not just me, is it? Bono really has become a sanctimonious old fart?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7208990.stm
He may have the 'desire' to change things and that should be applauded, but let's face it, he's in a better position than the majority of us to do something about it instead of schmoozing bankers and politicians in Davos.
I'm calling you out, mate; how about you donate 1% of your net revenue in 2008 to a series of good causes, and evidence it?
If you do, I'll do the same. Until then, to take a leaf out of a recent documentary, shut up and sing.
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Question?
How do you know that he doesn't do that already? Personally, I respond very badly to people trying to bully or blackmail me into charitable contributions.
Oooooooo
And he's got a dodgy pseudonym, eh, Heppo!?
(Oeufman, not Bonio, that is.)
(Wait a minute.......)
What
is Bono's approach if not bullying - utilising his media muscle to sanitise the real issues in the name of his own profile, whilst making the rest of us feel guilty for not having the time or wherewithal to do the same?
Anyone with the remotest interest in turning the situation around is already as informed as Bono and more often than not involved in a good cause. He long ago overstepped his mark and now it's just annoying (and a little embarrassing).
If he does contribute, what harm is there in knowing it - might not the evidence motivate others to consider doing the same?
The worst result from all this posturing is the soap-box warrior who 'doesn't feel the need to justify' his own contributions (it's for charity, you see); it doesn't incentivise anyone, and it may actually turn people off.
Retraction
I clearly have nothoing sensible to add to this strand.
But you knew that.....
Laying new lines from Chelmsford to Liverpool St.
Retraction.
I desperately want a slot on 'I'm Sorry, I Haven't A Clue'.
Yeah, I know, failed again...
To me...
Bono is like Jamie Oliver. I think he's a bit of a prat, but overall he's undoubtedly a force for good. And the latter excuses the former.
Wouldn't
disagree Fraser, but when you have the ability to be more than a force for, and show people your contribution extends beyond rhetoric, why wouldn't you? I don't begrudge Bono et al making their money and I've helped them collect it; I do begrudge him pontificating about how I should be signing up to a contract to give what's left of my meager earnings after tax to his worthy cause. No probs Bono; show me the colour of your money, and you can see mine.
Just can't help feeling that several albums into a (very) successful career, some of our 'cherished artists' get bored and decide to 'go into politics' or 'save the world'. There are people out there who have been doing that for years and they should be the ones we're supporting; to them, it's a vocation, to Bono, it comes across as a hobby.
it's a hard 'un to call..
As an Irishman, i find the posturing of Bongo a little offputting at times. I like the idea, on the one hand, of a pop star who thinks about more than 'what colour trousers will i wear this evening?', but on the other, there is a level of sanctimoniousness (is that a word?!) from him that's a little hard to take.
And then there's the issue of his own tax affairs. As some of you may know, there was a tax scheme introduced here a number of years ago that allowed 'Artists' to essentially avoid having to pay tax as long as they were domiciled and lived in the Republic of Ireland. It's not *just* the countryside that Joe Elliott and Ronnie Wood fell in love with here, for you see, pop-stars also qualifed as Artists, along with the more high-cultured poets/sculptors etc.
http://www.revenue.ie/index.htm?/revguide/artistexemption.htm
A cap has since been introduced on the amount which can be earned tax free and thus our more prosperous Artists are expected to chuck a few bob into the coffers of the state; when this news came through we were greeted with the news that U2 were moving a lot of their business 'empire' out of Ireland so as to avoid paying tax.
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/u2-move-their-rock-empire-out-of...
Yeah - see, that'd be the same tax coffers that enables our government to pay some class of foreign aid. If one takes this to its logical conclusion and we were ALL able to have our salaries routed through a tax free haven, would governments be able to make any foreign aid payments?
Of course, in theory, there's nothing to stop us as individuals from making those payments to charities ourselves, and if that's what Bono thinks we should be doing, then that's fine.
I just wish he'd stop fucking telling other world leaders to give some of their tax take to the poor, when the little prick won't pay into the pot himself!
Ivan,
you have succeeded in addressing my point far better than I could. It's the double standards; scuse me while I dump a few more tonnes of carbon into the air on my way to Davos, but shed a few coppers for the poor when I get there,will you?
I too like the idea of a cerebral rock star. I too understand what he's saying. I just want some evidence he's backing it up.
Ouef
I was never a man to miss a good old kick at Mr Hewson but unfortunately I can confirm that their figure is quite a bit over the 1% mark.
Its the ego that gets me. And the shoe lifts. And I could tell a couple of stories !!
Still like the music though.
Don't
say unfortunately, Springer; if it's true, that's great.
I like their music too, but all the Geldof's, Bono's, Collins' and Madge's aren't going to save the world. It's not their chosen career, and we shouldn't expect them to. And they should stop banging on about it.
Doing your bit has nothing to do with ego, it has nothing to do with wishing to be seen to be doing something; it's because you want to be able to say to yourself that you've given back some of what you take. To me it makes common sense, my conscience is clear(er), so what difference can it possibly make if people know or not, and who on earth would care?
To Bono, however,altruism is the new black.
Which is why
The Greens drive me up the wall. For some reason they make me want to do the opposite of what they propose every time. Global Warming, yeah great movie Mr Gore. But....every bone in my body rebells at the thought of the great and the good, famous or not trying to tell me what to do. I was so disappointed when the C4 refuting Gore turned out to be codswallop.
Have you noticed how every aspect of our lives seems to be controlled either by guilt or legislation.
Oh cripes better get off my soapbox
I preferred the days when
when he still had a mullet, The Edge didn't wear a hat and U2 still wrote good songs.
Am I being thick?
A multi-national firm joining a contract to hand a hefty sum over to charity will immediately look at ways to make it up and will probably favour the time-honoured 'letting go' of employees, usually the ones well down the food chain who are cheapest to dispose of and most likely to fall into poverty without a job.
But Bono wouldn't know that because he's a rock star.