Is Bono A Hypocrite?

Question

Last year, Forbes ranked U2 No. 5 on its 100 Top Celebrities list. The band's most recent tour grossed $130 million, and they took home $69 million.
Here is Bono's hotel: http://www.forbes.com/2002/05/23/0523dow.html
Here is Bono's home from Google Images: http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&t=k&ll=53.26236400,-6.11103800&q=Ireland&spn=0.001559,0.005364

Do you think it's strange that a millionaire is lecturing us on poverty?

Answer 1

Yes he is a hypocrite and I loved your answer to his question.

Answer 2

Oh I don't think he's a hypocrite but neither do I think he's motivated by pure altruistic intentions. I think that he has a "messiah complex" and this feeds it - it bolsters his ego and probably assuages any small guilt he might feel at having so much. In other words, he's no Mother Theresa but then again if he gets results, so what? He's gotten good at using politicians for gains which he intends to benefit the unfortunate - good for him. It keeps him in the news, which probably makes him happy.

I have a feeling that he's not as shallow as people think and has a wry sense of humour about these sorts of discussions. I sense that in the wee hours of the morning he may occasionally lie awake and wonder how the hell he got where he is, and whether people know that he's just another guy like everyone else.

His statement a year or so ago that he wanted to be remembered for his music, not work against poverty, still sticks with me. What a joke - U2's music is ok, and occasionally super, but a hundred years from now who will remember it? It's things like that that make me think Bono's laughing at us all and that his real intention is to do good works.

Answer 3

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Answer 4

It the rich that get the calls to lecture. How many really poor, poverty-stricken people do you see touring, lecturing about it? It's the people with "big names" that get people's attention and draw then to lectures. Kathy Schmotheimer was booked to tour for the same purpose but she had no draw -- the tour was canceled. And Bono, despite his plea of being poor elsewhere in Answers [his Answers], he is rich -- or pretends very well. And like "water draws water", "the "rich draw rich" -- so the rich go and listen to him and it is they who have money to donate and they who have power in this world. (They probably just go to schmooze, so they can boast they "know" Bono, but that's besides the point.)

A hypocrite? No, just doing well enough to get people's attention.

Peace.

Answer 5

I think Bono should wear a cape and have a comic book. That dude always finds a way to show up at every disaster, and do something positive.

Bono is the man!

Answer 6

Bono is not a hypocrite, he is doing what is good and perfect.

I feed the homeless

What are YOU doing to make poverty history?

Answer 7

If you actually listened to Bono, you would realize that he isn't campaigning to make poverty history to make money or gain more fame. He's actually USING HIS FAME to get people to help make poverty history. He's trying to get people to let their respective governing parties know that poverty isn't acceptable and we're ready and willing to help those who don't have a voice. Actually take the time to listen to him... you might learn something.

Answer 8

I don't know about Bono. People do many things to keep from doing what they should. People go to church and put in money just to feel good about themselves, perhaps with a better conscience they would not have to donate as much.

Answer 9

A classic ad hominem attack. An example: Hitler was for physical fitness. (true) Hitler was a bad guy. (also true) Therefore physical fitness is bad. (stupid, just like your question)

Does the fact that Bono is rich preclude him from having a social conscience?

No.

Answer 10

So it's his fault that he makes lots of money? One CAN be wealthy and have great fortitude too you know. Too bad BONO isn't running for president!

Answer 11

On Thursday, November 4th, high school students Dan Runde of Cedar Rapids and Sarah Humbert of Marion visited the Washington, DC office of Rep. Leach as part of a Congressional Youth Leadership Conference event. Little did they know that while visiting their Congressman they would have the opportunity to meet an international music icon, Bono of the Irish band U2.

Bono, an international advocate of debt relief for the world's poorest countries, was visiting Rep. Leach to thank him for authoring H.R. 1095, The Debt Relief for Poverty Reduction Act of 1999. This bill is also known as the Jubilee 2000 bill. Bono was being escorted on Capitol Hill by Rep. John Kasich of Ohio, Chairman of the House Budget Committee.

This bill would allow the United States to forgive debt owed to us by Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC's) from around the world. These debts have very little chance of being paid off as the current situation stands. This bill would allow the countries aided by this debt forgiveness to concentrate more of their own monies toward poverty reduction.

http://www.house.gov/leach/bonoidr.htm

U2 subsequently grew famous for its commitment to political causes, including prominent support for international human rights.

Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2006. © 1993-2005 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
U2's Bono on Great Rock Images
The singer says this cover was "too grand" for his little band
ONLINE EXCLUSIVE
Despite an awesome seven Number One albums and some of the most successful tours in history under their belt, U2 frontman Bono once deemed this dark 1985 cover image "too grand" for the band. He shares his honest opinion on that and other classic Rolling Stone covers -- as well as how he nearly collaborated with John Lennon -- in an interview with David Fricke for the magazine's 1000th issue.

"That's an astonishing thing," Bono says of Lennon and Yoko Ono's nude cover. "One of the great images of the twentieth century." He adds that his favorite photographs tend to be of his heroes -- like our cover pics of Bob Dylan. His songs, says Bono, are "different kinds of songs. They're conversations."-

(I think this shows a demonstrable and characteristic level of modesty. I mean the whole early nineties thing with the Fly and Methuselah was deliberate and ironic. If only Rolling Stone understood black humour and irony, well, you can hope...)

The Gospel According to Bono

Irish rockers U2 are in Toronto this week on the second leg of their highly successful Vertigo tour, which alongside The Rolling Stone’s most recent outing and Green Day’s American Idiot tour has become one of the most successful tours of the year.

The band kicked off the first of four sold out concerts at Toronto’s Air Canada Centre last Monday by putting on a high intensity, nostalgic filled show that catered to new and old fans alike. Ripping through such classics as “Sunday Bloody Sunday‿, “Pride (In the Name of Love)‿, and “Where the Streets Have No Name‿, the band whipped the crowd of 18,000 into a frenzy incorporating the right balance of song and politics.

At the show Bono, whose relationship with Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin has been strained to say the least, called the Canadian leader “a friend‿ who has improved his record in the fight against global poverty. The two had a falling out last spring when the PM reneged on his promise to boost Canada’s foreign aid to the promised level of 0.7 percent of the gross domestic product.

Canada is currently giving between 0.2 and 0.3 per cent of its national income to foreign aid, whereas the U.S. gives 0.16 per cent, which is the smallest percentage of any G-8 country. Martin has agreed to double Canada’s foreign aid by 2008-09 but would still fall short of the 0.7 per cent target.

“We will ultimately reach the 0.7 percent, but we’re not going to do it ... until we can basically say to Canadians ‘Here’s how we’re doing it and here’s when we’re going to do it and there are no caveats and conditions’,‿ Martin said.

http://www.spin.com/community/forums/viewtopic.php?t=4318