Bono and Live Aid

buffryan45 · 08-19-2009, 10:23 PM

no, i just meant that in general.

Guybrush · 08-20-2009, 12:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lateralus

^ I disagree to an extent. The thing that bugs me about Bono is the fact that he wants, or seems to want credit for his good deeds. He's really arrogant and goes out of his way to say, "Look at me, look how much good stuff I'm doing for the world, aren't I great?!"

No he doesn't. That's you putting those words in ol' Bono's mouth. I think he's been quite consistent with his do-good attitude from the start which is perhaps an achievement when you think of everything he and the band has been through from the start. I rate Bono's influence on the world as much more positive than many, many other famous people out there and that's gotta be worth something.

In my opinion the only bad thing with U2 is perhaps their music if you don't like it and the fact that they've been too popular for their own good. What comes up must come down and nowadays they've become rather uncool. That doesn't matter to me, but it's a trend that's easy to spot with others.

Astronomer · 08-20-2009, 12:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by toretorden

No he doesn't. That's you putting those words in ol' Bono's mouth. I think he's been quite consistent with his do-good attitude from the start which is perhaps an achievement when you think of everything he and the band has been through from the start. I rate Bono's influence on the world as much more positive than many, many other famous people out there and that's gotta be worth something.

In my opinion the only bad thing with U2 is perhaps their music if you don't like it and the fact that they've been too popular for their own good. What comes up must come down and nowadays they've become rather uncool. That doesn't matter to me, but it's a trend that's easy to spot with others.

It's just a vibe I get from him, and a transformation I've seen within him over the years. If you watch interviews from early U2 days, he talks about his disgust with things like materialism and capitalism and whatnot, stating that people don't need big houses and fancy cars when other people in the world are starving. Yet now, decades later, he has a lavish property portfolio and heaps of luxury cars. I doubt he needs all those properties and fancy cars. It just seems really hypocritical of him to lead a lifestyle like this when in his early days it was something he detested.

Also, his push for the AIDS campaign where certain companies made designer clothes where a SLICE of the profit went to funding AIDS treatment in underdeveloped countries actually consisted of sweatshop workers making the clothes in GAP's factory in Lesotho where they were paid slave labour rates - another thing Bono apparently doesn't believe in yet let it happen in his campaign. The U2 limited edition iPod was also made in a Chinese sweatshop.

I'm not saying that he hasn't done any positive acts in the world because he has, he has done a lot. But when it comes down to it he honestly comes across as a publicity whore rather than a social change agent. I just find him really hypocritical and arrogant, and as the years go by he seems to be gradually slipping into the world of money, finance and capitalism: a world he once detested.

scottsy · 08-20-2009, 12:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lateralus

It's just a vibe I get from him, and a transformation I've seen within him over the years. If you watch interviews from early U2 days, he talks about his disgust with things like materialism and capitalism and whatnot, stating that people don't need big houses and fancy cars when other people in the world are starving. Yet now, decades later, he has a lavish property portfolio and heaps of luxury cars. I doubt he needs all those properties and fancy cars. It just seems really hypocritical of him to lead a lifestyle like this when in his early days it was something he detested.

Also, his push for the AIDS campaign where certain companies made designer clothes where a SLICE of the profit went to funding AIDS treatment in underdeveloped countries actually consisted of sweatshop workers making the clothes in GAP's factory in Lesotho where they were paid slave labour rates - another thing Bono apparently doesn't believe in yet let it happen in his campaign. The U2 limited edition iPod was also made in a Chinese sweatshop.

I'm not saying that he hasn't done any positive acts in the world because he has, he has done a lot. But when it comes down to it he honestly comes across as a publicity whore rather than a social change agent. I just find him really hypocritical and arrogant, and as the years go by he seems to be gradually slipping into the world of money, finance and capitalism: a world he once detested.

Well, I guess like all of us, as we get older, we change... sometimes not for the better... I used to loathe and detest things when I was in my twenties that I now am completely comfortable with... I swore I would never marry a person who already had kids... I married a person who had one of the greatest stepsons a guy could ask for... I never even dreamed of living in the United States, and I actually loathed it for a while... but now i am living here and I love it. It's a great place.

I never thought I'd sound anything like my parents but I am reminded of it every day and I now I actually admire them a whole lot more for putting up with me...

And I used to hate capitalism, but now I would be quite happy to have a boatload of cash and to spend it freely...

:-)

If I were Bono, I'd take the house and the cars, too... and keep up with the activism.... the world is too full of contrasts and contradictions to fix everything, but you gotta try. And unless you are Christ, Buddha, The Dalai Llama or whatever, you can't live in a vacuum...

Astronomer · 08-20-2009, 06:14 PM

Growing up is different to selling out.

Guybrush · 08-20-2009, 11:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lateralus

Growing up is different to selling out.

Honestly, if you check out the humanitarian work section on his wiki article, you'll see he's done a ****load. I'd paste it here, but it would be a wall of text probably greater than the size limit of a single post. That doesn't look like a do-gooder selling out to me.

scottsy · 08-22-2009, 09:43 PM

I also fail to see how Bono can change the world of big business without working WITH it in some way... fat cats don't listen to hippies, so in that regard, I think Bono's notion of companies giving a slice of their profits is at least a step in the right direction.... Big Business needs to integrate giving and social responsibility into its culture...

Realistically you cannot wipe out all capitalism at thw stage its at in our world... but if you could give it a sense of humanitarian responsibility...

There wilways be greedy bastards and faults with a system of economics... but if you can just get it to do something, even if you are a loudmouth hypocritical arrogant rockstar from a band auditioning to be the biggest band in the world again...

Lu_Galasso · 10-19-2009, 10:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lateralus

^ I disagree to an extent. The thing that bugs me about Bono is the fact that he wants, or seems to want credit for his good deeds. He's really arrogant and goes out of his way to say, "Look at me, look how much good stuff I'm doing for the world, aren't I great?!" There are so many more musicians/ famous people who have done a great deal for the underprivileged but they don't make a huge thing out of it; they do it because they generally care. Bono is also one of the biggest hyporcites in the media I have ever come across. One example I can think of is the fact that he moved U2's publishing company from Ireland to the Netherlands to avoid tax, shortly after claiming that Irish taxes should be increased so that more of it could be donated to charity. If he does generally care about what he says he cares about then he certainly isn't portraying that attitude.

I couldn't agree more. There are plenty of fantastic musicians out there (who haven't been reusing the same guitar licks over and over for thirty years to boot) who have done tons for charity, without making a big deal out of rubbing shoulders with Kofi Annan. One of these days this guy is going to win a Nobel Prize or something, and then the moon will be dragged into the earth by the gravitational force of his ego.

08-20-2009, 06:14 PM	#25 (permalink)
Astronomer we are stardust Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Australia Posts: 2,894	Growing up is different to selling out. __________________

08-22-2009, 09:43 PM	#27 (permalink)
scottsy Untalented Drummer Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Sussex, Wisconsin Posts: 2,900	I also fail to see how Bono can change the world of big business without working WITH it in some way... fat cats don't listen to hippies, so in that regard, I think Bono's notion of companies giving a slice of their profits is at least a step in the right direction.... Big Business needs to integrate giving and social responsibility into its culture... Realistically you cannot wipe out all capitalism at thw stage its at in our world... but if you could give it a sense of humanitarian responsibility... There wilways be greedy bastards and faults with a system of economics... but if you can just get it to do something, even if you are a loudmouth hypocritical arrogant rockstar from a band auditioning to be the biggest band in the world again... __________________ "If you're like me, then it's possible you're a clone generated from my stolen DNA. I suggest you turn yourself in for destruction immediately" - Shaun Micallef.

08-19-2009, 10:23 PM	#21 (permalink)
buffryan45 Groupie Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 10	no, i just meant that in general.