Monday, February 08, 2010

Is Bono an egomaniac?

Posted by Mickey Z on 02/08 at 08:44 AM

  1. Bono yeah.

    I remember when Bob Geldof first kicked off a round of awareness on the famine in Ethiopia in the 80’s.

    It was a shock because for the first time, there were explicit pictures of the horror that goes with it all.

    But, it stopped short. We were all to give money for food and that was it. Like everyone’s favourite Vietnam movie, it never got into the wider political context or history. That would show the man-made roots of all these problems and that to help people we only had to take our proverbial boots off their heads.

    Then recently we had Bob and Bono doing their thing for third world debt and the G8.

    That sickened me. The proposals represented a tiny part of the overall debt and to this day were conditional to the point that they have not actually happened. The whole thing was propaganda.

    Bono was either tricked or part of it all - and I haven’t seen him organise the next concert in which he denounces the whole thing and exposes the truth about it, so am I to assume he was in on it? Or that he doesn’t care.

    The real story was that Paul Wolfowitz did a press conference for that proposal and said that the proposed debt relief was “like a gift from heaven” for Africans.

    And to cap off that outrageous racism he didn’t end up following through. of course, no journalist pulled him up on it ..or wondered why a war criminal had been appointed head of the World Bank.

    Here’s some controversy for ya, lyrics from Propagandi’s song “resisting Tyrannical Government”:

    Why don’t we all strap bombs to our chests and ride our bikes to the next G-7 picnic? It seems easier with every clock tick. But whose will would that represent?

    Why don’t we plant a mechanic virus and erase the memory of the machines that maintain this capitalist dynasty? And yes, I recognize the irony that the very system I oppose affords me the luxury of biting the hand that feeds. But that’s exactly why privileged f*cks like me should feel obliged to whine and kick and scream- until everyone has everything they need.

    Posted by Andy from Shanghai  on  02/08  at  11:15 AM

  2. Good stuff, Andy. It’s hard to believe that someone as smart as Bono doesn’t get it. His “charity work” is more like a role he plays and thus doesn’t require him to dig deeper for the ugly truths.

    Posted by Mickey Z. from Astoria  on  02/08  at  11:26 AM

  3. Thanks for this great post. I wonder if there is a way that the ideas of the Yes Men could be transposed into the world of stadium rock…
    Regards,
    Noah

    Posted by noah from santa barbara, CA  on  02/08  at  11:50 AM

  4. Noah: The closest I’ve seen to radical politics in arena rock is Rage Against the Machine.

    Posted by Mickey Z. from Astoria  on  02/08  at  12:24 PM

  5. Bravo, Excellent Beatles post, their music and lyrics are perpetually relevant in the world today and in times to come.

    Posted by Ed from NYC  on  02/08  at  02:36 PM

  6. The problem with dipshits of the Bono variety is that the awareness they raise is for themselves first and foremost. I dislike him and his music very much.

    Posted by Keir from here and there  on  02/08  at  05:14 PM

  7. I wish I didn’t like U2’s music. It would make it so much simpler to hate Bono.

    Posted by Mickey Z. from Astoria  on  02/08  at  05:21 PM

  8. How many members of U2 does it take to screw in a light bulb?

    One. Bono holds the bulb and the world revolves around him.

    Posted by michael from not scotland  on  02/08  at  06:18 PM

  9. U2 are playing Live aid and inbetween songs Bono starts solemnly clapping, pronouncing “every time i clap my hands, a child in Africa starves to death”.

    A wag in the audience shouts “stop f***ing clapping then!”.

    Posted by michael from not scotland  on  02/08  at  06:19 PM

  10. I’ve heard #9, Michael, but #8 is new to me. Love it.

    Do you know this one: Eric Clapton dies and goes to Heaven. Saint Peter takes him from room to room and shows him Jimi Henrix, Keith Moon, Jim Morrison, etc. Then they peek into a room and see Bono. Clapton says: “But Bono isn’t dead, is he?”

    St. Peter replies: “No, that’s God. He just like to pretend he’s Bono.”

    Posted by Mickey Z. from Astoria  on  02/08  at  06:45 PM

  11. Shock, horror:  BONO on the ‘front cover’ of your site, Mickey!  And that is indeed good stuff, Andy #1 - I can’t really stand egomaniacal rock stars, especially if they have not the slightest political awareness.
    Hello, Noah, Ed, keir and Michaael - from a quite warm Daylesford where at 11:00 am we are already sweltering under temperatures of 88F.
    Helen Thomas gets it right again:
    http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/02/08-10

    Posted by Helga Fremlin from Daylesford, Australia  on  02/08  at  07:00 PM

  12. Thanks, Helga. You gotta love that first line from Helen Thomas: “President Barack Obama does have a foreign policy. It’s called war.”

    Posted by Mickey Z. from Astoria  on  02/08  at  08:21 PM

  13. BonoMan:
    http://www.cracked.com/article_17239_if-bono-was-superhero.html

    Posted by Mickey Z. from Astoria  on  02/08  at  10:13 PM

  14. Hello Expendables. A brand new post is now up.

    Posted by Mickey Z. from Astoria  on  02/09  at  08:27 AM

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