Let me make the case today why Bono is the greatest frontman of all time. With the probable exception of Freddie Mercury, Bono has got to be the most well rounded, most compelling frontman of all time. He has got an undeniable voice; his name is Bono for fricks sakes. He's got the stage prescence, to keep the the crowd in the palm of his hands. And above all he is a frontman that can improv. He can make up vocal melody lines on the spot, he can create lyrics on the spot - much a kin to freestyle rapping. That's what puts him above the rest, to be able to, on-the-spot, make lines for himself on the fly is truly inspiring. How many bands do you know, that when the band gets together to jam, the vocalist sits in the corner doing nothing (maybe hitting a pot or something). No, Bono is someone that can sit there and move with the band, making his vocals an instruments instead of a seperate entitiy.
Now, I'm starting this "Hate Series" to go against the general perspective (or at least perceived general perspective). Today's subject is Bono. Of all the musician's in history, no one has been hated so much for trying to do a good thing. Bono the savior of Africa went off the deepend when he asked everyone to give away their money and not (apparently) giving enough of his own. I think these days people are less "nice". I would like to say it's because of America, but then again you really couldn't say that. Here's a little economic/social experiement. Why is welfare and other lower-income related benefits about 20% lower in America than in Europe? A bigger factor may be because America is multicultural. Who would have thought, eh? A lot of countries in Europe are culutrally related, they are mostly all of one nation, so donating money to "their own people" they are more inclinded to be generous. Whereas in America, giving money to immigrants (not of own relation) is less inclinded to be generous. It's because America has a set culture and has the ability to differentiate American heritage vs immigrant heritage (the reason why Canada does not fall in with America). So who's to say if the reverse was true (Europe was mostly immigrants) they wouldn't be less generous. So it's hard to find a justification for being less "nice". Regardless Bono has become the posterchild (how ironic) for Africa. And with that, for some reason a lot of hate.
The first issue that comes up a lot is the whole Belgium - tax-evasion thing. First off, to who ever calls this a crime, you are an idiot. This is not illegal, and hardly anything morally wrong with it. If taxes are too high in one country, you will move your business to greener pastuers. Simple as that. So you Americans who keep fighting in red-eyed frenzy for lower taxes, you have no say in calling this act by the U2 group wrong. Sorry, you have no right. Your need to lower corporate taxes is exactly what U2 is/has done. Why lower corporate taxes? To attact businesses to your country to operate, well that is exactly what U2 has done. I see nothing wrong with what they did. When it comes to business/money, efficiency is the name of the game. If you can make a bigger profit by relocating your business somewhere else than that is what you NEED to do. Don't be an idiot. Now with that, there is the argument, well Bono does call for governments to increase aid to third world countries. How do they do that? Through taxes. To that I have no argument against it. What I think that Bono does wrong is how he thinks Africa can be saved. No amount of free money will save Africa, what needs to change is the political system, the society/people, and the debt they owe. Quick fixes of aid money will help the children for a few days, but it wouldn't help them to grow-up. Something more than just money must be used. Even if debt owed is completely forgotten, where does that leave Africa? They would still need to borrow money to finance their society. No, I think Bono has the right intentions but his execution is wrong. But I do think that the Belgium thing and his proclaimation of more aid to Africa are seperate issues. The Belgium thing is a non-issue, when you pair it with proclaimation of more aid, we do run into a slight technicallity, but i think what Bono wants goes beyond a paycheque from a government, what I think he wants is equality.
The second issue, is the big, rich, rock star. Bono makes a crap load of money. A ridiculous amount of money with U2 and an even more ridiculous amount of money through his investment firm. So a lot of people argue if he asks us to give our money away, why can't he? Percentage-wise i'm sure he gives just as much (or more) as the average Joe, or at least what he asks us regular folk to give. But that's hardly an argumentment for the heaps of cash he sits on after donations. If there's one thing to be understood in all this, Bono doesn't expect us all to live in mud huts and hunt for food. He wants the 1st world to keep being the 1st world but at the same time he wants the 3rd world to become the 1st world also. That I say is quite impossible. It's either Rich and poor or poor and poor. But that is a different argument. I highly doubt that Bono sits on a lot of free cash. I would assume 90% of his revenues are in investments and other U2-related projects. If you expect any person in his position to give away his money in such a highly volitile industry is being unrelastic. It's like asking a football player to give away 50% of his money he has now because he makes a lot. You just never know if those taps will someday just shut off. And really Bono has no professional expereience, he's a frickin' lead singer of a rock band, hardly qualifications for a chemist or engineer. And the world will not be filled with love and peace if Bono is poor either. It won't help a damn.
With all that said, what we need is less hate for Bono because he is a damn good singer and musician. What we need from Bono is more advocacy for Africa and other third-world countries (yes I said it, we need more) but in the form of what he does best - MUSIC. Bono ain't no saint, but he doesn't ask any of us to be saints either. And I think he's given a lot more than any of use ever will, just in his loss of face is enough payment for the average human.
The reason why I will always defend Bono is because he's the only one brave enough to standup and say something. He tried to change the world. I think on a big picture front he did change the world. I think on a personal level he failed. But there's no way he could have succeeded. The backlash he received is unavoidable, short of being homeless. I remember hearing he once said, that he would love to not talk about this at all, but that what a sad state of the world is when you are talking advise on world issues from rock stars such as himself. No one else at the time was willing to stand up for the cause (no one in a position of power). I don't think he expected the amount of backlash. I know he expected some backlash. But he took that risk regardless just so that maybe the world would change regardless of his own public image and pride. That's why I will always defend Bono.
At the end of the day U2 is still probably the best band of the past 30 years. And Bono is still one of the greatest frontman of all time. Besides someone who, everytime claps, causes a poor African child to die, should not be angered.
