truecoloursfly
The Fly
Did you guys listen to any of Bono's contributions at the World Economic Forum? I know this is somewhat belated (and the Superbowl was a sexier discussion
), but the clips from the WEF have lingered in my mind, continuing to move me.
Here's the C-span link to the Opening Plenary Discussion, "For Hope" -- http://video.c-span.org:8080/ramgen/odrive/wef013102_opening.rm
If I knew how to excerpt it, I would, but the panel discussion starts about 42:00 minutes into the clip. Charlie Rose, moderator, made me smile with this introduction of the panel:
C-span's caption calls him simply "Composer & singer." I'm sure there were people in the audience, despite Charlie's introduction, going, "Emm...who?" Sure, I checked it out just to see Bono talk, you know, fast-forward to the "good bits." But the discussion itself is exciting for those of us who feel for our global brothers and sisters, and who fear for them.
Economics frankly baffles me -- frustrates me, scares me, angers me, when it behaves like a big number-crunching machine that puts communities in the service of the System, rather than the system working for the community as it's meant to be.
Part of my heart is with the protesters outside the Forum, railing less against "globalization" than against the dehumanization it often entails. Okay, off my soapbox -- the cool part is, the panel ackowledged those protesters, respectfully! (Bono did it first.) That is, they acknowledged a dialogue.
This brainstorm of movers and shakers, post-9/11, were discussing the moral implications and obligations of economic decision-making. (Let me stop and repeat that to myself.) And Bono, despite Charlie blindsiding him with a what-is-the-meaning-of-life sort of question right off the top, comports himself with an earthy and easy grace, drawing both laughs and applause at various points. We've been reading the "bytes" of his Drop the Debt campaign, and much of what he says here is not new to us. But what's illuminating is how naturally he fits it into this larger discussion, what a compelling contribution he makes!
I love especially when he jumps in -- he's seated next to Bishop Tutu, and seizes an opportunity to acknowledge South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Tribunal (itself one of the defining moments in my own spiritual and community life) as an example of how forgiveness and grace can work in the political sphere. Elie Wiesel speaks movingly about his generation, the Holocaust generation, and Bono follows him respectfully with observations about the modern holocaust, the people we "allow" to die.
The clip I've linked here actually cuts Bono off mid-sentence
after 45 minutes of coverage. But I found it all tremendously inspiring, not nearly so dry as I feared. I urge you to listen to it if you think the world is too busy to notice God, or too busy to notice His children.
peace all,
Deb D
------------------
I wanna walk with you on an unapproved road
the greatest frontman in the world - by truecoloursfly: http://www.atu2.com/news/article.src?ID=1575
Here's the C-span link to the Opening Plenary Discussion, "For Hope" -- http://video.c-span.org:8080/ramgen/odrive/wef013102_opening.rm
If I knew how to excerpt it, I would, but the panel discussion starts about 42:00 minutes into the clip. Charlie Rose, moderator, made me smile with this introduction of the panel:
"I am pleased to introduce to you the President of the Philippines, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo; Abdullah Abdullah, the Foreign Minister of Afghanistan; Elie Wiesel, the noted Nobel Prize-winner and author; Bono, need I say more? The Archbishop Emeritus of South Africa, Bishop Tutu; and Queen Rania of Jordan."
C-span's caption calls him simply "Composer & singer." I'm sure there were people in the audience, despite Charlie's introduction, going, "Emm...who?" Sure, I checked it out just to see Bono talk, you know, fast-forward to the "good bits." But the discussion itself is exciting for those of us who feel for our global brothers and sisters, and who fear for them.
Economics frankly baffles me -- frustrates me, scares me, angers me, when it behaves like a big number-crunching machine that puts communities in the service of the System, rather than the system working for the community as it's meant to be.
Part of my heart is with the protesters outside the Forum, railing less against "globalization" than against the dehumanization it often entails. Okay, off my soapbox -- the cool part is, the panel ackowledged those protesters, respectfully! (Bono did it first.) That is, they acknowledged a dialogue.
This brainstorm of movers and shakers, post-9/11, were discussing the moral implications and obligations of economic decision-making. (Let me stop and repeat that to myself.) And Bono, despite Charlie blindsiding him with a what-is-the-meaning-of-life sort of question right off the top, comports himself with an earthy and easy grace, drawing both laughs and applause at various points. We've been reading the "bytes" of his Drop the Debt campaign, and much of what he says here is not new to us. But what's illuminating is how naturally he fits it into this larger discussion, what a compelling contribution he makes!
I love especially when he jumps in -- he's seated next to Bishop Tutu, and seizes an opportunity to acknowledge South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Tribunal (itself one of the defining moments in my own spiritual and community life) as an example of how forgiveness and grace can work in the political sphere. Elie Wiesel speaks movingly about his generation, the Holocaust generation, and Bono follows him respectfully with observations about the modern holocaust, the people we "allow" to die.
The clip I've linked here actually cuts Bono off mid-sentence
peace all,
Deb D
------------------
I wanna walk with you on an unapproved road
the greatest frontman in the world - by truecoloursfly: http://www.atu2.com/news/article.src?ID=1575