Achtung Ya'll said:
We also have to live with the fact that sometimes the best you can do is stem the flow. Sometimes there isn't a happy ending.
No doubt that is the truth.
This is not directed at you Achtung Ya'll, but I do think that perhaps some of the detractors----not just here really, but just anti-Bono people in general----are perhaps blind to the fact that Bono does, in fact, have some pretty well thought out ideas on these issues.
Sometimes his soundbites and messages are delivered in a way that they sound almost trite, but in fact he and the people he works with are facing this issue in a very measured and rational manner. They do understand the brutal inhumanity of economics and that there are some "problems that cannot be solved."
To me it is just a central part of Bono's character that he believes that some things CAN be changed and SHOULD be changed. Is it slightly ludicrous that he thinks he can help to change it? Of course it is, but that combination of ego and idealism is what makes him Bono. He is NOT normal. And he IS making a difference.
As for the argument that we shouldn't push Western ideals on other cultures--give me a break. In Africa, the West has been imposing itself for hundreds of years, beginning with slavery and colonialism. We are the ones who screwed up the continent to begin with! We do have an obligation to help there.
I must say that it boggles my mind when people who are U2 fans argue against Bono's work with Africa. To me this means they are indifferent to human suffering. I just wonder what it is that attracts those people to a band whose entire existence is based on the opposite ideals.