Bono favored to win the Nobel Peace Prize

[Earnie Shavers]

Put it this way.... I get a bit lost on all of the different facets and sub-campaigns of this overall thing, but if there is a central group behind all of it, then they are more deserving than Bono alone. A few years ago the Landmine Campaign won the Peace Prize. It's a bad example because Bono is so much more than Princess Diana was, as she was effectively a celebrity photo op and head cheerleader for raising awareness and support, he does a lot more, but it's the same rough idea. I guess it's like Bono receiving an award individually for putting on a U2 concert.... I dunno... bad examples I know...

I think they as a group are not quite there yet, and Bono as an individual isn't quite worthy of being on that list. And I mean that with the most incredible respect for he is doing.

 

[lardence]

And no, Bono doesn't have to completely solve third world poverty to be worthy of somthing like this - but working full time on the issue would be a step in the right direction.

Ah my God, whatever you do, don't mention that to him or else we'll never get a new album

 

[timothius]

I'm not even saying he ought to win the thing. I read what some of the others had done and there would be no complaints from me if someone else beat Bono to it. However if he did win I similarly think there's no real cause for complaint. It's bloody difficult to eradicate world poverty in a matter of mere years, but what Bono HAS done is raise awareness of the situation. A lot of people who normally maybe wouldn't know, do know thanks to his speeches and the platform he uses, as a celebrity, to get the message out there. It's not like he's advocating drink and drugs. He's giving a positive message that things can be changed. He is aware of his status and is using it for good. Whether he wins or not, that's got to be a good thing, surely?

Don't get me wrong. What Bono says/does isn't bad. I agree with his whole One philosophy in general. But raising awareness isn't really going to cut the mustard when it comes solving third world poverty & debt. It's a step, a much smaller step than I think most people think it is. Solving thrid world poverty is going to be solved by governments maving some very hard decisions en mass - and sticking by them, not by me holding 5 mobile phones in the air humming the bridge of One. Lobbying is where Bono will have his most success, and this year he has certinally taken a "year off" shall we say.

If Bono really wants to solve this issue its a case of more walk & less talk.

 

[timothius]

Ah my God, whatever you do, don't mention that to him or else we'll never get a new album

I know.

I've already lost one of my favourite bands to the lead singer going into full-time politics. I don't think I can stomach another.

 

[U2Kitten]

I know.

I've already lost one of my favourite bands to the lead singer going into full-time politics. I don't think I can stomach another.

Who?

And if Bono wants to stop world poverty, don't forget me!

 

[timothius]

Who?

Midnight Oil.

 

[Earnie Shavers]

I seriously think that the 2 years following the end of this tour will be 100% one way, or 100% the other. If it's 100% 'the other' it will be interesting to see what becomes of the band, both as a unit and creatively. Me thinks, Peace Prize or not, U2's greatest challenge is just around the corner.

 

[lardence]

And on that apocalypic note... (It was a good one!)

I am certainly NOT saying Bono is going to succeed by doing what he's been doing. A lot of the stuff he and Bob Geldof say doesn't make me think they realise the scale of the task facing anyone trying to help the poverty issue. For example after the G8 (during which George Bush falling off his bike was VERY amusing) Bono was interviewed on the news here, and he was talking as if everything had been achieved by the G8. It obviously hadn't and even though the interviewer pushed him on this, he managed still to make it sound a totally positive outcome. But until trade issues are sorted, nothing really concrete will be achieved for long term good.

 

[timothius]

I seriously think that the 2 years following the end of this tour will be 100% one way, or 100% the other. If it's 100% 'the other' it will be interesting to see what becomes of the band, both as a unit and creatively. Me thinks, Peace Prize or not, U2's greatest challenge is just around the corner.

What would push Bono into a position where he would have to chose either or? I recall an interview with the probing genius that is Andrew G on TV here where Edge talked about the band getting shitty as Bono was running his errands around the globe while they recorded - but all was well when he returned with 2 notebooks full of lyrics. Makes you wonder how really involved Bono needs to be to churn out an album.

I get the distinct impression that Edge is holding the ship together now (more than ever) as Bono plays as much role is as needed to keep the entity going. (Although I fully acknowledge his vocal work on the tour - top drawer)

I just don't see what angle would cause the band to get to a place where they would need to chose one way or the other.

 

[lardence]

What would push Bono into a position where he would have to chose either or? I recall an interview with the probing genius that is Andrew G on TV here where Edge talked about the band getting shitty as Bono was running his errands around the globe while they recorded - but all was well when he returned with 2 notebooks full of lyrics. Makes you wonder how really involved Bono needs to be to churn out an album.

Along those lines, although not recent, reading the Bill Flanagan book from AB-era gives the strong impression that Edge, Larry and Adam have their time together without Bono anyway, to get the actual music together and give them a break from him. They probably always do that, so his being away for longish periods shouldn't really affect them hugely. I mean they're on tour now and got the album out last year, in amongst everything else going on, political and personal. Not too bad I don't think.

I don't think a choice will have to be made as long as Bono comes back with lyrics and his commitment.

 

[MumblingBono]

Can someone point out what Geldof does to deserve a "joint" nomination with Bono? I don't see him doing any legwork, at all, and it's Bono spending all his free time lobbying, beating real results out of Congress, spearheading the ONE campaign.

Geldof: He has organized 2 concerts over a span of 2 decades - anything else I don't know about?

I think adding his name in there hampers the credibility of a Bono nomination.

 

[lardence]

Bono was the driving force behind Live8, as well. He'd been suggesting it to Bob for a long time before it happened.

 

[timothius]

Along those lines, although not recent, reading the Bill Flanagan book from AB-era gives the strong impression that Edge, Larry and Adam have their time together without Bono anyway, to get the actual music together and give them a break from him. They probably always do that, so his being away for longish periods shouldn't really affect them hugely. I mean they're on tour now and got the album out last year, in amongst everything else going on, political and personal. Not too bad I don't think.

I don't think a choice will have to be made as long as Bono comes back with lyrics and his commitment.

For sure, I think they will continue along those lines, I don't see any change in the environment that would cause them to deviate from that "formula".

On the AB era, I always thought Bono was very involved in project, as much as all other band members at least - although I've always wondered why on the Salome tapes the band has 60% of the album together while Bono is just muttering Salome again and again and again. Now I know.

 

[lardence]

For sure, I think they will continue along those lines, I don't see any change in the environment that would cause them to deviate from that "formula".

On the AB era, I always thought Bono was very involved in project, as much as all other band members at least - although I've always wondered why on the Salome tapes the band has 60% of the album together while Bono is just muttering Salome again and again and again. Now I know.

Oh yeah he was involved, I just meant it seemed that once they'd got sorted the three would spend time gelling as a unit without Bono and stuff.

 

[Teta040]

The naming of an environmentalist last year was NOT controversial......it was only controversial to George W Bush, whose own environmental "policies" were brought into question. It wasn't received very well by the "media' here. She got one day worth of headlines and then virtually diappeared from the news. Also, it couldn;t help but hurt that she was a black African. Ha ha.

And she didn't just win for "planting trees." Her environmenta; campaign ran her afoul of the coutry's gov't, who threw her into prison and tortured her. The intent was to stop a gov;t campaign of clearing the land..and she used the argument of using natural rescources to manufacture weapons etc as an argument. Which, is of course, struictly true. (Evenif they also import weapaons from other Western Powers eager to dump them.)

I think that expanding the defination tWILL paly a more importnat role, as the world;s natural rescources shrink. Increasingly, conflicts ARE going to be fought over not just oil but water as well. And the leaders of these countries are going to have to come up with some pretty good excuses to get people to fight.

As to calling Africa "trendy"..that is an insult. If the AIDS epidemic is "trendy", well, hell, yeah, you'd damned better well believe it is. I HOPE it is is "trendy", in that it won't be around forever. And this grouchy writer may well want to remember that Bono would be rewarded for 20 yrs (so far) of bringingh attention to various issues. It isn't some "designer" award. He's devoted years of his life (if you were to count up all the days he has spent in Africas and the capitals of the world) in direct service to his "issues."

 

[Liesje]

If Bono gets it, I think Jeff Sachs deserves to be the co-winner. He's the brains behind the operation, IMO.

 

[LyricalDrug]

*Compares Bono to Mandela*

Really? No Really?

Bono is at best a half time rock star, half time politician fighting against poverty. Comparing him to (and placing him above) the many hundereds of people who work full time for equally noble acts - is quiet frankly demeaning.

No doubt he is a good man, but there are tens of thousands of other people who have done more tangibly to better the life of people on this planet. A large reason for why he is nominated is his public profile - somthing which I wouldn't have thought that played into this type of award.

I sincerely ask you to point out the differences between what Bono has done for the third world in the past 12 months and what Chris Martin has done for the third world in the past 12 months. Seriously.

I don't think you really understand the history of the Nobel Peace Prize. It's not necessarily given to full-time peace activists. You're mischaracterizing the selection criteria completely.

 

[Harry Vest]

I agree with the post above that it would not be a good thing for the band. The Nobel Peace Prize, although a worthy prize indeed, is still a very political entity. Bono's prize (s) are unseen to most of us. I must say I'm hoping he DOESN'T get it. Too much publicity can destroy a good thing.

 

[withashout]

The problem is there hasn't been that much success. A lot of effort of Bono's part (and scores of others who will remain anonymous while he gets all the accolades) still has yet to pay off. The government's he has lobbied for aid, trade and AIDS relief have put so many conditionalities and timetables on everything it's not really clear what has been achieved, except that they threw a really big rock concert and got the issue out a little wider into the mainstream than before. So even if he was to win the Prize, I'm not sure now is the right time. Soemthing major has to happen before he should be recognized (not because of his lack of efforts, but because of the complexities of the issue at hand).

Also, the fact that Bono & Geldof aren't from the communities (meaning Africa) they supposedly represent I think is a factor against them receiving the Prize. It could be argued that they are not as altruitstic as they appear.

 

[Carek1230]

What does the Nobel Peace prize have to do with the band anyway? It would be an honor to be won by Bono not by U2. Sheesh just wait till the end of the week to see what the outcome is.

 

[Utoo]

It's a funny thing. Someone mentioned how Bono's not really much more than a rock star & that they'd pretty much be awarding his celebrity....or that he shouldn't get it because there hasn't been 100% success. I partly think he should get it because of and despite those reasons. Bono has craftily used his celebrity so much better than any other star. Other celebs work for various causes, but no one is as successful at bringing his/her cause to the center of the international spotlight the same way Bono has done. Who else could have made Third World debt relief the political topic of 2005? And don't say it's not---for all the terrorism crap various parties are still trying to portray as the only issue in the world, debt relief took the world by storm this year. Without Bono, that surely wouldn't have happened. Besides the fact that a good chunk of why it was even discussed at the G8 Summit is due to his efforts in meeting with dozens of high-end politicians, even if it was discussed at the G8 Summit but lacked the profile of Bono it wouldn't have become such a popular cause--no one would have paid attention to the G8 at all.

My advice to anyone who thinks that Bono is a mere rock star meddling in others' affairs is to read the Bono: In Conversation... book. You will be amazed that the breadth of information, philosophy, knowledge and intellecutal thought in this mere rock star.

 

[ShellBeThere]

Yeah, Utoo; well said!
He really did a huge job of getting the issue into the spotlight...while part of me hopes he doesn't get it this year, not so much because 'things didn't get fully done' but instead because the big ol' concert will make it seem like all he did was put on a show, I can see also why it's particularly appropriate time for him to. Huge accomplishments, to get the momentum going as he did.
And I honestly think that his specific celebrity feeds into the brilliance and the deservingness...he's not audrey hepburn ya know. He takes all sorts of shit for being a *rock star*, who like so many have said should be climbing on the barricades and spraying graffiti and badmouthing the hypocritical and so on, doing this work. he could be talking about a revolution in a much 'cooler' way than shaking hands with george bush...he doesn't *need* that constituency at all! But he's out there, making peace with those folks, to get things done. He doesn't need to do any of it, and he certainly could have done the more typical 'celebrity' fundraising stint where its more about the parties and perhaps the guilt-release valve. But he's thinking and scheming and lobbying and organizing, and that's his side job (thank god he didn't give up the rock star gig...). I don't get the sense that he's thinking lobbying jesse helms or meeting with finance ministers is a glam alternative lifestyle, and I don't get the sense that he's really got some deep desire for the nobel peace prize per se, despite the playing-jesus rhetoric.
It's all a silly contest really...the idea, speaking of jesus, that people actually allegedly *lobby* to be recognized with trophies for all that they've done for the planet...and I'm guessing that almost all the time the winner has been the public face of a larger broader effort.
I personally think he deserves it just for getting an issues campaign to include pat robertson and george clooney in the same place and to have pat robertson for instance say publicly that he doesn't oppose the distribution of condoms(at least in asia and africa) to stop the spread of aids. That surely is a step in the direction of peace it seems to me...and it's no small feat to pull off maintaining a clear sense of optimism in the context of adopting the realpolitik stance he's taken to get things done. In that sense it probably helps bigtime that he's got a whole other life besides his activism, but so do many others who tend to be up for the prize, they're just less visible and sexy.


I'm thinking it'll be the indonesia peace broker guy, or the atomic-bomb dismantler congressmen, but it sure would be interesting anyway if Bono got it!

I just keep hearing John Lennon singing 'give peace a chance'! rock stars getting peace prizes...wow....cool...

cheers all!

 

[Bono's shades]

The problem is there hasn't been that much success. A lot of effort of Bono's part (and scores of others who will remain anonymous while he gets all the accolades) still has yet to pay off. The government's he has lobbied for aid, trade and AIDS relief have put so many conditionalities and timetables on everything it's not really clear what has been achieved, except that they threw a really big rock concert and got the issue out a little wider into the mainstream than before. So even if he was to win the Prize, I'm not sure now is the right time. Soemthing major has to happen before he should be recognized (not because of his lack of efforts, but because of the complexities of the issue at hand).

Also, the fact that Bono & Geldof aren't from the communities (meaning Africa) they supposedly represent I think is a factor against them receiving the Prize. It could be argued that they are not as altruitstic as they appear.

I agree with your post, except I'm not sure why either Bono or Geldolf would be perceived as being not as altrustic as they appear just because they aren't from Africa. That being said, I could understand why the committee would rather award someone who actually is from Africa. After all, I'm sure there are a lot of people there working very hard trying to improve conditions in their homeland who don't get the international recognition Bono and Geldof do.

 

[LyricalDrug]

The whole thing almost begs the question: IF Bono gets the award (and that's a huge if; I don't think he'll actually end up winning FWIW), then is it fair to say that he's--SOMEHOW--actually a better peace activist than he is a rock star?

I mean, would the award legitimize his status as an activist so much that he could be considered an activist first, and a rock star second? I know everyone says "oh how ridiculous, Bono the rock star winning a Nobel Prize," but maybe it's really the other way around, now: "oh how ridiculous, a Nobel Peace Prize winner trying to be a rock star..."

Makes my head spin even thinking about it...

 

[Liesje]

The whole thing almost begs the question: IF Bono gets the award (and that's a huge if; I don't think he'll actually end up winning FWIW), then is it fair to say that he's--SOMEHOW--actually a better peace activist than he is a rock star?

I mean, would the award legitimize his status as an activist so much that he could be considered an activist first, and a rock star second? I know everyone says "oh how ridiculous, Bono the rock star winning a Nobel Prize," but maybe it's really the other way around, now: "oh how ridiculous, a Nobel Peace Prize winner trying to be a rock star..."

Makes my head spin even thinking about it...

What does the peace prize have to do with how good a rock star he is? He has PLENTY of other "peace prizes" and humanitarian awards already.....I guess I'm not seeing the correlation.....

 

[martha]

I volunteer to console the poor boy should he be shunned by the Nobel Selection Committee.


*starts the tea brewing just in case*

 

[LyricalDrug]

What does the peace prize have to do with how good a rock star he is? He has PLENTY of other "peace prizes" and humanitarian awards already.....I guess I'm not seeing the correlation.....

That's not what I'm saying, though. I'm talking about evaluating Bono's talent level/abilities as a rock star, compared to his talent level/abilities as a political activist.

All along, I think most U2 fans have assumed that Bono is a rock star first, political activist second. And I think even Bono has said as much, too.

But damn, if he actually were to win the Nobel, you'd almost have to consider his talent as an activist equal to his talent as a singer. He'll have reached the pinnacles of both careers: as a rock singer, he fronts the biggest band in the world, and is in the Rock Hall of Fame, etc., and as a peace activist, he'd have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

I think this would be spectacularly historic. Nothing like this would have ever happened in rock n' roll before. Or more broadly, in the world of contemporary art, for that matter. I should stop babbling before I jinx him...

 

[LyricalDrug]

btw does anyone know what time the announcement is on Friday?

 

[sue4u2]

Announced today:
The Nobel Prize in Physics 2005 is awarded with one half to Roy J. Glauber and with one half jointly to John L. Hall and Theodor W. Hänsch. »

The Nobel Peace Prize
Friday, October 7
11:00 a.m.

Nobel Peace Prize Award Ceremony and Nobel Lectures
In December, the prize winners are invited to Oslo where they take part in the festivities and receive their medal, personal diploma, and a monetary award. In return, they give a lecture.


Information form this website: http://nobelprize.org/nobelprize_facts.html

 

[Carek1230]