Found this blog which made some interesting points. Not sure how to take the info, but it raises some valid points.
DOES U2 WALK THE WALK???
Brad Kava, 11:41 PM in Brad Kava, Celebrities, Music
I got this letter raising some issues I don't have the answer to. My gut tells me that the band probably does walk the walk, but I have no information one way or the other...
The fact that Bono meets with business and political leaders to work on things such as debt relief tells me that he does more than most entertainers, just by raising the issues.
Still, this letter asks some questions, maybe someone there has some answers.
Dear Brad,
Ok, ok, it had a local angle, but come on, a story
about a woman who grabbed Bono's butt. I would like
to suggest the following points as the basis for a
substantive story about U2. Not that I think that an
entertainment reporter is going to write one...
1. How does Bono justify forcing Americans to send
U.S. tax dollars to Africa while he and U2 do not pay
income tax in Ireland? He and U2 continue to take
advantage of a 1969 tax break that was initiated to
help struggling artists.
“Income earned by artists, writers, composers and
sculptors from the sale of their works is exempt from
tax in Ireland”
Source:
Members of U2 in fact threaten to leave Ireland when
the exchequer tries to terminate their tax exempt
status. How fair is it to poor Americans to have to
send aid Africa when the hundreds of millions of euros
Bono and his bandmates earn are totally tax free?
In December 2005 the exchequer is expected to announce
whether or not this tax break will be revised.
2. During part of the U2’s show a “Declaration of
Human Rights” is read, yet U2 profit from doing
business with Wal-Mart. Are Bono and U2 prepared to
remove their products from Wal-Mart until such time as
Amnesty International can verify that all suppliers of
Wal-Mart products are in full compliance with human
rights standards? How much do U2 earn via selling
their music at Wal-Mart (including the new music
download store)?
3. As a child Bono “ate airline food every day for
breakfast, lunch and dinner, “ because his brother
worked for Aer Lingus. Would Bono have defended Peter
Buck if Buck had been charged with assaulting Bono’s
brother on that British Airways flight? And how do
public drunkenness and abusing airline workers jive
with the human rights and social justice values that
both U2 and REM have carefully cultivated to style
their public images?
Sources: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1912288.stm
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/gossip/story/274840p-235340c.html
4. Bono is fond of telling pharmaceutical companies
that they have a moral obligation to give “free” drugs
to Africa, yet we do not see U2 permanently dedicating
a portion of their copyright income to Africa. As
intellectual property rights owners, shouldn’t U2 live
up to the same standards they wish to impose upon
fellow rights owners?
5. Last week Bono and an Apple executive bought a
$300 million gaming company. If Bono has that kind of
money for games, why is he compelling the American
public to buy food for Africans? If he considers
saving African lives his personal crusade, shouldn’t
he be feeding them?
Source:
http://biz.yahoo.com/bizj/051103/1186221.html?.v=3
My soapbox: It seems to me that U2 shows have become
something akin to the old-time gospel hour, with
brother Bono at the pulpit preaching to the faithful
about the weak and the poor, the sick and the dying,
while he and his brethren line their pockets with
hundreds of millions of tax free euros and quietly
stick someone else, namely the American tax payer,
with the bill for the ministry’s ”good” work. When
one starts to analyze the substance of this act, it
seems more like televangleism for MTV. As a member of
the public now saddled with that $25 billion bill, I
wish that Bono’s church was given more thorough
examination by the press. Thank you kindly for your
time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth Pendleton
Los Angeles, CA
DOES U2 WALK THE WALK???
Brad Kava, 11:41 PM in Brad Kava, Celebrities, Music
I got this letter raising some issues I don't have the answer to. My gut tells me that the band probably does walk the walk, but I have no information one way or the other...
The fact that Bono meets with business and political leaders to work on things such as debt relief tells me that he does more than most entertainers, just by raising the issues.
Still, this letter asks some questions, maybe someone there has some answers.
Dear Brad,
Ok, ok, it had a local angle, but come on, a story
about a woman who grabbed Bono's butt. I would like
to suggest the following points as the basis for a
substantive story about U2. Not that I think that an
entertainment reporter is going to write one...
1. How does Bono justify forcing Americans to send
U.S. tax dollars to Africa while he and U2 do not pay
income tax in Ireland? He and U2 continue to take
advantage of a 1969 tax break that was initiated to
help struggling artists.
“Income earned by artists, writers, composers and
sculptors from the sale of their works is exempt from
tax in Ireland”
Source:
Members of U2 in fact threaten to leave Ireland when
the exchequer tries to terminate their tax exempt
status. How fair is it to poor Americans to have to
send aid Africa when the hundreds of millions of euros
Bono and his bandmates earn are totally tax free?
In December 2005 the exchequer is expected to announce
whether or not this tax break will be revised.
2. During part of the U2’s show a “Declaration of
Human Rights” is read, yet U2 profit from doing
business with Wal-Mart. Are Bono and U2 prepared to
remove their products from Wal-Mart until such time as
Amnesty International can verify that all suppliers of
Wal-Mart products are in full compliance with human
rights standards? How much do U2 earn via selling
their music at Wal-Mart (including the new music
download store)?
3. As a child Bono “ate airline food every day for
breakfast, lunch and dinner, “ because his brother
worked for Aer Lingus. Would Bono have defended Peter
Buck if Buck had been charged with assaulting Bono’s
brother on that British Airways flight? And how do
public drunkenness and abusing airline workers jive
with the human rights and social justice values that
both U2 and REM have carefully cultivated to style
their public images?
Sources: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1912288.stm
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/gossip/story/274840p-235340c.html
4. Bono is fond of telling pharmaceutical companies
that they have a moral obligation to give “free” drugs
to Africa, yet we do not see U2 permanently dedicating
a portion of their copyright income to Africa. As
intellectual property rights owners, shouldn’t U2 live
up to the same standards they wish to impose upon
fellow rights owners?
5. Last week Bono and an Apple executive bought a
$300 million gaming company. If Bono has that kind of
money for games, why is he compelling the American
public to buy food for Africans? If he considers
saving African lives his personal crusade, shouldn’t
he be feeding them?
Source:
http://biz.yahoo.com/bizj/051103/1186221.html?.v=3
My soapbox: It seems to me that U2 shows have become
something akin to the old-time gospel hour, with
brother Bono at the pulpit preaching to the faithful
about the weak and the poor, the sick and the dying,
while he and his brethren line their pockets with
hundreds of millions of tax free euros and quietly
stick someone else, namely the American tax payer,
with the bill for the ministry’s ”good” work. When
one starts to analyze the substance of this act, it
seems more like televangleism for MTV. As a member of
the public now saddled with that $25 billion bill, I
wish that Bono’s church was given more thorough
examination by the press. Thank you kindly for your
time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth Pendleton
Los Angeles, CA