Interesting points about U2

[mdmack]

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

 

[tommycharles]

McGuiness, announcing the Dublin Lovetown shows "I will simply restate U2's long-held policy of never discussing, with the media or other third parties, any charitable or philanthropic contributions we make..."

 

[Lemonfix]

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?

This one I don't get. What does the conduct of a member of REM have to do with U2? Did Bono defend Peter Buck? And even if he did, the second question is still irrelevant as it pretains to Peter Buck, not even REM as a whole, to say nothing of U2.

 

[nathan1977]

Yes, Bono defended Buck. I think he actually went to court and made a statement on his behalf, or at least filed one.

And the guys gave their profits from the three Dublin shows to the One campaign. That's just what we know about.

 

[tommycharles]

Yes, Bono defended Buck. I think he actually went to court and made a statement on his behalf, or at least filed one.

The former, I believe. He was a character witness in Buck's trial.

 

[Lemonfix]

The former, I believe. He was a character witness in Buck's trial.

As a character witness he would not be defending Buck's actions, just stating that this kind of behavior was not normal for him and that the judge/jury should act accordingly. Don't get me wrong, I think the woman asking questions has some good points, especially if she isn't too familiar with Bono's work. I just think think that bringing up that instance and trying to tie it with U2, Bono, and Africa is one hell of a stretch

 

[corianderstem]

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?

This is the one that really chaps my hide, every time someone says something similar.

What do they want - Bono (or anyone else advocating help for the poor in the world) to eschew all his worldly possessions, living in a mud hut wearing a potato sack, while every cent of his money needs to go to the poor?

That's the one that makes me want to say, "Oh, get bent."



And yes, I realize $300 million is a buttload of money, and a gaming company falls into the realm of "extravagant purchases." But the principle is the same.

 

[catlhere]

I took this from somewhere else, but hopefully it's teh actual and factual. If so, I liXes that alot! And Bono's so nice!

U2?s Main Charities (they have given money and time to, and have promoted the following charities for years. Read the Singles/Albums/Collaborations, Concerts, and Miscellaneous sections for a sample of just a few of the ways that I found in a 30 minute Google search, in which they have supported these and other charities. I?ll only list the major ones.) :
 Amnesty International
 Greenpeace
 War Child
 Jubilee 2000 Campaign (Bono has given his time and money to support this campaign that encourages G8 countries to forgive debt to Africa?s poorest
 Pavarotti & Friends
 DATA (a non-profit organization co-founded by Bono that does NOT ask for individual donations, but instead asks for supporters to write letters to their Congress/Parliament/etc representatives to redirect more money to foreign aid and debt cancellation. The acronym stands for either Debt, AIDS, Trade in Africa OR Democracy, Accountability, Transparency in Africa, meaning only countries who meet a certain criteria for non-corruption and human rights benefit, and preventing money from simply deepening the pockets of dictators in the region. Not only has he given money, obviously, to start the foundation, but he has spent innumerable hours supporting it.)
 African Well Fund (an organization co-founded by Bono which works to build wells for African communities, one at a time.
 Chernobyl Children?s Fund (Bono?s wife, Ali Hewson, has donated the last 10 years of her life to this project for the children of Chernobyl. Part of the program involves bringing underprivileged children to Ireland for a stay, during which their radiation rates drop from 30-50%. She has not only given an irreplaceable amount of time, but also large sums of money to jump-start and maintain the program, and we all know who the breadwinner in that family is. U2 in general have also supported the charity since it?s upstart in the early ?90?s.)

Singles/Albums/Collaborations:
 Contributors to Across the bridge of hope?victims of Omagh
 If God Will Send His Angels---Temple Street Children?s Hospital
 One single---AIDS charity(more than 1 mil in sales x $8 each---you do the math)
 Sweetest thing single(best-selling single ever, even more than One)?Chernobyl children?s fund
 Miss Sarajevo single---War Child
 Passengers project (collaboration with Brian Eno and Pavarotti)---War Child
 Do They Know It?s Christmas single---Ehtiopian Famine charity
 He actually conceived the idea for and organized the ?What?s Going On? cover single collaboration with today?s pop star types, to raise money as well as popular awareness for an AIDS charity, despite the fact that it doesn?t make him look very cool in the rock community. In light of 9/11, part of the proceeds went to a 9/11 United Way fund.
 New Day single (collaboration with Jean Wyclef)---Refugees in Africa and Kosovo, as well as Jean Wyclef fund which provides musical therapy for underprivileged children throughout the world.
 Love Rescue Me single---Smile Jamaica Fund
 46664 DVD/CD---all proceeds from both went to Nelson Mandela?s AIDS foundation
 Collaborated on Red, Hot, and Blue---proceeds to AIDS charity

Tours/Concerts:
 Live Aid---Ethiopian famine charity
 Performed concerts in support of Net Aid, Self Aid, Comic Relief, War Child, and The Big One (a worldwide peace organization)
 Conspiracy of Hope Tour---Conducted an entire tour to raise money and membership for Amnesty International. Raised over 4 million dollars and tripled their membership.
 All proceeds from concert with Pavarotti---War Child
 Bono/Pavarotti concert in Modena---proceeds go to Iraqi refugees
 Only band to take concert to war-torn Sarajevo, with all three ethnic groups represented in One crowd. All proceeds went to local charities, who were obviously working to relieve the situation there.
 All proceeds from the Dublin leg of the ZOO TV tour in 1993---more than 300,000 pounds---went to a handful of local charities.
 All proceeds from Pennsylvania leg of ZOO TV tour were donated to a handful of local charities.
 Tribute to Heroes to help United Way 9/11 fund
 46664 Concert in S. Africa---all proceeds go to Nelson Mandela AIDS fund, which, according to Chief Executive of the foundation used to initiate, develop and support practical programs for the prevention, testing, care and support for those infected and affected by HIV/AIDS'
 Tickets for the DC concert during the Elevation tour were auctioned off to the highest bidder, with all proceeds going to Duke Children?s hospital, unless another charity was specified by the fan.
 Stop Sellafield (nuclear facility) Concert---All proceeds from concert and DVD go to Greenpeace
 Played free concert for area in Moravia devastated by floods, and donated unspecified amount to aid programs working in the area.
 Proceeds from Phenoix leg of Elevation tour go to AIDS charity.

Miscellaneous Contributions/Activities:
 In the ?80?s, Bono and Ali worked for 6 weeks in Ethiopia, as what you would call ?common volunteers? (the true heroes of course), helping to teach farmers more efficient methods of farming and educating poor Ethiopians about sexual options.
 Together, Bono and Pavarotti put the funds in to build a cultural centre in Mostar, Bosnia- Herzegovina in 1997. The idea is to use music and therapy to heal children's wounds of war, and to enable Bosnian artists to pursue their work
 When U2 hear that the Irish center for sexually abused women, One in Four, is going under, they send $45,000 to keep it going for another month, vowing to keep it afloat until the government ?gets its act together.?
 Hosts art auction and interprets Peter and the Wolf into a CD/book, all totaling almost 400,000 pounds, to go to Irish Hospice foundation, who cared for Bono?s father when he was dying of cancer.
 Donated auction items/funds to Vh1?s Save the Music program
 Auctioned off old car for Ethiopian famine charity
 Stories have circulated for years and years about Bono taking loads of terminally ill fans, putting them up in the Clarence hotel (which he co-owns I believe) for free, tending to their every need, paying for anything and everything, taking them on special tours thru the recording studio and out on the town, hanging out with them. Any fan?s U2 dream. And not just once, but whenever he?s in town, which is pretty often, considering he lives in Dublin. I can?t prove that this is true, because he never released a statement detailing it, but I?ve heard stories about it from fan after fan.
 Along with Bill Gates (the undisputed most generously giving celeb ever), met with the president of and donated funds toward the World Vision foundation, which has also been strongly supported by Oprah, another giving celeb
 Traveled to Africa with Paul O?Neil. This was meant to provide more awareness than actual aid, seeing as they only helped out the specific communities they visited, but it brought attention to the issue.
 Earned meteor award for work for Africa and donated $100,000 reward to Goal and Concern charity, saying, ?these are the real heroes.? Did same with proceeds from European voice award. Not sure of amount, but probably in the same area.
 Sent 80,000 Christmas gifts to African children on a cargo plane one year.
 The Edge took part in some benefit which raised over 700,000 euro for three children's charities Chernobyl Children's Project, ISPCC and The Christina Noble Foundation.
 Traveled to Uganda as part of his commitment to the Save the Children?s Fund, and the Ugandan Children?s Charity Fund.
 Donated near 1 million to Oprah?s Underground Railroad, an exhibit/awareness charity which not only honors the history of the aforementioned event in history, but also works to promote and showcase diversity worldwide.
 Played a large role in advocating the Good Friday Peace Accord, played at the gig in Belfast, where he orchestrated the handshake between the two leaders.
 Supported Northern Ireland Fund for Reconciliation.



OH

 

[Liesje]

Yes, Bono defended Buck. I think he actually went to court and made a statement on his behalf, or at least filed one.

You don't get to "defend" people in court unless you're counsel for the defense. If Bono was subpoenad to appear for the defense, they probably asked him questions in order to get at Buck's character and state of mind. Just b/c he's Bono doesn't mean he could walk in there and say Buck was innocent.

 

[corianderstem]

Just b/c he's Bono doesn't mean he could walk in there and say Buck was innocent.

He couldn't?

My entire worldview is shattered.

 

[Meghan]

She can think however she likes, I still think Bono is basically good. Even if he could be doing more, he's still doing more than most other people (especially other celebrities with as much credibility to lose) have ever done.

 

[Liesje]

1 - whatever that's like saying I don't *actually* care about Africa b/c I file for tax breaks on interest paid for student loans. It's not like Bono's participating in sketchy accounting.

2 - I don't think U2 gets to decide where the record label sells it's products

3 - wtf? can't even make a sensible comment on that...

4 - U2 songs don't save lives, anti-retrovirals do!!!

5 - for this, and pretty much all of them, no one knows or should need to know exactly how much Bono and U2 donate privately. Besides, 300 million won't get you far when it comes to all the structural problems of third world Africa, but imagine if there was no DATA, no ONE campaign....I think of my small college and how many people know about the issues in Africa because of DATA and ONE....for myself personally, without Bono I never would've felt the same way I do about it now, never would've actually made the trip to study in East Africa....

 

[Ellay]

Talk about criticism for the sake of criticism.

 

[U2girl]

1) I don't see the connection between U2 not paying taxes in Ireland and US (and rest of the world) donating aid and money to Africa. Is the point Bono's been making for 8 years now any less valid because of him being a rich celebrity?

2) Does U2 decide "we will sell our products HERE but not there"? Try the record company.

3) What does the member of REM have to do with the human rights issues?

4) Maybe not copyright, but U2 has a long list of charity causes. Also, I'd guess getting affordable drugs would be the priority over getting copyright money in Africa.

5) The band and Paul McGuiness reportedly donated 1 million Euro each to charity during this tour - I think AIDS fighting in specific. White House promised 15 billion to fight AIDS, and most recently before Live8, a big amount of debt of the poorest countries was cancelled.

 

[Lewis12]

Re: Re: Interesting points about U2

This is the one that really chaps my hide, every time someone says something similar.

What do they want - Bono (or anyone else advocating help for the poor in the world) to eschew all his worldly possessions, living in a mud hut wearing a potato sack, while every cent of his money needs to go to the poor?

That's the one that makes me want to say, "Oh, get bent."



And yes, I realize $300 million is a buttload of money, and a gaming company falls into the realm of "extravagant purchases." But the principle is the same.

I'll back you on this and add a little more: Bono is a board member of Elevation, a company that seems to be socially conscience and progressive. Steve Jobs of Apple is a board member as well as a number of other important people (hence the Ipod Apple connection). Bono is not the biggest player on that board. Much like Gates, I believe that the master plan here is to create wealth through creative intellectual property and distribute some of that wealth in both charitable and corporate ways. Obviously they are super rich people, but with a slightly noble cause. It wasn't like Bono dropped $300 million out of pocket because he likes video games; it was a corporate acquisition by Elevation. I don't know if this justifies anything, but it's not as simple as throwing money around.

If any of you were super rich, how would you creatively direct your mass sums of money? Especially while trapped in a corporate multinational world of pseudo capitalism....

I think he, Bono, U2, are trying a lot harder to do good than most.

 

[corianderstem]

Re: Re: Re: Interesting points about U2

I'll back you on this and add a little more:

We Seattle U2 fans gotta stick together!

Interesting post; I wasn't aware of all of that.

 

[irishdove]

Not that U2's actions need to be justified, but thank you, catlhere for posting what you did! Some of them I was aware of, but a lot of the charities I was not. That's probably why they wouldn't want to lose their tax-exempt status - so they can have enough to live comfortably on and still give a lot.

 

[Diemen]

What a misguided load of crap that is. Geez. So apparently in order to be good you have to devote 100% of everything you do to the cause. interesting.

 

[AtomicBono]

1 - whatever that's like saying I don't *actually* care about Africa b/c I file for tax breaks on interest paid for student loans. It's not like Bono's participating in sketchy accounting.

2 - I don't think U2 gets to decide where the record label sells it's products

3 - wtf? can't even make a sensible comment on that...

4 - U2 songs don't save lives, anti-retrovirals do!!!

5 - for this, and pretty much all of them, no one knows or should need to know exactly how much Bono and U2 donate privately. Besides, 300 million won't get you far when it comes to all the structural problems of third world Africa, but imagine if there was no DATA, no ONE campaign....I think of my small college and how many people know about the issues in Africa because of DATA and ONE....for myself personally, without Bono I never would've felt the same way I do about it now, never would've actually made the trip to study in East Africa....

this post is spot-on.

you know, it's not like Bono doesn't acknowledge the hypocrisy of a rich rock star asking the average middle class person to give money to the poor (though that's not REALLY what he's asking, he wants the politicians to pledge the money)... he will point it out himself sometimes. He's well aware that people are skeptical of him and many view him as a hypocrite, but he doesn't let that stop him. What do people expect him to do, give away all his money to Africa and become a hobo?

That's called throwing money at the problem. It doesn't work. He'd have to make sure his money was going through a government-run thing and would be appropriated correctly and such... not that personal donations don't help, because they obviously do, but Bono giving away all his money would be much less productive than all the political lobbying and raising awareness he's doing now. You know, Bono can't win. If he gave away his money people would say he was a martyr and that he was just doing it to get attention and get an ego boost or feel self-righteous or something. However, the way it is now people don't know how much Bono personally donates (which, none of their damn business, I know U2 donates plenty of money, that's all I need to know - I appreciate that list, catlhere, I didn't know all that! the average person has no idea, and even as a fan I was unaware of some of that) and he is accused of being a hypocrite because he's rich and fighting for the poor. Well, he may be a hypocrite but damnit, at least he's actually trying to do some good in the world (and succeeding!), which is a lot more than most celebrities. And unlike a lot of celebrities with charitable causes, Bono knows what the hell he's talking about.

I get real tired of everyone criticizing Bono. I guess it's to be expected, but it still really irks me. I feel like he gets no respect for all he's accomplished.

 

[U2DMfan]

concerning the tax exempt status, I read that their publishing royalties are tax exempt but eveything else (like touring etc.) is taxed like everything else.

 

[Liesje]

That's called throwing money at the problem. It doesn't work.

Agreed. I don't mean to be a brat, b/c the opportunity I had was truly a blessing, but in all honestly after having gone to East Africa and experiencing this whole tragedy myself, I have a totally different take on it. Before, I was thinking too much on an individual/emotional basis, like "these people look so sick and hungry....why are we not donating hundreds of billions to help?!?!" I guess from that perspective, it is easier to wonder why Bono doesn't give away everything he owns and shuts his trap about it. But then I went to Africa to see what this whole thing was really about....and I truly believe that Bono is right about this crisis being so much larger than just AIDS. You go to Africa thinking you're going to help people, play with orphans, that sort of thing, and what really hits you is that these people AS AN ENTIRE POPULATION don't even have access to water, electricity, roads, health care (in Tanzania there is ONE doctor for every 200,000 people). Donating money is almost worthless. There's no economy, infrastructure....no way to effectively distribute medications, food, and other aid. So at first I thought something like the ONE campaign and Make Poverty History were WAY too big and too general, but now having been there, there's no way you can even begin to deal with AIDS, TB, and malaria unless you can address the structeral poverty and lack of development first. I could donate $1000 to a family in need....but they still wouldn't have anywhere to buy the medication they need or have clean water to help them stay healthy.

I hope I made some sense. Basically, before going I had this attitude of "helping poor/sick people", which I've now learned is quite naive, b/c even though it's important not to disassociate, you really do have to step back and say "ok, what is the heart of the issue here?" and the answer is this - health care, education, clean water. And you can't just buy that or donate that, they have to be developed.

 

[Tennis05]

some things that we would expect to be obvious-
1) 1 million donated by each member of U2 to charities at Live 8. that's only the published charity.
2) Bono: "We're not asking for your money, we're asking for your voice."
3) Charity alone isn't helping Africa. Awareness is more important- you can ask any expert on that.
4) Debt-relief isn't forgiven by Bono through Bono-dollars
5) AIDS isn't prevented with Bono dollars either.
6) Wal-Mart- are you prepared to return everything you bought there in case it is guilty?

this is a poor list compared to the one compiled earlier on this thread with the list of nonprofit songs and performances done by U2. well done

 

[chickadee]

This just goes to show it doesn't matter what you do, you're always going to be damned if you're someone like Bono. God, the man is having a go, he's trying, as is U2 as a whole and everything they have done charity-wise has always been in the best of interests. But people cannot accept that and always have to look negatively on stuff. I don't see these critics doing what he does to raise awareness. I'm not sure they even take the time to listen to what he actually says.