Posted on 10/30/2012 4:18:58 AM PDT by trueamerica
Bono has learned much about music over more than three decades with U2. But alongside that has been a lifelong lesson in campaigning — the activist for poverty reduction in Africa spoke frankly on Friday about how his views about philanthropy had now stretched to include an appreciation for capitalism.
The Irish singer and co-founder of ONE, a campaigning group that fights poverty and disease in Africa, said it had been “a humbling thing for me” to realize the importance of capitalism and entrepreneurialism in philanthropy, particularly as someone who “got into this as a righteous anger activist with all the cliches.”
“Job creators and innovators are just the key, and aid is just a bridge,” he told an audience of 200 leading technology entrepreneurs and investors at the F.ounders tech conference in Dublin. “We see it as startup money, investment in new countries. A humbling thing was to learn the role of commerce.”
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
And to think that I didn't even have stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night to know that......
Good for him. Better late than never. Obama STILL hasn’t gotten it.
Thanks trueamerica. Without profits, there are no non-profits.
This is the tax dodger, right?
If he means it, and isn’t just smelling the things to come.
And another lightbulb goes on... Welcome back to reality. I wonder if that means his style of music will change? For their first several albums U2 was my favorite band. But right around “The Joshua Tree” they started to get weird, and I stopped following them closely...
30 of rehabilitation and he’s just seeing the light. Better late than never, hippie!
This sanctimonious, pompus ass finally realizes capitalism is a good thing? After 30+ yrs in the music BUSINESS? Either he’s naive or full of **** and I don’t think he’s naive simply because of what it takes to make it in the music biz.
Now if these people will see that the money actually goes to the betterment of the people; not some dictator. Much like our government has not done.
Without profits, there are no non-profits.
And to be REALLY CLEAR, “non-profit” is a tax term.
It has nothing to do with morality. A lot of people go broke in “profits” and a lot of people get rich working for “non-profits”.
How about corruption? That bloke could really stir some pots if he wanted to do some hard and boring work.
Good to see. He has acknowledged Christ so it was only a matter of time.
Amazing what a kick of reality will do.
Of course, those who advocate ‘sharing the wealth’ mean sharing YOUR wealth, not theirs.
Give Bono a break. He’s been doing good things throughout his career and has helped a lot of people even though he was misguided. Imagine how much more good he can do now that he has seen the light.
I am happy that Bono is now wiser, but will he repay all the donors who he talked into financing his foolish projects?
One of the benefits of being a liberal is that you never have to pay for your mistakes, nor for all the snarky names you called people who knew better while you were on your crusade to bring the secular utopia.
Looks like Bono is finally having is John Lennin moment.
My favorite quote from Lennin:
“America has poured billions into places like that. It doesn’t mean a damn thing. After they’ve eaten that meal, then what? It lasts for only a day. After the $200 million is gone, then what? It goes round and round in circles.”
Wow, a liberal who actually admits when he’s wrong!
And I remember him defending Bush a few years back too.
I have loved U2 since the early 80’s, now I respect the man in front of the band.
Look, at least Bono was/is actively trying to help, and nice of him to admit his learning was a humbling thing.
Unlike Springstein or Streissand et al. (I don’t care about the spelling, ok?), these suckers depended on capitalism for their success, but never learn anything.
I have yet to see either one physically trying to DO GOOD in Africa or anywhere else.
As Bruce Willis said in Die Hard, “Welcome to the party, pal.”
Maybe Mr. Bono finally got tired of giving away his wealth to those who only demanded more and more?
In any event, as a small businessman and entrepreneur, I will be happy to accept your apology after the years of verbal abuse and guilt trips you’ve laid on those who create wealth.
Oh, and by the way, I quit buying your music when you started to indulge in your feel-good, indulgent, immature, righteous anger. As Michael Jordan once observed, “Even republicans buy shoes.”
LOL its still early. I meant John Lennon. As in The Beatles, John Lennon.
Imagine all the people.... Getting jobs and feeding themselves =)
Bono has always walked the walk. His efforts to help the poor is more than all other Limousine Liberals combined. I don’t always agree with Bono, but I respect the hell out of him.
Same here. I think he's a;so been spending some time with his accountants watching them writings checks to all his lackeys and hangers-on.
..........dumbshit.
Remember, though, he doesn’t _hold_ the record, he _is_ the record.
I had a liberal boss, totally incompetent manager when it comes to managing people. Had to fire her entire team. Often pushing her liberal views. Turned on me when she found out I hunt.
Talking one day about family she bit her lip when talking about her husband, “He works for a non-profit,” as though that made him a saint.
“Yes but, HE works for a profit, right? And where does that non-profit get its funding? From the government, who confiscates it from citizens who make a profit through taxes and through charitable contributions, again, from citizens and companies that have enough profit to spare.”
“He’s been doing good things throughout his career and has helped a lot of people even though he was misguided. “
If he was doing this with his own money, then that is to his credit. However a lot of that money came from the US taxpayers thanks to Bush 43. And in truth, not a single one of these projects was so important to the safety of the American people that we should borrow the money that we gave away but we did anyway.
I like his music and appreciated his charitable efforts.
His leftward lean always annoyed me.
Kudos to him for publicly acknowledging this true “progression” and intellectual “evolution.”
Many liberals know what he has stated to be true (evidenced by their own personal capitalistic efforts to earn and maintain personal profits) but never acknowledge it publicly because it runs counter to the youthful, uninformed opinions they shouted when they were still under the influence of their proud indoctrination.
Better late then never.
****
Bono has also had realizations about how useful the Internet can be for transparency. “The strongest and loudest voice with moral punch on the continent at the moment is a nerd,” Bono said, pointing to the tech company founders in the audience, many of whom were programmers. “He’s a tech innovator.
****
I wish he had just come out and said plainly:
“The state-media industrial complex is colluding with governments to keep the people in the dark about what is really happening in the world. Even politicians who promise “transparency” work with the media to cover up their failures and collusion. THE INTERNET AND TALK RADIO ARE FAST BECOMING THE ONLY TRUE “REPORTING” SYSTEMS THAT THE PEOPLE HAVE. AND WE NEED TO PROTECT THEM.”
all the capitlalism as a bridge, all the philanthropy as a bridge, mean nothing unless there is a freedom and liberty equipped folks on the receiving end, of course, if they truly had freedom and liberty, they wouldnt be needing philanthropy on this grand of a scale year in and year out.
As liberalism is about to suffer armageddon, another braindead moonbeam-chaser has a deathbed epiphany. Sorry, Bonano, I’m not buying it. The next time the zombie of liberalism rises from its crypt, he’ll be right beside it badmouthing capitalism like an OWSer.
Too little too late. Go back to Africa and build some more mud huts, jerk. You’re not fooling anyone.
CC
Bono is a buddy of Bubba isn’t he? As in Clinton.
Bono is a buddy of Bubba isn’t he? As in Clinton.
Luckily for Bono, his business wasn't in making a product with moving mechanical parts.
You can coast a long time on the profits of a few platinum albums - even with the "lemons" thrown in ...
Yeah he says that at a tech conference in Dublin, but... I wonder if he would talk the same way if he were here talking to the government controlled left wing worthless press?
I saw U2 in l985 and was more impressed with the opener, Lone Justice. I grew weary of Bono lecturing about global warming while he jetted around the world singing songs. If he does do good with his wealth, good for him. Hopefully he has seen the light.
His heart was in the right place and by report his soul is in the right place. My guess is that his mind his been filled with false knowledge, I’m sure it takes a while to unlearn what you have been told your entire life.
Good for him!
If you read the article, it seems he associates himself with all kinds of high profile people in an effort to help those with no profile.
#18
I know what you mean. If a modern Liberal is smart enough and truly honest with himself he will eventually come to realize that his long favored ideology will never actually solve anything. It may take 10, 20, even 30+ years for this to dawn on him but when it happens it is a sign that you are dealing with someone who is willing to try anything to help people. Even if it means admitting he was wrong for the last few decades. Seems that this was happening to Lennon. Maybe it’s happening to Bono now. Anyway, if true, good for him.
Of course, then you have the other kind of Liberal. This liberal/progressive believes in Liberalism as fervently as the evangelical Baptist believes in Christ. He will never lose faith in it. Nothing will ever change his mind, not even dead bodies in the street. He will perform whatever mental gymnastics are necessary maintain his faith. He HAS to because Liberalism IS his true religion no matter what else he may call himself.
“Shut up and sing.”
bkmk
What percentage of money donated to Bono’s charity actually goes to the needy? In 2010 it was reported to be 1.2%. Like every other globalist, the smiley face always attempts to hide a sinister agenda. This guy is a fraud.
In Bono’s case, he means well. He just gets caught up in the whole “let’s help the world” crap that turns into “let’s give the alcoholic some money and hope he buys food with it”. We are pouring money into these countries and they are getting worse, not better. You are paying them to act badly while pretending you are buying food for the starving babies. The babies are still starving and the president of Ublechistan has a new Rolls Royce.
Stop paying countries to starve babies. It’s just stupid.
When his mother came to wake him up for school in the morning she said...”Get up Boner, Get up!”
I agree. I’d like to see a U2 variant of God Bless the USA.
Look at where the West was in 1800 before the Capitalist Revolution really kicked in. Then look at where it was in 1950. Look at how Europe rebuilt itself after World War II. Look at how the Asian countries pulled themselves into modern times. Nothing in the history of humanity has brought more wealth to more people and pulled more people out of poverty than Capitalism. It is God’s gift to us.
Yeah. But I think he knows that governments are not responsive and responsible, flexible, innovative builders of society from the ground up. Private agencies (profit and nonprofit) are. I don’t blame him a bit for wanting to keep his $$ out of govt. hands. I want the same.
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