The Bono Hate Thread

[E]

Whadda douche. I would wear a coat made of industrial waste just to spite him.

 

[Gothamite]

I like a lot of U2 songs.

Bono pisses me off. They named one of their songs "Yahweh"? As in, the Hebrew name for God that is so sacred to them it is not to be said unless in education?

I mean... dude.:sure:


http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=11worst

'Nuff said.

Yeah...

I love U2; they're one of those bands who don't really have many songs that I don't like. But I'll admit that Bono's one of those people that's just so kooky and bizarre that I have trouble defending him. He's done a lot for the world...but he's very aware of it.

 

[Iceshadow]

NEWSFLASH: Bono is still a pretentious annoying twit.

Oh thank God!

 

[Jaggyd]

Yeah, I like Bono, I like U2, but then again, I've always been a sucker for social commentary in my music.

 

[DARKKNIGHT]

I like Elton John (in response to a post earlier in this thread), think U2 is ok, and dislike Bono.

Maybe everyone you've met 'from Europe' who 'worships U2' is like Mole.

Meaning they claim to be from Europe, but they're actually Americans PRETENDING to be European who love Aerosmith and Smokey and the Bandit.

:shifty:

Are you saying that there is something wrong in liking Aerosmith and Smokey and the Bandit?

 

[ourchair]

Are you saying that there is something wrong in liking Aerosmith and Smokey and the Bandit?

No, just that there's no reason to pretend to be European.

There's nothing wrong with being American.

Okay, well maybe there IS, but you know what I mean.

 

[Planet-man]

Yeah...

I love U2; they're one of those bands who don't really have many songs that I don't like. But I'll admit that Bono's one of those people that's just so kooky and bizarre that I have trouble defending him. He's done a lot for the world...but he's very aware of it.

I was just thinking about this issue today for some reason and you couldn't have put it better right there. I agree with every word of this

 

[moonmaster]

I hate both Bono and the music of U2.

Though I debuted my new stupid Bono related joke last week:

Y'know what song Bono should've done in Across the Universe, instead of I Am the Walrus?

I say yes! You say no! You say stop, and I say go, go, go! Oh no! You say goodbye, and I say 'ellooo! 'Ellooo, 'Ellooo! I don't why you say goodbye, I say 'Ellooo!

 

[E]

U2 has a few good songs, but so much of their music sounds the same it makes most of their albums almost unlistenable.

But this thread isn't about the quality of U2's music - it's about the douchey-ness of Bono.

 

[ourchair]

But this thread isn't about the quality of U2's music - it's about the douchey-ness of Bono.

E gets it.

Regarding matters of music taste, degustibus non disputandem.

However, there is no disputing Bono's douchey-ness, regardless of what you believe his merits or flaws are as a musician.

...

I still hate "The Sweetest Thing."

 

[moonmaster]

U2 has a few good songs, but so much of their music sounds the same it makes most of their albums almost unlistenable.

But this thread isn't about the quality of U2's music - it's about the douchey-ness of Bono.

E gets it.

Regarding matters of music taste, degustibus non disputandem.

However, there is no disputing Bono's douchey-ness, regardless of what you believe his merits or flaws are as a musician.

We, from all our different opinions and backgrounds, can be brought together once more in the universal knowledge that Bono is a ****ing douchebag.

God bless this wonderful truth.

*continues singing "'Ello Goodbye"*

 

[compound]

Most people would concede that Bono's douchiness is a consequence of his self congratulatory approach to his advocacy...

But what happens if you happen to share his particular concerns, especially with debt relief for the developing world?

Fact is, if it weren't for Bono's collossal attention whoring, most people in the 'First World' wouldn't be aware of debt relief is (and particularly, how it's differentiated from straightforward "charitable giving", or direct foreign economic assistance and investment).

Granted, his attitude often turns many 'ordinary' citizens away, and in fact generates a kind of "compassion fatigue" and aversion to the issue.

But chances are, the same people who are disgusted with his politicking were not familiar with the causes Bono is championing, until he called attention to them, in the first place.

So, really, what I guess i'm asking is: what are the alternatives for those who sympathize with Bono's advocacies?

 

[moonmaster]

Just because he cares about important causes doesn't necessarily keep him from being a douchebag, and you can agree with his ideas while still acknowledging his douchebaggery.

What annoys me about his advocacy is that, in a way, he's made it an integral part of his image and is therefore exploiting it for his own celebrity. It's like being paid with money and fame for being charitable.

It's like that Extreme Makeover show where they build people homes. My mom gets all emotional when she watches it and thinks what they do is so great, but what they're doing is spending a few hundred thousand dollars building some people a house (which is great) and then airing it on tv, raking back in whatever they spent on the house from commercials and incessant product placement. That's not charity. It can't count as charity if you're just making back what you donated. That's why I applaud people who donate millions to charity anonymously. They're not doing it for any other reason than to help other people.

 

[ourchair]

Most people would concede that Bono's douchiness is a consequence of his self congratulatory approach to his advocacy...

But what happens if you happen to share his particular concerns, especially with debt relief for the developing world?

Fact is, if it weren't for Bono's collossal attention whoring, most people in the 'First World' wouldn't be aware of debt relief is (and particularly, how it's differentiated from straightforward "charitable giving", or direct foreign economic assistance and investment).

Granted, his attitude often turns many 'ordinary' citizens away, and in fact generates a kind of "compassion fatigue" and aversion to the issue.

But chances are, the same people who are disgusted with his politicking were not familiar with the causes Bono is championing, until he called attention to them, in the first place.

So, really, what I guess i'm asking is: what are the alternatives for those who sympathize with Bono's advocacies?

The problem I have is that as more and more people become exposed to the idea that Third World debt needs to be relieved, the fundamental question that goes unanswered is: what comes next?
. As Jonathan Greenblatt notes:

It would be foolish to dispute the value of widening public engagement on pressing global issues that demand our attention. Celebrities attract the attention of those who otherwise might skip the world news sections of the local paper. Some might discount the impact of such engagement, but I think that their enfranchisement has enormous potential. As these otherwise uninvolved communities get inspired to take action, it might even be viewed as a healthy sign of democratization. But what are the broader implications when one person becomes a cause personified?

The problem is that Bono doesn't really present any solutions or practical approaches for all of us to become involved in the relief of Third World debt. I would never dispute his OWN efforts to bring awareness to the cause he's chosen, but he's a largely unempowering figure - an elite influential who invokes change, rather than a enterprising one who creates ways for individuals to become involved.

I believe like Greenblatt, that:

"[We must] not be led to believe that activism ends at the cash register or remote control. Watching a Jay-Z interview on Nightline is a start, but little more than that. ... Celebrities and other public figures should utilize their bullet pulpits to educate the masses but also to explain that these efforts necessitate long-term thinking and innovative solutions.

 

[compound]

That's why I applaud people who donate millions to charity anonymously. They're not doing it for any other reason than to help other people.

Fair enough... But Bono isn't actually donating money to pay off the economic debt of developing nations; he's using his celebrity to appealing to the supragovernmental lending agencies (the IMF, World Bank, etc.) to cancel and/or refinance debt arrangements that were morally reprehensible to begin with.

And, in that sense, effective debt relief is a more lasting solution, because it helps to level off an economic playing field that's been lopsided by *history itself*: centuries of colonization; Western political hegemony, etc.

It's precisely NOT a "sexy" problem. And because it doesn't involve the same kind of gut level moral outrage as, say, the Nazi "final solution", it's a lot more difficult to call attention to.

And the fact that it's so frequently misinterpreted as a matter of "helping the less fortunate" shows just how difficult it is to communicate the real issues.

So I don't know whether to feel grateful that Bono has addressed it so publicly, or to resent him for muddying what's already a complicated matter.

 

[compound]

The problem is that Bono doesn't really present any solutions or practical approaches for all of us to become involved in the relief of Third World debt. I would never dispute his OWN efforts to bring awareness to the cause he's chosen, but he's a largely unempowering figure - an elite influential who invokes change, rather than a enterprising one who creates ways for individuals to become involved.

Wrong. He's thrown support behind the idea of microfinance (specifically, Muhammad Yunus' Grameen Bank), and fair trade initiatives like Product RED that are capable of existing *alongside* existing corporate distribution structures (which is hardly radical, I admit, but at least comes across like a palatable way of fostering support for democratic trade, amongst a public who can't be forced to NOT want to live by the Wal*Mart brand of everyday retail hyperconvenience).

 

[ourchair]

...it's so frequently misinterpreted as a matter of "helping the less fortunate" shows just how difficult it is to communicate the real issues.

I cannot disagree.

Fair enough... But Bono isn't actually donating money to pay off the economic debt of developing nations; he's using his celebrity to appealing to the supragovernmental lending agencies (the IMF, World Bank, etc.) to cancel and/or refinance debt arrangements that were morally reprehensible to begin with.

This I'm aware of.

But that's my problem, it's an endeavor that revolves around persuading supragovernmental agencies. It's basically another example of from gold equals green thinking that I can't bare to stomach.

 

[compound]

But that's my problem, it's an endeavor that revolves around persuading supragovernmental agencies. It's basically another example of from gold equals green thinking that I can't bare to stomach.

But what other option do we have, really? Redistibute the gold (to extend your metaphor)? That's pie in the sky doctrinaire Marxist ****, and nothing short of a (literally) bloody revolution will change anything.

Unfortunately, "good people with good money" (including douchebags like Bono) are the best we can realistically hope for.

As for what comes next?

That's really where "crowdsourcing" comes in; where we start building collaborative, transnational "Wikiopolises" using mobile knowledge bases that run on bioenergy, funded by the Gores, Gates, and Soroses of the world (bless their bleeding hearts), because frankly nobody else can afford it. And really, human intelligence is the only free, unlimited resource the developing world has left to offer.

Maybe then we'll *exercise* Pride (In The Name of Love), instead of paying a douchebag to sing about it.



.

 

[compound]

Incidentally, would it be beside the point (not to mention technically feasible) to set up a poll on this thread for people to vote about *why* they hate Bono?

I guess it could be a multiple response type poll, to account for the various reasons people have for despising the guy.

 

[Iceshadow]

Bono's Third World Products, Inc.

I want some of The Edge (TM) Patented Regenerative Cure-All.

Incidentally, would it be beside the point (not to mention technically feasible) to set up a poll on this thread for people to vote about *why* they hate Bono?

I guess it could be a multiple response type poll, to account for the various reasons people have for despising the guy.

That's a good idea.