NY Post: The hypocrisy of Bono and his ‘One’ charity

It's the Post - certainly by no measure what I'd call a reliable publication.  But still, some good questions are raised in the article - like, exactly what does the One campaign do with the money it raises. Is it the worthwhile charity that many assume it is?

http://nypost.com/2017/11/11/the-hypocrisy-of-bono-and-his-one-charity/

It’s hard for the charity to point to any tangible achievements. For example, a major focus of Bono’s charity is educating women and girls. But unlike, say, Oprah, One doesn’t actually build any schools or provide funding for teachers, supplies or uniforms for students. This seems like a severely wasted opportunity, especially if you consider that the cost of building a single school in Africa is roughly $13,500 and the average cost of a year’s college tuition is $3,000. In 2015, One spent $768,000 in “direct expenses” on the star-studded Red Gala at Carnegie Hall attended by Miley Cyrus, Bill Clinton, Stephen Colbert and Joe Biden. That $768,000 could have paid for 57 primary schools — or sent 256 women to university for a year. (Calls and emails to Juliet Vedral, One’s spokeswoman, went unanswered.)

Just read it as well.  A lot of it is petty (oh he likes to drink good wine, so fucking what?)

but its another reminder how annoying Bono is to a lot of people.  And yeah, there is most definitely a lot of hypocrisy and self-dealing going on with him and his organization.

It’s an opinion piece, from a reporter that works for a tabloid. It’s a little hard to take it seriously. Now if it was in the New York Times, I’d be more inclined to take it seriously and think about it.


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W h o C a r e s ?

It’s an opinion piece, from a reporter that works for a tabloid. It’s a little hard to take it seriously. Now if it was in the New York Times, I’d be more inclined to take it seriously and think about it.


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That’s pretty ad hominem though. The arguments either stand or fall on their own merits, regardless of whose favorite clique they are coming from.

It's the Post - certainly by no measure what I'd call a reliable publication.  But still, some good questions are raised in the article - like, exactly what does the One campaign do with the money it raises. Is it the worthwhile charity that many assume it is?

http://nypost.com/2017/11/11/the-hypocrisy-of-bono-and-his-one-charity/

Quote

It’s hard for the charity to point to any tangible achievements. For example, a major focus of Bono’s charity is educating women and girls. But unlike, say, Oprah, One doesn’t actually build any schools or provide funding for teachers, supplies or uniforms for students. This seems like a severely wasted opportunity, especially if you consider that the cost of building a single school in Africa is roughly $13,500 and the average cost of a year’s college tuition is $3,000. In 2015, One spent $768,000 in “direct expenses” on the star-studded Red Gala at Carnegie Hall attended by Miley Cyrus, Bill Clinton, Stephen Colbert and Joe Biden. That $768,000 could have paid for 57 primary schools — or sent 256 women to university for a year. (Calls and emails to Juliet Vedral, One’s spokeswoman, went unanswered.)

Jeez.

https://www.express.co.uk/celebrity-news/878530/paradise-papers-U2-bono-ONE-foundation-condemns-offshore-finance-EU/amp

Campaigners against third world debt and poverty often blame international tax avoidance schemes of worsening the problem. 

Remember - One is not a charity. One is an advocacy organization. It spends its money on lobbying


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Bono’s a Champagne socialist, or smoked salmon socialist as they’re known in Ireland.  He’s the kind of person who wants to see generous social programs in first world countries and for their governments to spend more of their taxpayers money on international aid and development.  To do this requires high taxes in those countries, which he’s probably quite happy with provided he doesn’t have to pay them.  That’s the hypocrisy that is the root of all the Bono bashing regarding tax avoidance.

I think it says a lot about our current society and the state of the world in general when we see all kinds of evil, terrible and horrific things taking place on a daily basis and the most constructive thing some people can do with their time is to try to tear down someone like Bono.

Bono, who might be a twat on occasion but has never done anything to hurt anyone and had tried to be a positive force in the world (sometimes succeeding sometimes failing).

Thats just so horrible to me. Why target Bono? The world is full of ACTUAL bad guys. Why manufacture one?

If it wasn't so horrible it'd be funny.

I think it says a lot about our current society and the state of the world in general when we see all kinds of evil, terrible and horrific things taking place on a daily basis and the most constructive thing some people can do with their time is to try to tear down someone like Bono.

Bono, who might be a twat on occasion but has never done anything to hurt anyone and had tried to be a positive force in the world (sometimes succeeding sometimes failing).

Thats just so horrible to me. Why target Bono? The world is full of ACTUAL bad guys. Why manufacture one?

If it wasn't so horrible it'd be funny.

Yeah, but this just means that no bad behavior can be covered if there's worse out there. The PP is a huge story. Tax avoidance is not as bad as the Holocaust or tsunamis, but it's bad. And publications that cover political and financial issues are doing their job to cover it, regardless of whether Bono is a good guy most of the time.

Quote from: sashlon on November 13, 2017, 02:51:20 PM

I think it says a lot about our current society and the state of the world in general when we see all kinds of evil, terrible and horrific things taking place on a daily basis and the most constructive thing some people can do with their time is to try to tear down someone like Bono.

Bono, who might be a twat on occasion but has never done anything to hurt anyone and had tried to be a positive force in the world (sometimes succeeding sometimes failing).

Thats just so horrible to me. Why target Bono? The world is full of ACTUAL bad guys. Why manufacture one?

If it wasn't so horrible it'd be funny.

Yeah, but this just means that no bad behavior can be covered if there's worse out there. The PP is a huge story. Tax avoidance is not as bad as the Holocaust or tsunamis, but it's bad. And publications that cover political and financial issues are doing their job to cover it, regardless of whether Bono is a good guy most of the time.

No, sorry, I think that's BS.

Quote from: The Exile on November 13, 2017, 02:59:04 PM

Quote from: sashlon on November 13, 2017, 02:51:20 PM

I think it says a lot about our current society and the state of the world in general when we see all kinds of evil, terrible and horrific things taking place on a daily basis and the most constructive thing some people can do with their time is to try to tear down someone like Bono.

Bono, who might be a twat on occasion but has never done anything to hurt anyone and had tried to be a positive force in the world (sometimes succeeding sometimes failing).

Thats just so horrible to me. Why target Bono? The world is full of ACTUAL bad guys. Why manufacture one?

If it wasn't so horrible it'd be funny.

Yeah, but this just means that no bad behavior can be covered if there's worse out there. The PP is a huge story. Tax avoidance is not as bad as the Holocaust or tsunamis, but it's bad. And publications that cover political and financial issues are doing their job to cover it, regardless of whether Bono is a good guy most of the time.

No, sorry, I think that's BS.

As a small business owner, I totally agree. If I needlessly pay taxes I don't have to in order to satisfy someone else's sense of social justice, I will have to charge more than my competitor. My competitor wins, I lose. Does the person looking for social justice win? No. This is an issue that needs to be dealt with at a global level by governments, not by business owners. Once I declare profits, my personal income is the right place to assess taxes that can then be used for various things.

Quote from: sashlon on November 13, 2017, 09:00:52 PM

Quote from: The Exile on November 13, 2017, 02:59:04 PM

Quote from: sashlon on November 13, 2017, 02:51:20 PM

I think it says a lot about our current society and the state of the world in general when we see all kinds of evil, terrible and horrific things taking place on a daily basis and the most constructive thing some people can do with their time is to try to tear down someone like Bono.

Bono, who might be a twat on occasion but has never done anything to hurt anyone and had tried to be a positive force in the world (sometimes succeeding sometimes failing).

Thats just so horrible to me. Why target Bono? The world is full of ACTUAL bad guys. Why manufacture one?

If it wasn't so horrible it'd be funny.

Yeah, but this just means that no bad behavior can be covered if there's worse out there. The PP is a huge story. Tax avoidance is not as bad as the Holocaust or tsunamis, but it's bad. And publications that cover political and financial issues are doing their job to cover it, regardless of whether Bono is a good guy most of the time.

No, sorry, I think that's BS.

As a small business owner, I totally agree. If I needlessly pay taxes I don't have to in order to satisfy someone else's sense of social justice, I will have to charge more than my competitor. My competitor wins, I lose. Does the person looking for social justice win? No. This is an issue that needs to be dealt with at a global level by governments, not by business owners. Once I declare profits, my personal income is the right place to assess taxes that can then be used for various things.

I too am a small business owner. I get taxed to death. Payroll tax, business tax, my own income tax, and all the other state, federal, and local requirements which are taxes in disguise. It never ends.