Bono is a dick
So I haven’t posted anything in a while because the last time I posted I blew up TCAL in an orgy of controversy. But I can’t stay silent on this. Bono is a dick. The story broke about two weeks ago. Guardian link, Telegraph.co.uk link. U2 decided to move their financial affairs to the Netherlands to avail of the tiny tax rate there. Tax Avoidance is the official term for what they’re doing. Unfortunately for Bono, he can no longer preach to the Irish government about much of anything, considering how unwilling he is to contribute to our countries wealth, prosperity and ability to help other nations who need it. Some have been banging on for years about Bono’s hypocracy, but I was always willing to give the guy a break. He just crossed a line, and I’ll never buy another U2 album again. Matt Cooper’s piece in The Sunday Times is great, especially Bono’s quote he drops at the end:
Speaking to the journalist Michka Assayas for a book of conversations published last year, Bono said: “I am discovering how much respect I have for people who stay true to their convictions, no matter how unpopular. As you get older, your idea of good guys and bad guys changes,” he said.
Dick. I read a good bit of the Yahoo Answers question:
Is Bono the biggest hypocrite on this planet?
I also found out in my searching that in 2005 this happened:
Hats off to Bono. Or rather, not. According to the Globe, the U2 singer reportedly spent $1,700 on a first-class ticket to fly his favorite hat from London to Italy. No word on whether the topper enjoyed the complimentary beverage service and greater leg room of first class.
EOnline link for that. I rest my case. I also read a bit of the wikipedia entry for Bono, which includes a Criticism section. It says:
When he criticised the Irish government for not meeting the DATA target of 0.7% of GDP to be set-aside for the 3rd World - a government minister, Conor Lenihan, suggested that if he paid his taxes then the government would be half way to meeting the figure. The recent decision to move U2 companies out of Ireland to avoid tax has added to the heat.
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Is American opinion and culture crowding out all others?
You seem to assume that the only way that Bono can contribute to Ireland is via tax. To support you’re claim that Bono is a dick, can you tell us unequivocally that Bono makes no other contributions to Irish causes in any form? You should include what tax he actually does pay, his contributions to charities, his value in promoting Ireland on the world stage, and any other positive contribution to Ireland that he makes.
By your logic, anyone that tries to reduce their tax to a minimum via any perfectly legal means is a dick. Can you please list all other Irish people and companies that, pefectly legally, strive to reduce the tax they pay to an absolute minimum.
The above post smacks of the rather unthinking begrudging Irish attitude captured in this previous TCAL feature. Here’s the quote:
Bono isn’t a dick. He’s a good business man. And in reading your post with the above quoted comments in mind, he’s an accurate social commentator too.
Comment by tim — August 20, 2006 @ 10:58 am
[…] The only thing more annoying than Bono’s hypocrisy - and he *is* a hypocrite - is the annoying tendency for successful Irish people (and their apologists) to dismiss any and all criticism of them as plain old Irish begrudgery. […]
Pingback by deadlocked » Blog Archive » Bono is a Dick — August 20, 2006 @ 12:16 pm
Hear hear (or is it “here here”?). He doesn’t pay tax on music earnings (fair enough), and now he wants to avoid what every other Irish citizen pays? He can fuck off to the Netherlands, and take those Rolling Stones cunts with him.
Good thing he’s never needed roads, hospitals, schools, gardaí…
Comment by Stranger — August 20, 2006 @ 12:30 pm
I agree with Tim. Xiel, hows TCAX coming along? lol
Comment by dodger — August 20, 2006 @ 12:59 pm
so I’m supposed to give Bono the benefit of the doubt, because he may have previously done good things for Ireland, or secretly be giving things now/in the past? I don’t think so. This was a very public, very calculated move to support the Irish government less.As a citizen, you pay tax, I pay tax. Why is it that we should say good man, well done, clever lad to a group who can easily afford to contribute a substantial amount to the country, but choose not to? I pay my taxes because I know that however mismanaged it may be (thats a seperate issue) the money goes to pay for health,infrastructure,welfare, overseas aid, the European Union etc. etc. Bono and his merry men, having taken advantage of the fantastic benefits of the artists exemption all these years, up and jumps ship at the first sign of having to properly contribute to his own nation.
I said in the past Ive given the guy the benefit of th doubt but I’m pretty sure Im done doing that.
Tim its what hes done as a public figure-thats how we judge him.its not fair to say maybe hes doing briliant things we dont know about.as a public figure,his latest move doesnt ring true with what we would all thing of as his convictions,which flies in the face of what he said himself and i quoted above.So i think less of the guy.much less!!
Comment by xiel — August 20, 2006 @ 5:33 pm
dodger your right.i need my own website.someone make me tcax.com.
Comment by xiel — August 20, 2006 @ 5:34 pm
I totally disagree with you Xiel. I, like all Irish people I know, try to minimise the amount of tax I pay. Bono is no different. It’s good business sense to to move your assets to where they can make you the most money, within the limits of the law. If you have a problem with Bono legitimately moving his assets beyond the reach of the tax man, take it up with the Irish government or the EU, or whatever jurisdiction applies in this case.
You might also want to picket outside the Dáil waving a flag emblazoned with a hammer and sickle (joke).
Comment by tim — August 20, 2006 @ 10:09 pm
On the general scheme of things I’d rate this as partially hipocritical but not dick-worthy. Firstly, to be a hipocrite he’d have to have stated in the past that everyone should be paying full taxes - he didn’t, what he said was we should be sending more money to the Third World. Him paying taxes does not do that - all it does is make sure that corrupt builders get more money.
I remember when the extent of Haughy’s robbery of the taxpayer was exposed years ago, the amount of people I heard say “Ah sure fair fucks to him for getting away with it, we’d all have a go” was unbelievable - the man directly robbed the Irish people blind at a time when unemployment was a massive problem and very large numbers of people were very poor, and people still thought “ah sure, it’s grand”.
As to the comment that the Irish government wouldn’t set 0.7% of GDP aside, Bono paying taxes has no bearing on that - even if he did, it would still be up to the government to change the budget. As it is, he can take his tax money and send it directly where he wants it. Who says he doesn’t?
Comment by slutmonkey57b — August 21, 2006 @ 12:10 am
Deadlocked.org has some commentary on what you raised Tim.
Comment by danger — August 21, 2006 @ 3:10 am
Bono is a dick. Really. I read Matt Cooper’s bit and he made the good point that it’s not actually him but the consortium that the band make up etc. He’s a clown no matter what he does or says. Check this for slander
http://www.clamnuts.com/comics/comics-pdf/BONO%20FILES%20CLAMNUTS%20DOT%20COM%20fs.pdf
Comment by Bob — August 21, 2006 @ 9:39 am
Yeah I read the deadlocked post. Here it is:
I think the deadlocked post is saying that because Bono has an indulgent lifestyle, a successful career, is a good business man, but in the poster’s opinion is a poor musician, he is disqualified from commenting on third world debt. If I’m wrong, can someone spell it out to me exactly what this post means?
Comment by tim — August 21, 2006 @ 1:08 pm
i like bono because he is playing a large part in stopping vast amounts of people dying. i’m neutral on the dull tax issue.
Comment by vesto — August 21, 2006 @ 1:34 pm
Tim:
Er… no, that’s not what I’m saying at all. He has as much right as any other casual observer to comment on third world debt (if only ‘comment’ were all he did). I’m just pointing out that not all criticism is begrudgery and offering some of my own. And as an aside asking why, exactly, we should listen to the man in the high castle pontificate about third world debt?
It’s probably worth pointing out that my own rant was tangential to this discussion and not entirely related to it, although it was sparked by this thread.
Comment by dermo — August 21, 2006 @ 2:50 pm
Or to put it another way: my blog post was a rebuke of your dismissal of Xiel’s article as little more than mean-spirited begrudgery.
Comment by dermo — August 21, 2006 @ 2:53 pm
To be honest I still don’t see how all the anti-Bono comments so far are anything more that begrudgery.
Comment by tim — August 21, 2006 @ 5:48 pm
umm..U2 has done tons for ireland. The rise of U2 coincided with the rise of Ireland as a wealthy nation, and has been no doubt responsible for helping to bring Ireland into the global consciousness. It would be interesting if it were possible to tabulate the U2 effect on all aspects of the Irish nation. I would say that the monetary benefits that have resulted from the PR are gigantic, and difficult to quantify. I have no qualms with U2 moving their corporation to Holland to pay less taxes at all. They have served Ireland fantasically. Corporations will always seek out nations where they can gain from tax advantage, this is natural. How do you think ireland became so bloody wealthy? EC money ofcourse in the beginning,but it drew the corporations to the island becasue of its lextremely low corporate tax rates. Ireland would still have 15-20% unemployment as it did in the early 80’s (when it was virtually 2nd world) and before if it wasnt for US and other nation’s corporations moving to ireland to take advantage of the super low tax rates. It’s like the pot calling the kettle black. Ireland is indebted to U2…many rockstars sit on their arse and serve none but themselves, bono actually works his nuts off to help others…very few others do this, and he doesnt have to do this at all, and knows that by trying to help others he will become an easy target.
Comment by shane — August 22, 2006 @ 2:35 am
way boy bono way boy.welll well well bono ey bono.Never buy anouther ut/bono album ey? why would you buy one in the first place?u2?d.bono is in the non real part of my mind.bono bono bono.the edge the edge.?what the bloody hell?wayyyy the edge.hi im the edge, no no, hi im bono and this is the edge.bono is a laugh.some play “its a beautifull day” at partys .ohh wait listen its u2 every one its bono the edge lets sing along and feel it look im nearly in tears this u2 song means so much to me.bono holding a flag sunday bloody sunday what a guy.im so glad bono has shades now.his new image is just right.i try to dress a bit like him, not totaly the same but just that bono thing.
Comment by adam joseph maguire — December 2, 2006 @ 2:09 am
I am glad I found someone else who is made sick by Bono-er the honey dripper, who thinks it’s hip to be an international Poverty Pimp.
He made me sick when he played Arizona on Martin Luther King day, rather than boycotting, and then told the press he that his concert ($$$) was a form of protest. Was flying his hate from London to Italy first class a form of protest too. Friggin Junky? Real fucking funny– like life is just a dream, right?
His creey voice sounds like a bag of cats in heat, no matter what the pail faced girls and faggoty boys think. Boner and all his lepraCON friends should go and stay in Africa a few years if the want to be Mother Teresa, rather than show up to grab headlines in another “We are the World” moment. He’s be a great nun, if he were not so “cool”. His cool is really 1987, not matter where the chicken hawk Sec. of the Treasury followed him.
Yeah buddy– it’s like that. I hope you come to nyc sometime to our bar for a pint. There are a few boys here who want to show you something. Bring your phoney friends too! We’ll make a movie of it. Chucky are low!
Comment by mikey ryan from Queens, NY — January 15, 2007 @ 12:10 am
Oh my God, this thread has really attracted some fucking retards. Now we have a guy from New York Shitty that wants to show Bono a thing or two. Like what Mikey, how you elected a president that has the IQ of a peanut. How you’ve killed thousands of Iraqi people yet we don’t see you’re president hanging from the rafters. No just Saddam. Get you’re own mess sorted first.
I suppose you hate the thousands of people who went to the U2 concert on MLK day yes? I mean I guess I see you’re point so no need to send 10,000 troups over here. I didn’t mean to disagree with you.
I suppose we should just forget about Bono and the amazing work he is doing for the world that America is doing its best to destroy. I think Bono is a fantastic man and I haven’t heard a single serious argument to suggest otherwise. You don’t have to like him, but that doesn’t make him a bad person.
You probably look at him on TV talking and you think, god not this guy again. But if you didn’t know his face than how would he ever get anything done. I doubt i’d get time for a chat with world leaders. I know not one person that has posted or commented on this story can seriously think they deserve one.
…then again Xiel is so far up his own arse at times it wouldn’t surprise me if he is running for head of something..
Comment by dodger — January 15, 2007 @ 11:47 am
mikey ryan, u used the words:
‘faggoty boys’
‘lepracon’
‘poverty pimp’
‘honey dripper’
‘great nun’
‘chicken hawk’
‘cats in heat’
‘creey voice’
hmm. I see alot of frustration and confusion here. you turned your frustration on bono, who tries to stop people dying. maybe your a bit of a homophobic leprachaun poverty pimping chicken hawk honey dripping cat in heat. am I right, or am I right? your creey voice is supressed. aw.
Comment by krynn — January 15, 2007 @ 2:43 pm
At least he’s brought attention to many issues. God uses people in the ways he sees fit, but, people are HUMAN. At least he tries.
Comment by TLC — February 13, 2007 @ 6:22 pm
excuse me i’m NOT human. i’m a kind of duck-protein downloaded from a turnip farm. or so the gerbils tell me.
Comment by krynn — February 13, 2007 @ 7:20 pm
Did Mikey NY use his phrase “Chucky are low” i ndáiríre?
I imagine it was genuine. Brilliant.
Comment by PeterR — February 13, 2007 @ 11:16 pm