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‘For the Italians who inspired it… for the Irish…’
Nothing for the Netherlands where you keep your money?
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We needed that reminder, thanks!
Oh, I need to read that!
And a vegetarian who hated smoking…
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You know, I never got why people hated Bono so much. I think it was because when he started wearing tinted glasses to protect his eyes he came across as aloof and arrogant, and I think partly because early U2 fans bought the charity and helping hype, and soured when reality didn’t meet the hoped for ideals. And U2 was one of the original “I liked them before they went mainstream” bands.
Oh, and I am kind of amused that people now think that line “thank God it’s them instead of you” was sincere and not an accusation. Although to be fair, we did grow up with parents who would admonish us that starving children in Country X
So he wrote a song. Were it not for @beschizza, I might not have known it existed.
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I think the “knee-jerk reaction” to Bono and many other white European or American celebrities swooping in to “help” Africans via charity comes in large part from the way that it often studiously ignores the role of European colonialism and American and Soviet interventionism during the period of decolonization in creating the current problems in many African countries. Often times it does nothing more than exacerbate the problem. Right now, we are discussing this on computers (or phones perhaps) that might include trace minerals mined in the Congo by western corporations that benefit from the continued conflict. We are no longer in a world where “stability” is demanded to let capitalism work, chaos is a tactic used to ensure the west keeps profiting off the wealth of Africa (and other places).
So, it’s the racist paternalism that turns a lot of us off. Compare “Do they know it’s Christmas Time” to something like the Sun City charity album, which rejected profiting off of apartheid. Western artists raised awareness of the ongoing apartheid in South Africa. I’m sure that there is still plenty of criticism we can make of the Sun City album, but at the very least, the artists sought to undermine racist structures and point them out rather than to reinforce them.
I mean, even on it’s face, the song is ignorant and paternalistic, because Ethiopia was one of the very first kingdoms to declare it’s self to be Christian after Armenia, but before the Roman empire. Ethiopians were Christians long before Europeans converted enmass. To think that the only reason that Africans could possibly be Christian is due to European colonialism is shockingly ignorant of history and it assumes that being Christian means being civilized… which, no.
The wikipedia only touches on this issue:
If we want to “fix” problems that “happen” in Africa, we really should push our governments and western corporations to stop intervening there, in any manner. It’s not our place to “fix” and it’s really just colonialism in a new guise to continue “helping” in such ways.
[ETA] Just, FYI, here is an example of Cold War interventionism in the aftermath of decolonization… once they were given independence, there was near immediate intervention by the west, as they were unhappy with the direction that the new country took:
And Kwame Nkrumah’s overthrow was also orchestrated by the CIA (his own corruption did not help, though).
This happens over and over again in postcolonial history. We (meaning western powers in generally, including us as individual citizens) need to be more aware of how the current crop of social, economic, and political problems emerged in Africa and other places in the global south that were colonized, and we need to support policies that do not continue that form of racist domination. Understanding post-colonial theory is a great place to start:
Listening to voices from these postcolonial locations is another way to decolonize our mindset with regards to the global south… The above have some links to authors, but artists are also a great way to think about these issues in a more holistic way… The sons of Fela Kuti have some great things to tell us about the current form of colonialism, such as organizations like IMF - this is a real banger if you ask me:
So… anyway, that’s why some of us have a problem with Bono and other white, western celebrities who do these sorts of charity albums or songs or other kinds of work, because it decenters the people suffering and is often little more than paternalism that merely reinforces western power in the global south… Take from that what you will.
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Very interesting and informative, thank you!
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Yes, I know, and I think a lot of what we know now was because of these well-intentioned but wrong steps from the mid 1980s. Band Aid and Live Aid were products of naïveté, not of maliciousness. Well intentioned efforts that caused more harm than good. Which is why these charity albums are now a thing of the past.
I think the question that is being starved here is whether people like Bono changed their approach, if their heart is still in the right place or if they keep repeating the mistakes of the past. I recall (and I hope my memory isn’t deceiving me) him apologising and admitting that it was a fuckup, and trying to help in more substantial ways.
(EDIT: please don’t think I am saying you are wrong. You are right, the efforts were ham-handed and caused more harm than good. I just wonder if we aren’t being harsh, expecting them to know then what we ourselves only learned later. )
To be fair, people had these criticisms at the time. Postcolonial studies was well-established by this point.
Or of some blind privilege, I’d argue.
I’m not sure they have…
Use one’s celebrity to put pressure on governments to not engage in imperialist policies. Plenty of artists do that (thinking Billy Bragg or Peter Garrett, or even the Sun City project - all active at the time).
I don’t think he gives a shit what we think. He’s a wealthy celebrity, why should he care if he’s criticized by us proles when people will keep buying his music anyway? 
Also, he could pay his taxes maybe?
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That right there is the truest thing written in the whole thread.
And thank you for putting up with my obliviousness.
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I don’t know if it’s obliviousness, you just believe what many people believe about the global south, that colonialism is a thing of the distant past that has nothing to do with current events. The way to change something you don’t know about is to educate yourself. It’s just as true for history or global relations as it is for anything else.
Far too many people when presented with realities that don’t comport with their world view, reject and/or lash out angrily. At least you’re open to new ideas about the world, which is always a good thing.
More like obliviousness to what Band Aid and Live Aid did, and what Bono himself did.
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As I said, at least you’re open to new information… many people are not.
In contrast:
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Sadly, I only had one like to give that post.
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But I could like the follow ups. So that helps make up the defect!
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