I'm not sure I'd take too seriously the complaints of a man who, while being worth over $1bn, continually bangs on about the plight of the poor and needy, while he claims residency in The Netherlands, so that his tax bill is lower than it would be if he were in Ireland, neatly avoiding and of his taxes helping the poor and needy of Ireland.
In summary, the man is a twat.
Bono most certainly does live in Ireland and pays personal tax there. A lie gets around the world before the truth gets it's boots on.
Also I assume he was, in a roundabout way, praising Apple's charity. And humility about that charity.
Perhaps Apple takes the idea of charity seriously. Is an action charitable if you do things which benefits you?
There is an old quote which I heard many decades ago and goes something like: "One whose morality follows their self interest has no morality." Me thinks that something like that applies to charity.
From the sound of it, he was far from 'criticizing' Apple. If anything, he seemed to be faintly praising the company for its modesty, saying that it was just sticking to its culture of secrecy.
This is some sort of praise? Granted, it's not a big stab but not a compliment.
"Bono went as far as to call Apple "annoyingly quiet," saying that the company doesn't do enough to tout the fact that it has raised $75 million for The Global Fund."
and
""This is modesty run amok," Bono said in front of Ive."
The other persistent criticism is about the band's decision to offshore part of their income through the Netherlands to avoid tax. Was it not hypocrisy for you to try to hold the Irish government to account for its spending while going through fairly exhaustive efforts to avoid paying into the Irish exchequer yourself?
It is not an intellectually rigorous position unless you understand that at the heart of the Irish economy has always been the philosophy of tax competitiveness. Tax competitiveness has taken our country out of poverty. People in the revenue accept that if you engage in that policy then some people are going to go out, and some people are coming in. It has been a successful policy. On the cranky left that is very annoying, I can see that. But tax competitiveness is why Ireland has stayed afloat. When the Germans tried to impose a different tax regime on the country in exchange for a bailout, the taoiseach said they would rather not have the bailout. So U2 is in total harmony with our government's philosophy."
I agree that there are many other causes which are more important than AIDS.
I'm not joking though, when I say that I wish that there was an effective charity that one could contribute to that killed people, instead of trying to save people. I would definitely open up my wallet for such a cause. I see commercials on tv, where they say that for less than the price of coffee a day, you can save a child. There should be charities that advertise with, for a $10 contribution, we will guarantee that one terrorist will be killed, like somebody from ISIS or AL Qaeda or those nutjob terrorists in Nigeria who kidnap schoolgirls, and we will even send you a picture of the dead terrorist after our forces has eliminated them. I would definitely contribute to such causes, if the charity were legit and legal. That would do a lot of good in the world, and it would save plenty of lives too. Direct action is what's needed to solve certain problems in the world.
I've actually had similar thoughts, like a kickstarter for humanitarian mercenary missions. I would definitely contribute to a mission rescuing the Nigerian girls for example. So many resources are spent doing damage control from the a**holes of the world, maybe it's time for a little prophylactic action. An ounce of prevention..
Apple's not being 'annoyingly quiet." Bono is being annoyingly boastful about what he does for fashionable causes or, to be more accurately, for being annoyingly demanding about what others ought to do.
As another poster has noted, Bono demands that governments do more while using every trick he can to evade paying taxes on his huge fortune. The guy's a phony as a pink $1 bill.
Considering the US dollar is fiat currency backed by nothing of value that ain't saying much.
How may pop stars and music stars do anything? There are a few that try to make a difference and they get nothing but crapped on by wise guys. Please list your contributions to society. Bono has worked his ass off to help others.
It's not mutually exclusive. To wit, I think what Apple does is valiant and noble and very important...and Bono is a twit.
You base this wisdom on what? How much have you raised for charity? Bono was the conduit that helped Apple and many others focus their efforts. Was it a waste of time, was it all pointless? I don't know but at least he worked his ass off trying.
Because Apple, under SJ, doesn't want to use donation and charity as a way to PR and market its company. Unlike many many others which do. (That is not a necessarily a bad thing.)
Comments
Bono most certainly does live in Ireland and pays personal tax there. A lie gets around the world before the truth gets it's boots on.
Also I assume he was, in a roundabout way, praising Apple's charity. And humility about that charity.
How about the fight
Perhaps Apple takes the idea of charity seriously. Is an action charitable if you do things which benefits you?
There is an old quote which I heard many decades ago and goes something like: "One whose morality follows their self interest has no morality." Me thinks that something like that applies to charity.
QFT. Very well said.
Well said.
Wow, talk about a thin skin, AI.
From the sound of it, he was far from 'criticizing' Apple. If anything, he seemed to be faintly praising the company for its modesty, saying that it was just sticking to its culture of secrecy.
This is some sort of praise? Granted, it's not a big stab but not a compliment.
"Bono went as far as to call Apple "annoyingly quiet," saying that the company doesn't do enough to tout the fact that it has raised $75 million for The Global Fund."
and
""This is modesty run amok," Bono said in front of Ive."
Maybe Apple should provide potatoes instead (pun very much intended).
I can't believe that some commenters are actually downplaying the significance of HIV/AIDS funding, just to make a stab at Bono. That's disgusting.
It's not mutually exclusive. To wit, I think what Apple does is valiant and noble and very important...and Bono is a twit.
Bono most certainly does live in Ireland and pays personal tax there. A lie gets around the world before the truth gets it's boots on.
Also I assume he was, in a roundabout way, praising Apple's charity. And humility about that charity.
Not quite a lie: he discusses those tax avoidance maneuvers in a Guardian interview in fact:
http://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/sep/22/bono-campaigner-u2-global-poverty
"
The other persistent criticism is about the band's decision to offshore part of their income through the Netherlands to avoid tax. Was it not hypocrisy for you to try to hold the Irish government to account for its spending while going through fairly exhaustive efforts to avoid paying into the Irish exchequer yourself?
It is not an intellectually rigorous position unless you understand that at the heart of the Irish economy has always been the philosophy of tax competitiveness. Tax competitiveness has taken our country out of poverty. People in the revenue accept that if you engage in that policy then some people are going to go out, and some people are coming in. It has been a successful policy. On the cranky left that is very annoying, I can see that. But tax competitiveness is why Ireland has stayed afloat. When the Germans tried to impose a different tax regime on the country in exchange for a bailout, the taoiseach said they would rather not have the bailout. So U2 is in total harmony with our government's philosophy."
nm
I agree that there are many other causes which are more important than AIDS.
I'm not joking though, when I say that I wish that there was an effective charity that one could contribute to that killed people, instead of trying to save people. I would definitely open up my wallet for such a cause. I see commercials on tv, where they say that for less than the price of coffee a day, you can save a child. There should be charities that advertise with, for a $10 contribution, we will guarantee that one terrorist will be killed, like somebody from ISIS or AL Qaeda or those nutjob terrorists in Nigeria who kidnap schoolgirls, and we will even send you a picture of the dead terrorist after our forces has eliminated them. I would definitely contribute to such causes, if the charity were legit and legal. That would do a lot of good in the world, and it would save plenty of lives too. Direct action is what's needed to solve certain problems in the world.
I've actually had similar thoughts, like a kickstarter for humanitarian mercenary missions. I would definitely contribute to a mission rescuing the Nigerian girls for example. So many resources are spent doing damage control from the a**holes of the world, maybe it's time for a little prophylactic action. An ounce of prevention..
Apple's not being 'annoyingly quiet." Bono is being annoyingly boastful about what he does for fashionable causes or, to be more accurately, for being annoyingly demanding about what others ought to do.
As another poster has noted, Bono demands that governments do more while using every trick he can to evade paying taxes on his huge fortune. The guy's a phony as a pink $1 bill.
Considering the US dollar is fiat currency backed by nothing of value that ain't saying much.
Indeed. We all know the $1 is white.
How may pop stars and music stars do anything? There are a few that try to make a difference and they get nothing but crapped on by wise guys. Please list your contributions to society. Bono has worked his ass off to help others.
You base this wisdom on what? How much have you raised for charity? Bono was the conduit that helped Apple and many others focus their efforts. Was it a waste of time, was it all pointless? I don't know but at least he worked his ass off trying.