bono to bush: and you give yourself away . . .

bono, who serves as a contemporary psalmist of our times much in the mold of the biblical david, also serves as a contemporary jeremiah (minus the jail terms) working to call his and other powerful governments to account for their inattention to the cries of the poor, writes an op-ed in today's new york times giving advice to george bush on his upcoming trip to europe. His perspective could be summarized in the lyrics of that famous relationship song from the joshua tree: with or without you, and its echoing wrenching line "and you give yourself away, and you give yourself away, and you give, and you give yourself away. . . thus lives someone whose heart has been broken in christ, and poured out for the world. you give, and you give. you even try to out-give god, even though it is crazy. because that, finally, is where our hope lies. so bono enourages bush to give in relation to europe, europe to give in relation to the u.s., and both to give in relation to africa where so much hangs in the balance. there, as another song puts it, they are 'waiting for the crumbs from our tables.'

here it is:

Give a Little
By BONO

Published: February 20, 2005

EUROPE is securing its ports, steeling itself for an American charm offensive. Over the coming days, President Bush and his hosts will shake hands, slap backs, make toasts. But if the United States and Europe really want to repair their relationship, they should look to another continent: Africa.

Both America and Europe have a stake in preventing African states from crumbling. Both have an interest in ending the poverty that breeds violence. And both feel a moral obligation to stop the hemorrhaging of life.

Aren't those shared interests obvious? Not lately. We lament - but secretly indulge - our differences. Points of tension are points of pride. Snottiness is the new patriotism.

So what can Mr. Bush do? Well, he can clear up some confusion about America's basic beliefs. Americans are overtly devout. And yet Europeans, who inhabit a more secular world, give more per capita than Americans to what the Bible calls "the least of these" - the world's poor. The United States is in 22nd place, last in the class of donor nations. (Add private philanthropy and it's up to 15th.) Europeans see the discrepancy, and they smell hypocrisy.

President Bush should try to help Europeans understand American generosity. He should remind people that the United States has gotten more AIDS drugs to more Africans than anyone else. But he should also underscore that Americans want to ensure that the money is spent responsibly.

To Europeans, this "tough love" approach seems cruel. But there is compassion at its core. Mr. Bush can demonstrate this by putting more financial muscle behind his push for "accountability." If he does, Europeans will follow suit. They will see talking tough on poverty as a perfect rhyme for talking tough on terrorism. If Europe and America work together, a breakthrough for Africa is within reach. Then, other obstacles will fall away - as will the misconceptions that blind us to one another.

Bono, a singer for the band U2, is the founder of DATA, which campaigns against AIDS and poverty in Africa.

Comments

[Susan Olson]

Christian, nice post...I'll never think of "With or Without You" the same way again. Blog is a great idea.

[Bill]

We should all give more.

But we shouldn't misuse statistics, as I believe Bono has done here. We've been discussing this article here: http://thinklings.org/index.php?p=1893&more=1&c=1

Are we really the least-giving among western countries? A commenter writes:
"$275 Billion in US private giving in 2003=http://www.ephilanthropy.org

US gov gives 40% of all world aid=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6762079/ (cited elsewhere with other qualifiers, but my orginal post unifies them all.)

US-based corporations lead the world in giving=I'm having problems remembering where I saw this, but I believe it was in Forbes magazine last year. Can't find it in their online version of the magazine, but they don't put all their magazine content online.

Private individuals have given more that $1 Billion to tsunami aid=The Wall Street Journal print edition 2/28/05."

Also
"Almost every measure used to portray the US as stingy is based on World Bank figures taken from "on-book" aid specifically labeled as such in our federal budget. The problem is that much of the aid is not listed obviously as "Aid to _____" and is subsequantly not counted in the World Bank tally. Plus, the vast majority of aid is from slush fund accounts and is "off-book."

We forget that many European countries expect their governments to handle charitable funds. In the US, we expect individuals to handle it. This is the reason why the numbers seem out of whack. Only looking at what the government does is no reflection on America as a people. Bono should realize this.

No country can touch the US in corporate and private giving. The military angle is also ALWAYS forgotten. You could open a federal bank and scoop piles of Franklins into an incinerator as fast as possible and it would not approach the thousands of American dollars spent per second as the world's military policemen. Sending part of our fleet to Indonesia for tsunami relief cost untold millions of dollars alone. Meanwhile, it took Canada three weeks to get their "rapid response" DART team to the areas hit by tsunami. And Canada didn't spend a billion doing it, either. And again, we forget the hugely disproportionate amount that the US taxpayer shoulders when it comes to World Bank funds. Every time the world Bank doles out money, the greatest portion of that assistance comes our of your pocket and mine.

We also forget the labor angle-time and manpower. In earthquakes in Russia, Iran, and Turkey, Americans comprised the largest groups of foreign rescue workers. An interview with one Russian man had him questioning why there were no Russian relief workers and so many Americans, it was so lopsided."