Greedy Gobshite Bono arrives in Sydney.

The U2 singer Bono is a saintly man. He would make you believe that he holds all the keys to making the world a paradise. If you read newspapers or watch TV it is hard to avoid his propaganda on how he will eradicate the poverty and hunger in the world if we only give him our money.

But when he goes beyond the money collection from donors and tries to develop an enterprise to help the poor, the result is a miserable failure. It's no wonder: it is much easier to beg for large amounts of money (which is probably squandered long before it reaches the poor) than to build a real business enterprise. Maybe the problem lies in Bono's not so deeply hidden distaste for capitalism.

The issue is with Edun, an "ethical fashion house," which Bono and his wife established in 2005. If anybody remembers the media noise at the time of the venture's launch, they may recall the grandiose plans: Edun was supposed to transform the lives of the people in the developing countries by radically changing clothing manufacturing.

In no time the company started to work. They established connections with farmers in Uganda and created production facilities in Tunisia, Tanzania and Kenya. However, very soon the problems started to pile up. The quality of the clothes produced there was low both as manufacture and design and the people didn't want to buy them (even the dorky Greenpeace wackos). On top of that, the delivery speed and reliability were far below great.

Bono realized that running a business is not like collecting money for charity. Your noble feelings and desire to save the world are far from enough. You need to have skilled people capable of making quality products that a sufficiently large group of other people are willing to buy. It is impossible to rely on suckers who would buy any junk for the sake of Bono's "noble" cause.

If Bono had a little common sense, he would have been aware of the problem. Although it is not politically correct to state it, but most African countries are not known for great manufacturing skills or work ethics.

An ordinary greedy capitalist would have liquidated such an ill-conceived venture or moved it to a place where there'll be a better chance for success. On the other hand, Bono, as a compassionate do-gooder should have taken his time to educate the African workers and merchants, so that they can make that clothing company a success. Of course, that would have cost time and money, but does that matter, if your goal is to make African people's lives much better?

But no, he didn't do that... Bono acted as an ordinary greedy capitalist.

He decided to move the production to China. That was a smart move from a business point of view, because clothing manufacturing in China is much better developed than in Africa. Yet Bono conveniently "forgot" that the Chinese workers, especially in that line of business, are subjected to heavy exploitation in their world-famous sweatshops.

In addition to that, Bono sold a 49% stake in Edun to LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton. Again, that should be considered a smart move, because it will ensure a competent business management of the company, but it is opposite to the ideals of the bleeding hearts. Louis Vuitton is an evil capitalist corporation, certified by all self-respecting lefty loons.

So it turns out that Bono is a simple hypocrite. Most of the money made will go to enriching Chinese sweatshop owners and a large French corporation. It is not clear how much of it would reach the poor Africans.

The whole mess begs a simple question: why did Bono have to go through all that? Wouldn't it had been much easier, if he gave his fortune away directly to the poor people he claims he wants to help?

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• gobshite
• bono
• U2
• greedy
• con
• artist
• freemason
• kevin
• rudd
• sydney
• australia
• charity
• scam
• paul
• david
• hewson
• Jay-Z

[DumDumShow]

i take it your not fond of Bono eh Oink?

[Zoink555]

@DumDumShow Not really no. He sucks up everyones arse to promote himself and make more cash from idiots who think he's helping the poor. Which he's not.

[CliffieCharles]

if you look up the word Gobshite, Bono comes up

[Zoink555]

@CliffieCharles thanks for the great word. I looked it up and it describes him well and bono's name did pop up a lot. LOL he's touring here with another scummy freemason friend Jay-Z. They only want to suck the shit out of everyones arsehole for money.

[edenbainbridge]

i do not follow his doings much but any one who helps spend 60 million dollars on a spider man musical can suck my dick. he claims to want to help people (which is wonderful) but he is apart of such an extravagant piece of shit as a spider man musical? would you not think the money he helped raise would be better used for helping his humanitarian endeavors?

xoexo

[Zoink555]

@edenbainbridge I think he's into the charity lies just to promote himself. The real charity givers just give their money away and dont go tell the world how nice they are or want kickback from it. This guy is just a total arsehole.

[kansasinnovember]

Bono,there is little doubt that you are a genius songwriter...but please for fuck sake stop trying to come across as some sort of modern day saint,many of us mere mortals are sick and tired of mega wealthy celebs like you telling us how we should be giving our last hard earned penny to whatever the latest band wagon is you've just jumped on.

Bono,if you want the public to believe your sincere then why not donate your $1 billion worth of facebook shares to the "noble" causes you promote.

[ArchieLovesMe]

Facts and reference links, please. I am not a fan of Bono, and doubt his sincerity, but you need proof to make claims like this.

[miamo2011]

Good post, well done Zoink. It's great to be challenged to see beyond the superficial faces of charities or celebs who represent them, and to get an idea of what really happens to the money collected. It's really sad too, so many people give thinking that their money is used wisely and yet often it is wasted so freely. What a disgrace.

[essy111]

It;ll be dreadful to think Bono actually knows the HIV AIDS vaccines contain the live viruses and still carries on promoting it if not we need to warn him now

[wesclare]

um... such strong language and opinions. Think perhaps the "gobshite" may be the poster of the video and the inane and incorrect commentary as a result.

[DumDumShow]

@Zoink555 I agree I used to like him but I think he's a big fat fake now!

[tomken8dy]

@Zoink109

I don't know anything about the guy!

[Zoink109]

@SCL0PS I never heard of the word "Gobshite" till some other guy told me to look it up. Suits that prick perfectly.