Posted on 02/02/2006 10:16:10 AM PST by Cecily
WASHINGTON (AFP) - U2 frontman Bono, quoting the Koran, the Bible and rock band Dire Straits, urged President George W. Bush to boost US aid to the world's poor by some 25 billion dollars.
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"This is not about charity, it's about justice," the singer and activist told the annual US national prayer breakfast, which included Bush, members of Congress, and Muslim, Christian, and Jewish leaders.
"That's too bad, because we're good at charity," he said. "But justice is a higher standard. Africa makes a fool of our idea of justice it makes a farce of our idea of equality."
"There's no way we can look at what's happening in Africa and, if we're honest, conclude that, deep down, we would let it happen anywhere else," said the rock star, a champion of funding to fight AIDS and famine worldwide.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Liberal Democrats think it is quite perfectly okay to give money that is not theirs to problems real or otherwise.
If civilians like ourselves did that, we'd be in jail.
>But we can certainly do our part to help those less fortunate than us.
Luck has nothing to do with it. The "less fortunate" is a ready-made psycho babble expression to be used to fill in the gaps when the thought process has voluntarily stopped working. IOW, it's an expression, among many, to confuse the minds of people.
Don't be charitable with my money! Any questions.
Money thrown at poverty sticks to many hands along the way...middle men. Those you try to help end up with very little. Africans don't relate to the fact that many are dying, either through starvation or murder/genocide. They tend to relate to those they know. Tribalism. So they just don't get it. They need a human genome boost, frankly. Not twenty billion dollars. Throw vast amounts of money at Africa, and you end up with tyrants like Mugabe, etc.. Bono would do better to lend his influence to getting genetically altered seed/corn/rice into Africa so they can grow their own food.
"Yes, but why aren't we??"
You're the one so quick to hand everyone elses money to problems in Africa, you tell me why we aren't helping the homeless, cold, and hungry in our own country.
If we want to help others, shouldn't we help our own people first?
It is quite plain in English.
"They don't have any food, so who does it hurt if we help them?
It hurts the taxpayer and their offsprings and future progeny by taking away from the mouths of their children and giving to the mouths of our foe.
So you will take from me to give to them without my consent?
"Just" OR "justice" as Bono put it?
What planet are you from?
U.S. aid has historically dwarfed the rest of the world's contribution -- that includes to it's former enemies.
Why would we ban you? just because you disagree with others here? Thats not how things work here. Dont worry.
I agree with you that Africa does need alot of aid for drugs and food for the hungry. And there might be ways to make sure that money does get to a good number of the needy.
But why doesn't Bono set up a website and ask the people to donate themselves via credit card or check voluntarily? Why go to the government to force the people to give?
Charity organizations that may or may not actually send aid.
And then there's corrupt officials like Mugabe.
Then there's the organizations who don't really want to help, but would rather perpetuate themselves.
There's money to be made for them off suffering, and if suffering ended, they'd be out of business.
Just ask the U.N. prostitution ring masters...
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