U2 Joshua Tree Tour 2019
· Night 40 setlist for U2:UV at the Sphere, Las Vegas, 2/3/2024
· Night 12 setlist for U2:UV at the Sphere, Las Vegas, 25/10/23
· Night 10 & 11 setlists for U2:UV at the Sphere, Las Vegas, 20/10/23 & 21/10/23
· Night 9 setlist for U2:UV at the Sphere, Las Vegas, 18/10/23
· Night 6, 7, & 8 setlists for U2:UV at the Sphere, Las Vegas, 11/10/23 - 14/10/23
· Night 5 setlist for U2:UV at the Sphere, Las Vegas, 08/10/23
· Night 4 setlist for U2:UV at the Sphere, Las Vegas, 07/10/23
· Night 3 setlist for U2:UV at the Sphere, Las Vegas, 05/10/23
· Night 2 videos for U2:UV at the Sphere, Las Vegas, 30/09/23
· Night 2 setlist for U2:UV at the Sphere, Las Vegas, 30/09/23
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Rocker Bono to grads: Rebel against indifference
Posted on Thursday, June 07 @ 00:31:57 CEST by Macphisto
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(Harvard University Gazette) -- By Ken Gewertz and Alvin Powell
Third World countries are drowning in debt, and it's up to the wealthy countries to save them, said rock superstar Bono, highlighting an afternoon of reflection, thank-yous, and goodbyes for members of the Harvard College Class of 2001 during Class Day ceremonies in Tercentenary Theatre.
Bono, lead singer for the Irish rock group U2, quoted some shocking statistics to prove his point that the world's wealthier countries must step in to prevent disaster.
"For every one dollar in government aid we send, nine dollars comes back to us in the form of debt service," he said.
Third World countries, which cannot declare bankruptcy as individuals can, are often saddled with debt through no real fault of their own, he said. President Mobutu of Zaire, for example, transferred huge portions of his country's wealth into his own Swiss bank accounts, resulting in deficits that his people are still struggling with.
"The debts of the fathers are now the debts of the sons and daughters," he said.
Bono was the highlight of a two-hour program that featured a send-off by Harvard College Dean Harry R. Lewis, as well as the Ivy Oration, given by B.J. Novak, and the Harvard Orations, given by Amy Chen and Mark Little.
The day before Commencement has traditionally been known as Class Day, when graduating seniors say goodbye to each other and to Harvard in their own way. Thousands of graduates, parents, and family members filled Tercentenary Theatre's rows, almost like a casual dress rehearsal for today's Commencement.
Bono, wearing his trademark sunglasses and a backward camouflage cap, strode to the stage raising his fist in a victory salute. He spent the first part of his talk explaining how he, a rock musician, came to be involved in the cause of debt relief.
"Who am I and what on earth am I doing here? My name is Bono, and I am a rock star. I say that not as a boast, but more as a confession."
A rock star, and especially a rock singer, is "someone with a hole in his heart almost as large as his ego," he said.
Nevertheless, rock music has been a path for the singer toward social responsibility. As a teenager, he found rock to be the music of rebellion. But as an adult and the father of four children, he asks himself what he is rebelling against now.
"I am rebelling against my own indifference, against the idea that the world is the way the world is and there's not a damn thing I can do about it."
Bono spoke about others who have joined him in his efforts to secure Third World debt relief - including Muhammad Ali, Bob Geldof, Pope John Paul II, and especially Harvard economist and Center for International Development director Jeffrey Sachs.
"Sachs not only let me into his office, but into his Rolodex, into his head, and into his life for the last few years."
He also praised the efforts of Harvard's President-elect, Lawrence Summers, then U.S. Treasury Secretary. Summers was instrumental in getting Congress to vote $435 million for Third World debt relief, which leveraged billions more from other wealthy countries, Bono said.
On the grass roots level, these efforts have spurred improvements that include twice as many children attending school in Uganda and a $14 million increase in health spending in Mozambique.
"I'm not here to brag or take credit. I've come here to ask your help," he said, calling the current AIDS crisis in Africa, "The biggest health crisis since the bubonic plague wiped out a third of Europe."
Bono spoke of watching the moon landing on television as a child and thinking that America could do anything.
"Is it still true?" he asked. "If it's not, then you of all people can make it true again."
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