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The Frontman: Bono (In the Name of Power)

Celebrity philanthropy comes in many guises, but no single figure better encapsulates its delusions, pretensions and wrongheadedness than U2’s iconic frontman, Bono — a fact neither sunglasses nor leather pants can hide. More than a mere philanthropist — indeed, he lags behind many of his peers when it comes to parting with his own money — Bono is better described as an advocate, one who has become an unwitting symbol of a complacent wealthy Western elite.

The Frontman reveals how Bono moved his investments to Amsterdam to evade Irish taxes; his paternalistic and often bullying advocacy of neoliberal solutions in Africa; his multinational business interests; and his hobnobbing with Paul Wolfowitz and shock-doctrine economist Jeffrey Sachs. Carefully dissecting the rhetoric and actions of Bono the political operator, The Frontman shows him to be an ambassador for imperial exploitation, a man who has turned his attention to a world of savage injustice, inequality and exploitation — and helped make it worse.

  • Format
  • paperback
  • Pages
  • 176
  • Language
  • english
  • ISBN
  • 9781781680827
  • Genres
  • music, biography, politics
  • Release date
  • 2013