The Curious Phenomenon of Paul Hewson by Mark Publius

The National Interest

The Curious Phenomenon of Paul Hewson

By Mark Publius

March 13, 2002

All the world is afraid of making enemies with Paul Hewson. He has scared American senators, intimidated an American Treasury Secretary, and cajoled his way into the World Economic Forum recently in New York. His picture has made the cover of Time magazine and his appearance at the Superbowl electrified audiences. Hollywood stars recently came out in droves to honor the rock super-star. Tom Cruise said of him: "he makes us all proud to be human."

That's quite a quote, Tom, but why all the fuss over this man? Well, it appears that people like Paul have a liberal guilt trip driven in part by egomania, which causes him to espouse some really weird ideas. According to Time magazine, Mr. Hewson said right out that he was an "egomaniac." He adores the light of the crowds that I must say have legitimately made him a musical superstar. His songs like One, Where the Streets Have No Name, and Beautiful Day are the some of the greatest in music history. But politics and the political ideas are a different realm.

Let's begin with Paul's philosophy. Like most liberals - and Hollywood-types for that matter - he has no ideology, only a collection of beliefs that he feels, if implemented, would create a utopian world. Chief among these beliefs is the idea that if third-world debt were to be cancelled by creditor nations, then these poor countries would suddenly adopt democracy and get a triple-A credit rating with Moody's. Paul likes to compare his idea of debt relief to the Marshall Plan. He even created an organization called DATA to build a concensus for eradicating third-world debt.

Unfortunately, he is wrong. The Marshall Plan merely helped to restore Europe to its pre-World War II status with a helping hand from America. African countries still have generations to go before pluralistic democratic capitalism is understood, let alone given a firm footing. We cannot mandate these sorts of things with governmental programs. But oh, I forgot that Mr. Hewson is an expert in international finance and economics. Most third-world countries are in default already on their foreign debt and having it waived won't solve a thing.

Not content to have baseless, utopian ideas, Paul now has to go on a crusade to influence the rest of the world's minds. The Irish-born rock star has set his sight particularly on the United States. He has stated publicly that he is a "thorn in the side of President Bush." President Clinton, of course, found much valuable information in Mr. Hewson's lectures on economics. Even a member of Bush's cabinet, Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill met with Hewson after initial reservations and walked away enamored with the pop star's commitment to the poor. A closer look at Hewson's overall agenda might persuade Mr. O'Neill to think twice before again giving his tepid endorsement.

Mr. Hewson reached the apex of influence at the recent World Economic Forum in New York. He shared a stage with other panelists like Hillary Rodham Clinton, the heads of Amnesty International, Senator Patrick Leahy, and others and spouted his nonsense of how we rich people are being cruel and insensitive to these poor, dark people. If there were any credible investigative reporters at the site, they should have noted that he was never elected to office, has no history of expertise in public policy, and his opinion is of no more relevance than yours or mine. The difference is this: he is rich, arrogant, and thinks his answers are better than everyone else's If you disagree with him, you're either insensitive or arrogant.

Although foreign-born, he shares the same naivete as American left-wing college professors. Oh, I apologize by the way. I should have referred to Paul Hewson earlier in this article by his stage-name, Bono. Please, Mr. Bono, don't take offense at me using your real name as much as we take offense to your ill-advised preaching. In the spirit of St. Patrick's Day, please confine your useless opinions to the troubles of your home country and continent. We Americans have some issues we need to deal with in the real world.