Bono wants United States of Africa

Hi all,

This discussion is so long, maybe this has been said. There has been a long running pan-Africanist movement since the post colonial era (and possibly before), and this has been something dreamt of by many Africans. I recently edited an interview of the Ethiopian President, who at the time was preparing for a conference that would discuss the United States of Africa as part of a pan-African meeting of heads of state. This is not at all a western (or northern) construct, the history stems back at least to the 1940's with Haile Selassie and Lumumba. So I think it is really important we don't get hung up on two points: a) That this is something being imposed by the west and b) Just because Bono insists on wearing those bad taste sunnies ALL the time, not all of the ideas he mentions are his or in fact bad ones.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_of_Africa

It would be a step in the right direction. One of the damaging things done by colonial occupiers over the centuries on the African continent was the division of ethnic groups and the division of people into nations. Socially and politically these largely western concepts are not always applicable to any culture or society.

On the other hand, many people like to assign a unity to the continent that in reality, never actually existed. It's a huge, huge diverse continent, despite the designation of "African" to all its inhabitants.

There is the rest of the world...I mean 2nd and 3rd world countries far outnumber the more modern and industrial. Don't they???!!! The number of starving and needy people worldwide is truly staggering...I would applaud anyone who does anything at all.. No matter the size. AT LEAST THEY ARE HUMANE ENOUGH TO MAKE THE ATTEMPT.
How many everyday people never even give it a thought at all? And of those that do, how many that just wring there hands and lament the sheer size of it? Each sharing of a resource, each kindness bestowed, has, does, and will, always make a difference.

There is even a little film out that covers quite well how to go about DOING IT. If you find you're not sure where to start. it's a bit simple but cuts right to the meat.
"Pay It Forward"
I'm sure there are others that are equally as worthy. I say DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO GET YOU INVOLVED AND TO STAY INSPIRED.
So Mr. Bono you may consider yourself Huggled .
Boilerlady549 norcal coast

Yeah...right.
Good luck with that, Bono.
*rolls eyes*

a unified Africa will make it even harder to find the corporate sell outs that make choices at the expense of their country. they need to run their path as nations without outside influence and work out a kind of social stability. it is usually the extreme circumstances that most European and American countries have gone through, that we (the west) intercede in internationally causing far more problems. we do not let these countries bring up their own industry and face the problems of their state alone.

HELL NO!!

NO ONE WORLD GOVT.

First it is the European Union, then the North American Union, then South American Union, then the African Union, then the

Shanghai Cooperation is made up of
-China
-Kazakhstan
-Kyrgyzstan
-Russia
-Tajikistan
-Uzbekistan
-Pakistan
-India
-Iran
-Mongolia
-Afghanistan

THEN SOMEONE WILL COME UP AND SAY "HEY, WHY DONT WE CREATE A ONE WORLD GOVERMENT?"

Does Bono want the Biddie?

United we started divided we fall. enuff said.

While this latest attempt at bringing the idea of a true patriotic African Union sounds great. Keep in mind this is an older idea articulated by African patriarchs like Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Jomo Kenyata, Ahmad Toure, Malcolm X, and Kwame Toure just to name a few. As well as some outstanding revolutionary matriarchs like Ya Asantiwa, and Winnie Mandela. Bono has taken an old idea from these luminaries that former European colonial nations fought and persecuted African nationalists for well into the 20th century and beyond. Zimbawe, the Congo, South Africa, are among many of the nations that are in the thick of global linkage movements, with economic and environmental concerns spreading across national borders

From Tribal Unity to Continental Unity.
It would definitely be a dream. The hardest part is to get excited about the project, achieve the dream and make it appear as normal life and a "right" for that population..
We can even dream about a united planet, but knowing that is not possible we don't get excited and certainly we do not start fighting for this project-dream. We know that unity for a country comes in a form of wars and compromised settlements.
I would not like to see a replication at a "continental" scale of what is actually already happening at various "local" regional levels of the continent.

We can dream for free, but we can not dream forever.
My question is:
What is the timeline of this project?

Watch the pod that ABBYM0308 posted.
What do Africans want?
What keeps the majority of Africa in poverty?
What can be done?
Do Africans want bono involved?
How come philanthropists/investors aren't financing that?

Why don't celebrities, who are informed, have the right to intervene in the world? After all it is their world too, right? so are we putting great people like Don Cheadle in that same category?

I'm surprised Bono wants this. In my opinion, if this were to work out, it's just another step closer to Bush Sr.'s NWO. You unite the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia, and then all you need to do is put them all together.

While this wouldn’t be a bad idea, i think that it would be better to break it yup into like 4 countries. The problem is that some countries like South Africa, Egypt, Morocco, would drag down the GDP and standard of living down, while in the long run if the Africans could work together then it would work out in the end.

However in just one of the current country boarders there can be over 100 different tribes, so to get them to work together would be a huge problem, the EU can barely agree on things.

Bob Marley talked about uniting Africa. I belive he was well informed of African affairs. Let's hope Bono is as informed as Marley.

shut up bono

http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/natres/oilindex.htm#Africa

http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1P1-79644106.html

http://www.energybulletin.net/2340.html

http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/04/06/opinion/edmitra.php

Well, all these articles not only back up what I said, but they are only a few of the many you can find by simply googling America's ties to Africa. Most aren't about aid projects, or how Bush has helped Africa sooo much, it's mostly about the oil and other natural resources in Africa and how America is pissed that so many countries (China, India, Venezuela, etc) are dipping their hands in the honey pot (well, oil pot in this instance). And everyone has known for decades that the US sells weapons to African nation militias and war mongers. I didn't know there were people who didn't know that.

And as far as the diamonds,

http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/liberia/2002/1230al.htm

Come on!, tying diamonds to Al-Qaeda, even if true, is a clear attempt by the US to now dictate who can and can't be involved in countries with precious natural resources that amount to a multi billion dollar a year industry.

I love that you use the fact that you've "toured" Africa to make your comment seem so much more legit. I mean, if you were in Africa and didn't notice the US only conveniently pays special attention to particular areas, then you my friend are a little obtuse.

Africa needs a sense of pride and I think a union of counties would be a good thing, dreams become truth if enough people believe.

its sad that the place were all life originated is in such a state of disarray, I believe we will see a stronger, more stable Africa in my generations lifetime.

I don't like Bono, but give him kudos for initiating conversation on the problems of Africa, a huge topic that rarely gets addressed by the news or people in everyday conversation.

Instead of divided city states fighting over territory, there can be one civil war. I don't know if this will alleviate the pressure there, but maybe getting everyone there to unite under one flag isn't such a bad idea. Maybe it will help more people realize the futility in fighting their neighbors.

When I think of all of the diamonds and oil in Africa, I know this would help them out of their problems. It would be hard to convince Britian to let go and let USA.

This is a far away dream that may never happen. All of that beautiful land and animals roaming freely, diamonds oil and the culture. Yes this will become a sight to see.

Dgold, ummm love the writeups, too bad they didn't mention all the ties the Bush administration has to Africa besides providing aid, like oil, weapons, and other industries the administration makes a killing off of.

I don't know that coming into a country as an outsider and creating the answer is exactly what is right for the country (cough Iraqi democracy cough), but on the same token, Bono has a lot of heart. If I know anything about that man from his relentless campaigns, articles, book(s?) about creating a better world, it's that he really wants one.

So why not let him try? As long as he's not an anarchist thinker, it can't hurt.

The road to sustainable change is paved with good intentions.

Meanwhile Bono still owns multimillion dollar homes and lives the jetsetter lifestyle. Why not start with yourself Bono, if you're not willing to give up your riches what makes you think all the corrupt governments in Africa will? Where do celebrities think their shiny diamonds come from?

ugh, Bono...I have a hard time taking anyone seriously that tries to improve human life by aligning themselves with corporations that are notorious for violating human rights(like the GAP and that whole Red campaign).

He's an idealist and it's a nice and fuzzy thought that there could be a United States of Africa, but there is a whole lot of policy changes that would need to be made there and abroad before that could even feasibly work.

I'll look for this in a couple hundred years. Also be aware the United States of America is far from a perfect example. We had a civil war, and even today the country is becoming more divided (for the better in the case of California and the west coast states). Also, you must always keep a very thick line between patriotism and nationalism. The blurring of this line will divide the union and break most or every state in it, because people like me don't want to be affiliated with a nation that has become a monster.

And lets have the Europeans get involved and oversee it for them. Again. That would work out well. It would actually be something that all of Africa could unite in preventing. Thus uniting them. Oh, the irony!

But until then, there are too many cooks in the African kitchen for it to be plausible.

wow, so many haters? what's up with that????

Bono is a rock star, sure, but he's also an activist, That's not something new, he's been involved in various aid organizations for many years. I don't believe that he doesn't just want to make a world a little bit better, and he's in a position to try to do so.

and don't even start to diss Sir Geldof, he started the whole celebrity aid ball rolling with "Band Aid" back in the 80's. He's a truly a person of integrity and generosity.

Africa is run mostly by thugs who are power hungry this would never work

Not a new notion but it would empower Africans which is why its seldom taken seriously.

To all those that think that Bono's "proposal" is a good idea, please explain to me how creating a Federal Government of the Continent of Africa will help give people in the various African nations a stronger voice? How does increasing the distance between the governed and the government improve the socioeconomic conditions of individual Africans? Perhaps those wishing to answer this question should look to the European Union and the pending North American Union (NAU) as models. PS. The plans for the NAU can be found at cfr.org. PPS. Commenter's should also research Bono's employers.

Fascinating concept, but it seems unlikely it will ever become a reality.

The Noble Peace Prize award people should be thinking about giving Bono one of those because of the effort he has shown over the years toward helping others. I cannot think of anyone who is more giving within the avenue of aid than Bono is. Maybe in could be Bill Gates, or i'm not thinking hard enough.

They would have to call it something other than USA ... maybe United African States (UAS) would be an easy alternative.

You can't force a union on Africa and just expect everyone to get along.

It's likely to happen eventually, just like the EU and soon to be Asian Union. But wether or not it'll actually help the African people is dubious at best.

I'm not sure if that's a good idea. The smaller the country, the less beaurocratic it is. Think of Denmark, switzerland, Holland, Singapore, Hongkong, etc (I know HK is not really a country per se, but they have their own sovereignty to certian extent)

There's so much corruption in Africa already, so imagine if a small group of people gain control over the whole continet, this will only lead to disaster.

Besides I think africans lack their national identity enougn already. Try name 10 african countries? I'll tell you that most people can't...

Every americans were immigrants at one point, thats why you have Irish americans, German americans, Italian americans, etc....and then you have african americans without further specification...

I think its more important to have a defined identity on national level opposed to the whole continent.

Bono wants a kick in the knackers more like.

So i take it you are in favour of globalist ideals smorrisey, global economy, global government, global army, global police, Global Sheep!

It's funny that people would automatically assume Bush has done a bad job in Africa. While he has messed quite a lot up, he's done quite a good job there, much better than Clinton. Here's some writeups of it.
http://www.economist.com/world/africa/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10698485
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/feb/15/georgebush.usa
http://www.pri.org/listen/pri-politics-society/bush-africa.html

That guy deserves no respect at all and he isnt trying to change the world for the good of the people only the globalist elite who pay his wages. A frequent visitor to the white house and Number 10 and friend of George Bush and Tony Blair.

I don't approve of Bono because people that have been working in Africa for years, as aid workers, as journalists, people that do this for a living and have been educated in it and lived there and dedicated their lives to it, have said so. Michael Maren, who literally wrote the book on African AID, said this on his blog:
"I don't doubt Bono's sincerity. I do have questions about his sophistication in these matters. Africa is pretty well fucked unless there are major changes to the world's economy. And the first thing that needs to happen is that the wealthy countries need to abolish agricultural subsidies. And that is not going to happen. The West will pay all sorts of lip service to alleviating African poverty, but they will not do the one thing that will start the process. Anyone with even a slight interest in the fate of Africa should read this article about U.S. agricultural policy."

Then there is this article by Paul Theroux, who was in the Peace Corp 40 years ago and has been writing about Africa for as long as any one can remember.
http://www.netnomad.com/theroux.html

Then there's this recent article from NZ about how aid money funds civil wars.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10509966

Africa is not some fixer upper for the west to go into and spruce up. All these supposed instant solutions are nothing but first world solutions for third world problems. The issue is a lot more complex then "give them money," but nobody seems to want to make a real investment.

Bono gets what Bono wants.

I respect activists, the fact that they have no real political jurisdiction or are in any position of power (although Bono is world-renown), makes everything an uphill battle.
Music aside, you shouldn't criticize the man for trying to change the world for the good of people. I mean most of the time people just talk and argue about stuff (current), but He is using his fame to promote a cause.

whether it is a good idea or not, give respect.

Yes Eirianallt have had suspicions about Bono for a while and this just seems to endorse it

I'd like to get Bono out of Africa first.

I knew that bastard had sold himself down the river to the globalist elite just like Geldorf. United states of Africa, Nafta, European union, asian union, south american union, all proceeding as planned and the powers that be use Bono to announce it as the masses believe him to be an eco god when he is totally the opposite

I'm a total pessimist. He would first have to solve the hunger problem. When you grow up thinking that there isn't enough food for everyone, you tend to care only about your own survival and blame everyone else for your problems. It's hard to be patriotic on an empty stomach.

"True individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made."
--Franklin Roosevelt

bono, let go. You and Al Gore always trying to make the world a better place. No wonder we didnt vote him as president.

It is poetic sounding and right sounding. If any place would benefit from being united through common goals and needs Africa would be number one. It would be a historically grand thing should it occur