They're tough, but they're willing to listen

[Occhidiangela]

While I find this quote slightly surprising, I admire Bono's persistence toward achieving his ambitious long term goals. I more respect his decision not to throw his hands up in the air and proclaim, as is done all too often, "I can't work with these people!"

"I am not willing to give up on the Republicans," he said of his efforts to convert the Congressmen on debt relief and increased aid to Africa. "They're tough, but they're willing to listen."

The Time profile speak for itself, though the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. Bill and Melinda Gates were the other winners, and I'll leave comment on them to others.
Bono At Work
My one eyebrow raise regards his premise based on an assumption:

If the debt burden for so many nations in Africa (aggregate $350 bilions US) were to be lifted

Then the governments would spend significant portions of their future revenues, income via commerce, tax, and/or aid, on healthcare (per his declared goal) rather than on ___________ (fill in the blank with the usual)

Part of the current debt problem is self induced by the political factions in place, or previous factions in power who began a vicious debt cycle. Given how easily an advanced and allegedly developed nation like the US falls into significant national debt, that behavior pattern is apparently quite common.

So, will they or won't they? This is a critical question.

The answer to that question determines the potential success for any charitable assistance: teach him to fish, or give him a fish? Or a bit of both?

Put differently, when structuring an AID program, are you creating a dependency or offering a hand up?

At present, Africa is full of foreign aid junkies. How to gradually wean various countries from that teat is a problem yet to be solved. I admire Bono using his fame and position to try and crack the cycle. He is doing more, apparently, than simply point to a problem. He is trying to energize a political process by working with the system, or so it appears to me, and is looking at various obstacles and setbacks as par for the course.

Has anyone here looked into his DATA project? It looks interesting. Comments?

Occhi