Between Freedom And Fear—By PJ

Golden Boys, watercolor by Kelly Eddington, 2018. Based on a photo by Remy Gardien.

Between Freedom And Fear

PJ DeGenaro

I think it’s pretty cool that Bono was asked to illustrate the June 2023 cover of The Atlantic. And it should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with U2 that Bono’s illustration, executed in the idiosyncratic scribble we have come to know and love, would be put to some sort of practical, humanitarian use.

On June 29, the band shared the following on its social media accounts:

Bono’s illustration of President Zelenskyy for the June cover of The Atlantic is featured on a new limited-edition merch collection to raise funds for UNITED24 to purchase ambulances in Ukraine. The limited-edition merch collection includes t-shirts, hoodies, and a lithograph. All net profits from the sale of the collection will go to UNITED24, the official fundraising platform of the government of Ukraine, whose work includes providing life-saving equipment for Ukrainian medical workers. @U24_gov_ua. “The choice is between freedom and fear.” — President Volodymyr Zelenskyy

…and predictably, tiresomely and boringly, the band received backlash from the commentariat. Why? Because the government of Ukraine has had the gall to ask for funds for ambulances. For ambulances. And U2, in their innocence, thought that some of us might want to pitch in and get an extra hoodie in the bargain.

But before I address that, let’s consider a few basic reasons why U2, and Bono in particular, might consider Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a crisis worth putting front-and-center:

Ukraine is a modern democracy that stands between Russia and the rest of Europe. Vladimir Putin’s stated goal for his invasion of Ukraine has shifted over the course of the conflict, from outrageous claims of “denazification” to nonsensical claims that Russians and Ukrainians are a single people. But if you don’t believe Putin’s ultimate goal is to win back control of the former Soviet states and gain a better vantage point from which to interfere with the stability of the U.S. and the E.U., you have not been paying attention.

Ukraine is also a major exporter of grain to Africa. U2 fans are no doubt aware that Bono has for decades put his entire heart into fighting poverty and preventable disease on that continent. But the COVID-19 pandemic, historic drought and local conflict have contributed to a resurgence of extreme hunger in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia. This situation has been exacerbated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which disrupted shipments of wheat and cooking oil, and sent food prices soaring. Putin was well aware that this would happen. 

Finally, if you didn’t already know about The Wagner Group — Russia’s own mercenary organization — you surely found out about it last weekend, when it appeared to be attempting a coup against Putin. Mercenaries are not nice people, and the Wagner Group is also deployed in several African nations, where it props up violent and repressive regimes in exchange for access to valuable natural resources. This would certainly be another strike against Russia from Bono’s point of view, and I can’t imagine any decent person disagreeing with him.

While most negative replies to the Zelensky t-shirt/hoodie/lithograph ambulance fund post were not specifically pro-Russia, the knee-jerk antagonism toward U2 for doing what U2 has always done is just exhausting.

Pay your taxes and buy the ambulances yourself! (Bono thought it might make you feel good to help?)

Just Ukraine? What about the country I care about? (Roger Waters exists?)

I would never wear a politician on a shirt! (So don’t?)

U2 used to be about peace! (True enough that they chose no sides in their own country’s internecine conflict, but peace is more than just the absence of war?)

They were wrong about Aung San Suu Kyi! (So were a lot of other people, and this is irrelevant to the current situation?)

And of course,

I don’t know why I’ve taken it upon myself to throw this little non-essay together. I do know that every band/celeb/politician gets pushback — sometimes shockingly nasty pushback — no matter what they do. But some of the responses to U2's post truly are appalling, and many demonstrate a level of paranoia that the world's "strong men" have been stoking intentionally for quite a few years.

People complain that U2 doesn’t use social media very well, which may be so. But can you blame them? Apart from the professional trolls and haters, many fans seem to live in a state of perpetual fear that U2 will do something “wrong” and embarrass the fandom. 

I just think that’s weak.