I recently posted the following critique of the way pop stars have been showing their support for Ukraine:
I received some pushback from a regular reader. Our exchange is copied below (edited and embellished slightly for clarity, and also for precision’s sake, so I could illustrate exactly what I meant in the moment).
As you’ll see, I thought the challenge was fair. This is exactly the kind of discussion I’d love to be having more after I express my thoughts. I love this kind of engagement, so: many thanks to this reader for their thoughtful response…
reader:
I just read the article. I like that you're offering up something original. You avoid the usual recycled talking points. That said, let's assume, for argument's sake, that U2 genuinely and passionately sympathizes with the Ukrainians. What should U2 do then? Not perform? Stay silent? I don't ask those questions to be critical. I ask them in the spirit of picking your brain. In short, what is the role of an artist when it comes to politics, especially war?
me:
Shit, that's a great question. I should publish your question because I don't really have a good answer at the ready. And you're right — I didn't bring up the possibility that the band might actually care, and I didn't bring up their song “Miss Sarajevo,” which addressed the conflict in the Balkans in a really cool, interesting way. I shouldn't have started from the premise that they're being insincere as jf that were a foregone conclusion. But even if they are being sincere, it's a clumsy move because the war is more complicated than we're being sold on.
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reader:
I think U2 probably is sincere. But, you can also be right that the war is more complicated than we're being told. Both can be true. Just giving food for thought.
me:
Oh, I definitely appreciate the train of thought and it's sparking me to respond and consider things I hadn't. I totally hear your point about artists, and it's a good question. One could read what I wrote and infer the subtext that I'm saying something similar as "stick to sports," but I feel like these people [artists] are largely misinformed.
Of course, any of us can sympathize with people who are displaced or killed or have had their lives completely upended by war — I mean it's hard to imagine anything more horrific. But the blunt fact is, the United States has put millions upon millions of people in that situation with our military actions, and I don't see Bono doing a song and dance about it.
The other thing I didn't mention is that although I agree completely with Roger Waters’ stance on this, the way he disparages his former bandmates and minimizes their contributions strikes me as somewhat narcissistic.
Generally, I feel that it's too easy for artists to kind of try to wrap their arms around the world's problems as a means of ignoring what they need to work on in themselves.
A lot of these positions are way too easy to posture about in a way that just comes off as hollow and kind of silly — even if I agree.
And as I said in the piece I love U2, but as powerful as I thought that subway performance was, there was something disturbing about doing these stadium-rock gesticulations in front of that crowd.
I think there's a real danger when you're the subject of that much adulation, you pick up on the fact that just showing up and being among people is going to be received as a gift to those people — and that's kind of fucked up. Martin Luther King and Gandhi weren't immune to that kind of egotism either. They knew that people would think it was a life-changing thing just to shake hands with them.
That's not a good place for a human being to be, and so as much as Bono might be thinking he was doing something good, it just makes me uneasy. Like it's feeding his ego in a fucked up way. And for fuck's sake, think about [the broader ramifications of] what you're doing when before you go and do something like that.
So I guess my short answer is: even if you are being sincere, keep your ego in check and don't go around sticking your nose in things that are too big and complex for you to understand.
What I would say to artists is: learn how to maintain harmony in your own musical organizations and families and interpersonal relations before you go preaching to us about how world leaders should conduct themselves.
Governments do monstrous things, but it’s too easy for artists to focus on them rather than on our own locus of culpability. It can come off as a form of escapism — very detached, in a way, even when the artist might sincerely be trying to connect with something bigger than themselves.
The bottom line is: the US instigated this. At least that's the way it looks to me. We made a very straightforward promise not to expand NATO. And if Chris Hedges of all people can't bring himself to blame Putin, that says a lot!
reader:
If Bono did see the US as culpable in some way, do you think he would or wouldn't write a song critical of the US?
me:
Well, let’s think: has he written a song critical about the US government? Not a song that can be read as critical of American society like in “Bullet The Blue Sky” but a song that’s specifically critical of the government.
But if he’d gotten on the mic during that subway performance and slammed Joe Biden’s approach to this conflict now THAT would'a been some balls!!!!
reader:
Bigger question — a bit afield from your article — would U2 criticize the US with a Democrat in the White House?
me:
I don’t think that’s afield from what I wrote at all. And yeah, I would say that's doubtful.
reader:
Every artist loved slamming Bush and Trump.
me:
Agreed. But what I should have said more carefully in the article was: even if you are being 100% sincere and heartfelt, don't put yourself in a position where your concern for people can be co-opted and worked into a marketing campaign that looks like something on TikTok. Like, come on.
reader:
I hear you.
me:
I mean I would have even applauded him if he'd had the egomania to think he could mediate some kind of peace summit between Putin and Biden — that would have been utterly ridiculous, but it would have been fair.
Well, there you have it! Great points from this reader and I’m glad I was put on the spot to address them.
<3 SRK