Dr. Bono

Monday, Bono of U2 received an honorary degree, and spoke at the University of Pennsylvania graduation. Some excerpts from (and read the whole thing at) u2log.com:

“There’s a truly great Irish poet; his name is Brendan Kennelly. He has this epic poem called ‘The Book of Judas.’ There’s a line in that poem that never leaves my mind. It says, ‘If you want to serve the age, betray it.’ What does that mean to betray the age? Well, to me betraying the age means exposing its conceits, its foibles, its phony moral certitudes. It means telling the secrets of the age and facing harsher truths. Every age has its massive moral blind spots,” Bono pointed out.

And

“I know idealism is not playing on the radio right now. You don’t see it on TV. Irony is on heavy rotation, the knowingness, the smirk, the tired joke. I’ve tried them all out. But I’ll tell you this: outside this campus and, even inside it, idealism is under siege beset by materialism, narcissism, and all the other isms of indifference. Baggism, shaggism, raggism, notism, graduationism, chismism — I don’t know. Where’s John Lennon when you need him?” joked the U2 singer.

Imagine.