The Irish rock band U2 got its start by rolling up its sleeves and raising funds privately to get their band going.

Their unquestionable success makes one wonder why some Canadian musicians, arts groups and pro sports teams think they don’t have to roll up their own respective sleeves and do the same?

Many special interest groups seem to think the government should simply cut them a cheque for their start-up costs.

That’s called taking the easy way out. Let’s take a look at U2’s case and some other examples, both big and small, where people have done the heavy lifting themselves, leaving government out of the equation.

To begin, go on YouTube and search for U2’s live performance of their song “Out of Control” at Slane Castle. When you watch the clip, you’ll hear lead singer Bono tell the story of the band’s origins. It turns out each band member asked their respective families for a loan of 500 pounds (Ireland’s former currency) decades ago to help get the band off the ground.

Thankfully for U2 fans, each family believed in the band and loaned them the money. The rest is history. Given U2’s current tour is expected to pull in over $700 million, we’ll assume each family member has long since been paid back.

Another great example of a privately funded arts initiative is the new giant banana statue in Melita, Manitoba.

Back in 2007, the small town’s tourism committee decided to come up with the idea of building a giant banana statue as a promotional idea for the town. A banana was chosen as the town adoringly refers to itself as being in Manitoba’s “banana belt,” due to its warm weather.

Proponents of the statue in the small town of 1,100 people rolled up their sleeves and spent a few years fundraising $106,000 in donations to pay for the statue; not a cent came from government sources.

There are many pro sports facilities that are entirely built with private sector funds as well.

For example, the Chicago Cubs’ Wrigley Field got its start when businessman Charles Weegham spent $250,000 of his own funds to build the stadium back in 1914. The current homes of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens and Vancouver Canucks were also entirely paid for by the private sector.

Clearly, if there’s a good business model, pro sports teams don’t need any government handouts.

The problem is, players’ salaries have skyrocketed and owners often can’t afford the team’s payroll and the cost of the facility in which they play. As a result, weak-kneed politicians often give in, helping to subsidize the operation.

Rarely does anyone point out that if the players could ‘get by’ on a lower salary of say $500,000, owners could pay for the facility themselves and the average taxpayer making $40,000 could decide for themselves if they would like to support the team or not.

One thing is for certain, taxpayers are quite capable of deciding which groups we would like to support. Politicians should reduce taxes, leave more money in taxpayers’ pockets and let people decide for themselves which groups to support.

That approach is even better than the real subsidy.