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This^
He uses a lot of clever long words, and............well a lot of other words too. But he never gets around to saying anything concret.
How Paxman resisted cracking him in the head with his chair for blabbering on is beyond me.
I did read the whole thing in the end, and I think he is trying to make a good point but unfortunately he doesn't just come out and make his point and explain why you should listen to him. He waffles on and meanders through vague ideas, which makes it hard to read without giving up.The idea of sacrificing yourself/your possessions for the greater good of society isn't exactly new, and coming from one of the more privileged (in econimic terms at least) members of society makes it even harder to take his ideas seriously.
Also he knows he can say these things and get the support of your Average Joe without the risk of actually having to follow through because this change isn't going to happen any time soon.
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Russell Brand,
in words,
http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2013/10/russell-brand-on-revolutionin vocals,
http://www.jonathan-cook.net/blog/2013-10-24/russell-brand-lets-rip-on-jeremy-paxman/He uses a lot of clever long words, and............well a lot of other words too. But he never gets around to saying anything concret.
A friend from uni who I consider to be quite sensible mentioned this on FB. Someone joined who seemed like an ideal Young Conservative, moaning about >50% of the nation being net consumers, and about the top x% picking up xx% of the tax bill (I forget the figures).
I suggested that if he had done well from being in a country which provides an environment conducive to his kind of success (emergency & security services, transport and comms infrastructure, healthcare, education, judiciary...), then he was in a far better position to contribute than those only earning £15-£20k from full-time jobs.
I closed with "You have already won the lottery now it's your turn to buy the ticket".
This was delivered at great pace on my mobile and was full of grammatical errors, but I get the feeling that metaphorically, the choir was the only part of the audience both paying attention and able to grasp any part of the point I was making.
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The idea of sacrificing yourself/your possessions for the greater good of society isn't exactly new, and coming from one of the more privileged (in econimic terms at least) members of society makes it even harder to take his ideas seriously.
Genuine question, (because this whole "champagne socialist" thing has always baffled me) why?
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Genuine question, (because this whole "champagne socialist" thing has always baffled me) why?
I'm not entirely sure of your question but it's harder to take him seriously because firstly he is a celebrity, and therefore gets a privileged lifestyle (invites to events, awards, freebies, etc) and also because of the money he earns (an assumption on my part) that means he is able to pretty much do whatever he wants and pick and choose his work.Once you get so far removed from "normal" life, it becomes hard to remember what it was like when you were at the bottom of the barrel, despite his attempts to remind us that he hasn't always been where he is now ("recovering drug addict").
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I'm not entirely sure of your question but it's harder to take him seriously because firstly he is a celebrity, and therefore gets a privileged lifestyle (invites to events, awards, freebies, etc) and also because of the money he earns (an assumption on my part) that means he is able to pretty much do whatever he wants and pick and choose his work.
I guess the question is, why would the validity of someone's opinion on the system* have any relation to their (relative) success within that system?
*This word in this context is all kinds of wrong, but let's not get sidetracked.
Once you get so far removed from "normal" life, it becomes hard to remember what it was like when you were at the bottom of the barrel, despite his attempts to remind us that he hasn't always been where he is now ("recovering drug addict").
Does it? I don't find it to be so, not that I have ever been at the bottom of any barrels, but I am a long way from where I was, and find it both easy and valuable to remember.
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It's easier to view something objectively when you're not part of it.
Some people step away from normal society by living in a yurt, others are able to because they are rich. Either way their views are just as valid and Brand actually stands a chance of getting people to listen.
I enjoyed reading the piece. He's fun.
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Brand's article on Amy Winehouse was beautiful:
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Saw this on the news earlier http://www.one.org/international/blog/what-500-ugandan-women-lip-synching-to-jessie-j-looks-like/ done by this NGO, https://www.microbanker.com/about-sypo-uganda-ltd
basically a NGO kickstarter -
Russell Brand,
in words,
http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2013/10/russell-brand-on-revolutionToo long, didn't riot.
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So, it looks like the housing bubble 2.0 is getting going in America
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-07-30/here-we-go-again-step-aside-rmbs-rent-backed-securities-are-here-and-them-beginning- -
The London comma bubble is merciless. When it explodes, you had better wear warm socks.
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You should pause for thought before handing out spurious comma advice.
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It's not the commas you have to worry about, despite what McCarthy said, it's the colons... You don't want to be around when a colon bubble bursts.
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Not half.
Soul
Arducius
spenceey
Emyr
JLaw
NotThamesWater
deleted
6pt
Hefty
spindrift
jaw
Khornight2
Mr_Sworld
branwen
Oliver Schick
snottyotter-
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In the news
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@Platini
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/campus-cop-john-pike-who-peppersprayed-occupy-wall-street-protesters-at-university-of-california-is-awarded-38000-in-compensation-for-psychiatric-injuries-29699059.html
Pepper Spray meme cop gets awarded compensation. Er.
At the same time he got death threats, no need for that now, posting a tin of pepperspray surely would've sufficed...? ;)