Sunday, May 04, 2014

Making sense of Russell Brand's revolution

Last year, Russell Brand wrote an article for the New Statesman calling for his kind of revolution. As he told the Parliamentary Select Committee on drugs and addiction, he is verbose, so I have attempted to précis, paraphrase (and  re-order logically) his 4,759 words down to 372. I think I have been fair; I have certainly tried to be.

My summary is below; please click this link for the full essay:

http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2013/10/russell-brand-on-revolution
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I am bored by politics, disillusioned with politicians, and have never voted. Most Members of Parliament are contemptible. They are all the same, irrespective of party affiliation. It is better to reject the political system altogether than to validate it by voting.
Most people do not care about representative politics. Their apathy is a consequence of the system’s irrelevance to their needs, yet it suits our rulers.

Big business has corrupted our political agencies. Businesses and banks exploit and overcharge us. Meanwhile, the benefits previously won for ordinary people by socialism are being removed. Young people cannot amass wealth. The rich exploit them as consumers and punish them for protesting, but escape justice for their own economically harmful greed.
A modicum of material comfort is essential. However, more does not greatly increase happiness and threatens to destroy the world. Our overconsumption and waste cause want and squalor elsewhere.

Old religions, nationalism and other social constructs are not equipped to deal with the current ecological crisis, which threatens our survival. Nor are politicians, with their outdated thinking abetted by professional media advisers.
Conservatism is born of the natural instincts of desire (fostered by materialistic culture) and fear (spread by the media), both cultivated and managed by government, which seeks to set us against each other. We should not, as they wish, resent immigration (which is implied by the free movement of international capital), nor condemn rioters. However, atheistic Marxism is also a form of social atomisation, and divides us into opposing groups.

We need a complete revolution of consciousness and of the social, political and economic system. The solution is primarily spiritual, that is, we should care for each other and the environment. The new spirituality is ecological and inclusive.
Peaceful demonstrations are ineffective. Riots are a direct form of political action - and fun (socialists are too serious). We should revolt against the cause of our problems, which is those who now hold power.

We should revolt in any way we wish, whether as rioters, religious fundamentalists or simply mischief-makers, provided we include all and neither judge nor harm anyone.
History is accelerating; the brief opportunity for the Spiritual Revolution must be seized now. This will engage the young and refresh socialism.


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4 comments:

Woodsy42 said...

If he gives me half his money I'll think about supporting him.

Sobers said...

Woodsy42 nails it. Just another champagne/druggy socialist who has more money than 99.9% of the population, but fancies lecturing the rest of us on how much tax we should pay, but would be off to LA as fast as a 747 could carry him (first class natch) if taxes went up on people like him. Cf Rufus Hound as well. Another Lefty media type lecturing us about the benefits of socialism while setting up his tax affairs in the most efficient manner possible.

Hypocritical little authoritarian shits the lot of them.

Sobers said...

PS - I have a suggestion - the Coalition should set up an entirely voluntary Socialism Tax system. It would run in parallel to the current income tax system, be identical, other than the rates would be higher at each tax band. I'd suggest 25% basic, 50% middle rate and 75% top rate. Then if you wanted you could voluntarily opt in to this tax rate. And that decision would be binding until the next General Election. You could then choose to stay or revert to the normal system.

That would solve all the problems of people like Russell Brand - the first question to ask would be - 'Do you pay the Socialism Tax?' And if not, you could ignore them entirely as the hypocrites they are.

A K Haart said...

Has he found his Yoko Ono yet?