Wednesday 6 November 2013

The wisdom of Russell Brand


I do not want to equate myself with the (perhaps apocryphal) high court judge who asked "Who are the Beatles?"  but I admit that I knew nothing about Russell Brand until I caught his splendid besting of Jeremy Paxman on Newsnight.  I find Paxman's interviewing technique bullying:  aggressive rudeness to politicians, secure in the knowledge that they dare not lose their rag and answer back in kind.  It was good to see Brand, who clearly felt he had nothing to lose, indeed, as it turns out,  much  to gain, by giving Paxman a taste of his own medicine.

Here are two extract from a lengthy article by Brand in today's Guardian:

When I was poor and I complained about inequality people said I was bitter, now I'm rich and complain      about inequality they say I'm a hypocrite.  I'm beginning to think they just don't want inequality on the agenda. . .

Most of the people who criticised me have a vested interest in the maintenance of the system.  They say the system works. What they mean is "the system works for me."

I hope these extraces tempt you to read the entire article:

 http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/05/russell-brand-democratic-system-newsnight

1 comment:

  1. Not sure that 'wisdom' is the right word for Brand's mixture of anger and accusations. He cleverly anticipates criticisms by admitting mistakes but does not have a political philosophy worthy of 'revolution', unless anarchy is a serious proposition. Anyone who uses a title like 'Booky Wooky' exposes himself to the charge of infantilism.

    ReplyDelete