Brand and Paxman
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gnome wrote:jondwhite wrote:Brand also marched on a Anonymous group demo recently.
The revolution can't be far away then.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b04nvh5j/daily-politics-06112014Gnome, you are in good company. Rod Liddle also thinks Russell Brand is an "idiot". Why does liddle think Brand is an "idiot" because he tells people not to vote for the same shit time and time again. What would Liddle have us vote for I wonder. Probably the same shit time and time again. He is a professional cynic.Liddle was asked if such protests achieve anything, his answer "No…nothing at all….except to let politicians know there is a degree of anger out there.". Then asked if it was worthwhile he replied, "Yeah, I think it probably is from time to time."Liddle went on to talk of the lack of coherence of such marches and demonstrations. So he accepts there is anger at politicians for imposing austerity for something that was caused by the likes of the 1%, (as the public percieves it) and presumably like John Lydon we must use our vote.
Liddle ought to stick to writing about football, where he can sometimes be amusing when not being boorish. He's one of those figures who has 'mellowed with age', politically speaking. Not that there was much there to begin with – he was in the SWP for a short while.
RodshawWhat is it with Liddle, is he a failed "lefty" who now rails against just about anything? No doubt he thinks he's seen it all. He'd probably think us lot a bunch of idealist loonies.If he has a go at Russell Brand for telling people it's a waste of time voting, which is correct unless there's SPGB representation, what does he think we can do to improve things? Like John Lydon, I suspect he thinks we should complain to "our" local MP and use our vote strategically. Wow!By the way Gnome, my apologies for lumping ya in with Liddle. On reading my last post just now, I went too far mentioning any connection between the two of you. You are a fellow socialist and worthy of more respect than that, no matter what our disagreements on this forum may be.
This could have been written in responce to Brand and his "spiritual" revolution:http://www.worldsocialism.org/spgb/socialist-standard/1980s/1989/no-1020-august-1989/personal-growth-or-social-revolution
DJP, I think using this example is to unfairly disparage Brand. Brands call for "revolution" to be at the forefront of the agenda, isn't, or doesn't appear to be some half arsed appeal to spirituality. Lets call an orange an orange and compare like with like, not what someone would "like" it to be. Ca fucking piche, as Brand would no doubt say.
90% of want brand is saying is shit hot. We can either join the media and major capitalist parties in the their attempt to destroy him or we we can draw attention to the 90% Steve is right, it is clear what Brand means about 'spiritualism' "Total revolution of consciousness and our entire social, political and economic system is what interests me, but that’s not on the ballot. Is utopian revolution possible? The freethinking social architect Buckminster Fuller said humanity now faces a choice: oblivion or utopia. We’re inertly ambling towards oblivion, is utopia really an option? By spiritual I mean the acknowledgement that our connection to one another and the planet must be prioritised. Buckminster Fuller outlines what ought be our collective objectives succinctly: “to make the world work for 100 per cent of humanity in the shortest possible time through spontaneous co-operation without ecological offence or the disadvantage of anyone”. We don't need to distort or misrepresent what Brand is saying, let's leave that to the supporters of capitalism.
Actually, I think his "spirituality" is rather more than that. He believes in "God". As a recovering addict he has been taught to imagine a "higher power" looking down on him and watching what he does. Presumably he feels the need to believe in that to stop him becoming an addict again. But he's not a christian but as far as I can work out some sort of New Age pantheist (we're all part of God).That doesn't necessarily detract from his political views, much of which is not all that different from ours as you point out.
There's some info re Brand's book 'Revolution' here -http://medialens.org/index.php?option=com_acymailing&no_html=1&ctrl=url&urlid=4063&mailid=314&subid=20947for those interested.Not a review as such but quite a few quotes. I got it as an email from http://www.webmaster@medialens.org
And part 2 has just arrived:http://medialens.org/index.php?option=com_acymailing&no_html=1&ctrl=url&urlid=4080&mailid=315&subid=20947Is puerile a reasonable description of so much of the UK mainstream media?
He's certainly hit a nerve with the braying horses of the establishment. He's getting revolution talked about, and good for him.Imagine the vitriol that would be hurled at the WSM by the mainstream press if we got as much publicity as Brand is getting. I wish.
One for your diary 11th DecemberBrand appearing on Question Time with Faragehttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04v85qt
I see Paxman has since come out as a "One Nation Tory" and has been canvassed but turned down being the Tory candidate for Mayor of London in 2016:http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/tories-urge-jeremy-paxman-to-run-for-london-mayor-9889047.html
rodshaw wrote:He's certainly hit a nerve with the braying horses of the establishment. He's getting revolution talked about, and good for him.Imagine the vitriol that would be hurled at the WSM by the mainstream press if we got as much publicity as Brand is getting. I wish.I agree. If Brand manages to use 'revolution' and 'peaceful' and 'democratic' together he has done us a favour. All we need now is 'socialism' to be linked to the same words plus a few others like 'world common ownership' and 'abolition of the wages system'
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