The Revolution

I'm a little late on the commentary but did you see the Paxman-Brand interview? It's here if you missed it.

So...is there going to be a revolution? And will we all sing, like in Les Miserables? Because that is my only knowledge of how a revolution would be, and every time I hear the songs I wish I believed in something as passionately as those characters. 

It seems like Russell Brand does care. It's difficult to tell at first...like when he uses too many fancy words (like he is vomiting a thesaurus) I'm not sure I believe him. It's too scripted. Too pretentious. But then he gets angry and I'm convinced. 

I read an article later, calling him "daft and dangerous" for telling people not to vote. That it does make a difference. But really he isn't saying not to vote, is he? He's saying don't vote unless there is something worth voting for. It seems fair enough really, but I like voting and my history teacher drummed it into us girls that it's an insult to the people she taught us about to waste that right. We studied 'Women's Role in the 20th Century,' where there was much throwing of self under horses and hunger strikes. And then 'Popular Movements' where men protested about all sorts of stuff, but the general aim was a better life and a say in the country they lived in.

And now? Pshhh! Who can be bothered? I'm not sure my life would be massively different if the government changed.

Which is Russell Brand's point. I should care shouldn't I? I should vote because I believe it will make a difference, not because it makes me feel like a grown up.

The thing that he isn't giving me an alternative. What is this new system he has in mind, now he's had time to consider it? I'm no politician or person of knowledge but I don't think there is any good way. 

What a pessimist!! But it's true...people are selfish. And there's the rest of the world. This Utopia would have to be worldwide or it is impossible. We can't exist alone. 

And at this point my brain explodes. No wonder the government are rubbish. It's a quite the headfuck, this world. Where do you even start? 

Sometimes I wonder what I would do if I was Queen of the World, but I would be terrible. I'm almost positive the only way everyone would be equal is if I wound back time to when we were hunter-gatherers. No one with power...they can't be trusted. On the other hand, there are too many people now and we'd all end up with bad teeth and no cake. So it's back to the drawing board.

Thankfully, I don't need to think about it. I don't have any kind of say. What I can do is be vocal when I want something changed. Like that time I wrote a blog about potholes ruining my enjoyment of cycling. You'll all be pleased to hear that bit of road is smooth now and I (vainly and without any evidence) would like to claim artist responsibility for that happening. Boris probably reads my blog, no?

It seems a concern of the writer of the Brand: Daft and Dangerous article that Brand is like the Pied Piper, leading the young into apathy. Probably though, he is not telling anyone what to think, but saying what many people already think. 

I wish I thought it would make a difference. But maybe I'm just being part of the problem. When the revolution comes, I'll join in at the chorus of Do You Hear the People Sing.

We need to talk.

I try my best to avoid the fact but I'm just going to come out and say it. I am bad at confrontation. There. I admitted it. It wasn't so hard, was it?

Unfortunately, in real life though, it really is. It's all very well to complain about stuff in an online blog that people may or may not read; a place where I am both queen and an anonymity; it's quite another to tell someone face to face that I got a problem with them. You got a problem with that, huh?!

Instead of telling people carefully and tactfully that I would like them to be on time please, or wash up please, or make an effort please, I just tell other people my tale of woe. Basically I bitch. And because I find this an appalling trait I'm going to bitch about it to you. 

I don't even know what the point is. The people I complain to can't do anything about it, and they probably don't care at all. I, however, get to have my little rant without provoking the possibility of an argument, which I will always lose because I forget my very rational feelings and opinions and will want to cry. It's a problem. In fact the only person I can argue successfully with is my sister and that is only through years of practice. Besides, that's how we say I love you so it doesn't count at all. 

One of my best friends, who is the most honest person I know, has no qualms about telling me when I'm being an idiot. And then it's fine again. Problem solved because I know about it. But no matter how many times she tells me to man up and have a conversation with someone...I just can't do it. Massive fail. How does she do it?!

What I do do, is have the conversation, argument, whatever, in my head several hundred times as a rehearsal. I'm always stunningly articulate and convincing and it ends beautifully with me wiping away a single glistening tear before my adversary admits their wrongdoing and has my forgiveness generously and moving bestowed... 

But I can never quite remember how I started... Then it starts seeming like a good idea to write it down. Like a script, you know? I do that when I have to leave a voice message so I know it works. Means you get to have a proper practice before, and don't forget to say something crucial like what your name is. 

On the other hand, if you were interrupted mid-speech, you might loose track. You could have a list of prompts of course, but that would be weird and I would be tempted to just hand over my bullet pointed list and run away. And if I'm going to do that I might as well write a letter of complaint, right? 

Wrong. 

Seems a shame but I cannot become a leaver of notes (SEE: I Lick My Cheese, And Other Notes From the Frontline of Flatsharing (I'm not saying I'm complaining about my flatmates...I should put that out there!)). That would make me a sorry individual and unnecessarily passive-agressive. We don't like those people.

Note to self: we also don't like a bitch so stop it.

What is the point, I ask myself, of relationships without communication? You see, I know in theory how it works, but in practice I'd rather the communication be about what would happen in the roof caved in, or how to make crumble. Did you know that when Jack the Ripper...?

What would be ideal would be if people regularly asked me what was bothering me about them, and as an incentive told me how I was annoying in return. Bish bash bosh...everyone's happy, chests cleared, laundry aired. 

The worst of it is that sometimes I want to say something nice to someone and I can't do that either. It sticks in the throat. I'm very much a fan of the neutral. The safe. The impersonal. 

It is personal though I suppose, life. I should probably admit it eventually. 

So I have a question: you want to talk?