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.
