On a side note it's really worth checking out his old radio shows with Matt Morgan.
Russell Brand - Moving Right
- Thread starter Pogue Mahone
- Start date
He#s a hypocrite for taking part in the gentrification of that area he is fighting for. Also, no, none of those two were hypocrites.
So what should he do? Give away all his money and live in a bag? Or make no attempt to raise the very real problem of housing for the poor when he has the chance? Which of those would satisfy you?
I'm no huge supporter of Brand, but I'll stick up for him in arguments like this. Which seem compltely ad hominem, and only good for dismissing an argument, rather than having it.
I couldn't give a damn about his money. You asked why he's a hypocrite, I explained it. Its nice to see that someone cares, but he still contributed to their problem, can't you see that? Even he does. Which doesn't make it right. Besides, at the time Karl marx was writing, only really people in his social standing and higher could afford to publish books, and Che Guevara could afford to do that for similar reasons (albeit in a different time).
His handbags with Peter Hitchens are always entertaining.... (start at 8:10)
I can see it, I just don't think it's of much real relevance. It doesn't make the problem any less worthy. And I don't see why the real world practicality of getting property at a level you can afford, should preculde someone from having a legitimate opinion on those at a lower level. Should he not buy any property out of principle? Should he buy much cheaper property, therefore taking it away from someone who might've needed it more? If you've no tangible idea of what you think he should be doing, then you've little basis to have a go at him for what he is. It's like saying no one with a car has any cause to talk about global warming. We're all selfish. The least we can do is try and be altruistic as well.
Besides, he himself states he rents. Which in realistic terms for someone like Brand, IS a lesser evil. He could've easily bought a mansion with his wealth.
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It's very hard to live an un-hypocritical life, when you think about it. I think global warning is a big problem and I'm in favour of legislation against it. However my carbon footprint is way bigger than it could be if I really made a serious effort to cut it down. I don't like the thought of working class families being priced out of their family home but I bought a nice house in a formerly working class part of Dublin because I think it's a nice place to live and rear a family.
I don't get out on the streets to protest about either of these issues. Not because I'm a hypocrite but because I'm lazy. I think I'd be a better person if I was less lazy, whether or not that makes me any more of a hypocrite than I already am.
I don't get out on the streets to protest about either of these issues. Not because I'm a hypocrite but because I'm lazy. I think I'd be a better person if I was less lazy, whether or not that makes me any more of a hypocrite than I already am.
I do think he's really funny, seen his stand up a few times. In terms of speed of thought, which that Dickensian vocabulary adds to (but equally can get a bit annoying). In terms of politics though, he's lost me on telling people not to vote. He thinks "the system" is flawed when in actual fact its the fact that what politicians run on is many times popular enough for people for them to be elected on.
So having a better informed electorate (and not a "revolution of consciousness") is key. That and making people realise to be flexible ideologically when it comes to politics which is the only way we can solve some of our problems. He is bright but not that much more than your populist leftist posting on a messenger board or the Guardians comments is free section would be.
I do like him but would have felt much more tuned to his message if instead of writing a book he started/supported a political party to compete with the "status quo". His vagueness in the message (the usual "tax the corporations") isn't going to really lead anywhere. There are political pundits/commentators (e.g. Jon Stewart) who many listen to and admire with regards to left-leaning politics. And that's because they can see through the partisan rhetoric to offer a much more subversive insight into what's wrong. Rather than just the empty sloganeering vibe which is what Brand is giving off.
But if he brings highlight to these things to people who wouldn't otherwise be engaged in politics then I suppose that's fair play. And he is getting a bizarrely overtly hostile reaction to his speaking out about certain things.
So having a better informed electorate (and not a "revolution of consciousness") is key. That and making people realise to be flexible ideologically when it comes to politics which is the only way we can solve some of our problems. He is bright but not that much more than your populist leftist posting on a messenger board or the Guardians comments is free section would be.
I do like him but would have felt much more tuned to his message if instead of writing a book he started/supported a political party to compete with the "status quo". His vagueness in the message (the usual "tax the corporations") isn't going to really lead anywhere. There are political pundits/commentators (e.g. Jon Stewart) who many listen to and admire with regards to left-leaning politics. And that's because they can see through the partisan rhetoric to offer a much more subversive insight into what's wrong. Rather than just the empty sloganeering vibe which is what Brand is giving off.
But if he brings highlight to these things to people who wouldn't otherwise be engaged in politics then I suppose that's fair play. And he is getting a bizarrely overtly hostile reaction to his speaking out about certain things.
I didn't mind him at one point, but his recent and seemingly constant need to speak out against capitalism, despite having a lifestyle funded by being a part of celebrity culture which itself is deeply rooted and a product of capitalism is disgustingly hypocritical.
The cynic in me can't help but believe his actions are driven by a need to be accepted or even revered by the 'youth' of the country (for want of a better term) to further his own career via book/DVD/ticket sales.
I agree wholeheartedly with the term used by others in this thread: Champagne Socialist. He's a total contradiction.
The cynic in me can't help but believe his actions are driven by a need to be accepted or even revered by the 'youth' of the country (for want of a better term) to further his own career via book/DVD/ticket sales.
I agree wholeheartedly with the term used by others in this thread: Champagne Socialist. He's a total contradiction.
I didn't say anything about what he should do.
He'd be making more money and be revered more if he kept on doing films and kept at the celebrity culture. Going on newsnight and the like won't gain him many younger fans nor will is will it make him richer.
Can never get my head round him and Christopher being brothers.
Given that he's just a frustrated guy saying "the system's fecked up man" I find this reaction against him completely bewildering.
I know. That's my point. You say he's contributing to the problem, but there's very little he could be doing that wouldn't be, besides perhaps wandering the streets with a sleeping bag. Much like the "Anti-Capitalist book selling" outrage. How else do you get a book out? If you give it away for free, who's going to print it for free? Das Kapital isn't free either you know? It's currently £8.99 on Amazon.
It's a side issue. The kind of easy, meme worthy, retweetable, distracting "hypocrisy" that does well as a soundbyte but doesn't consider the real practicalities of politics, or indeed life. Which is amusingly rather fitting for Brand.
Thoroughly enjoy his Trews videos, particularly when he targets Fox News' Sean Hannity & Bill O' Reilly. Found out he had a youtube channel through the Rubberbandits (Irish comdey duo) via Twitter.
A very bright and articulate couple of lads, despite their stage personae.
Hey I didn't say selling a book is hypocritical or making money is. You're trying to say I think all of that is hypocritical when only his contribution to the gentrification is. He talks impractical, idiotic drivel to me, and even if he has a point he'll contradict his revolutionary stance by telling people not to vote or use the system. How can I get behind someone like this?
Yes yes. I got it from a public library.
I didn't mean that TBF - I was talking about him gurning into a camera with the idiots in Anonymous masks who protested in London last month, or taking part in the marches on Downing Street in the last few days (again, managing to thrust himself into the BBC News cameras, only to have a meltdown when his intentions were questioned by the reporter).
It reeks of him hoping to be picked up as some sort of hero of the people, which is only going to further his career in the end if successful.
He's been doing shit like that for years though, unrelated to his career.
I'm not saying you should. And I completely agree that the voting thing is ridiculous, and dangerous. I'm far from the kind of person who shares his stuff on social media, I just sympathise with this particular backlash. You say you've no qualms with the book thing, but surely it's exactly the same issue? He lives in a system he doesn't agree with. There's surely no way to criticise it without being hypocritical? Besides not living in it, or not speaking out. Both of which would carry their own kind of hypocrisy (you don't live here!/You have these views but do nothing about it!)
Most of us probably have issues with the banking system, but all of us willingly contribute to it. Apart from Kenn Dodd, obvioulsy.
He gets labelled an idiot more disproportionately than anyone else I can think of. It regularly baffles me how anyone could listen to what he has to say and conclude that he is an idiot. He is far from it IMO and I think he's using his fame in a great way. He's a perceptive, considerate and eloquent person and I cannot fault him really. I enjoy watching his videos, if nothing else.
Is it unrelated though? I've seen him do his stand up routine before now, and a lot of it was the same kind of thing as we see now - calling out capitalism (he's a celebrity making money from people buying his 'brand'), reading out newspapers on stage and mocking their sensationalist pieces (yet gives regular interviews to tabloids and magazines for more exposure).
On one hand, he evidently has issues with capitalism and the current political regime, yet feeds directly into it when it suits him to make money. At least as far as I can see.
I don't care even if he is a champagne socialist; he's voicing the concerns of people who have precious few opportunities to be heard. Paul Weller did much the same for many of my generation, and I doubt he's skint...if he's a millionaire, it doesn't matter to me - I'm grateful to him regardless.
I'm not sure a champagne socialist is even a bad thing. Is it better to be a cnut who acknowledges he's a cnut, or a decent guy with a weakness for personal comfort?
I'm sure I'm a champagne socialist in a lot of ways. I'd imagine a few of us are.
I'm sure I'm a champagne socialist in a lot of ways. I'd imagine a few of us are.
Definitely, fantastic podcasts to make the commute more bearable. It's a real shame he was forced off the air by politically correct bores.
I actually like Brand's social commentary. He reminds us of ideas and issues that warrant greater discussion, perhaps from a different perspective. What I find a bit problematic is when people start blindly following everything he says instead of thinking for themselves.
I don't think it had anything to do with political correctness. Harassing an actor doesn't exactly fall under the remit of "offending a group at a social disadvantage"
"Political Correctness" is fast becoming the new irony. A lot of people don't really get what it is.
The idea that Brand should be criticised for not checking where his estate agents are registered and paying tax is one of the most idiotic things I've ever heard.
And what is his other choice? Paying for a little reasonably priced house at the expense of someone who wasn't worth £9m and get slaughtered for that? Blaming an individual for not disadvantaging himself to try and correct the moral failures of our society is the most disgusting type of buck-passing. Brand shouldn't have to turn down money and thoroughly vet his estate agents tax returns to make a point that the system is wrong.
If we're having a revolution I vote the first ones we behead are the droves of these fecking boring, one dimensional 'celebrities' society seems to be blindly obsessed with.
The prank phone call was a down point as I think that if Matt had been in the studio at the time it most likely wouldn't have happened(He was always worried about the show getting into trouble). I wasn't a massive fan of Brands comedy before hearing the shows but they are really great radio.The massively chaotic feel to them has it's charm and it's actually quite sweet hearted at times which compared to other shows is a really nice touch.
Also 'PIN PIN'
Having a problem with him calling a pensioner to boast about shagging his grand daughter is being politically correct is it? 
'here Russell, piss in my face, you can do no wrong for thou art certainly the messiah'
Champagne socialists will be the second group I target during the revolution by the way.
'here Russell, piss in my face, you can do no wrong for thou art certainly the messiah'
Champagne socialists will be the second group I target during the revolution by the way.
Have you ever watched one of his videos @Eyepopper? Do you think anyone who admires him is 'blindly obsessed' with him?
Ahhh 'champagne socialists', just a superb way to spot idiots.
Yeah I've watched plenty of his videos, and yeah if you think him calling a pensioner to boast about shagging his granddaughter is all gravy, and that anyone who thinks otherwise is just being all PC - then yeah, I'd say there's at least a lack of objectivity going on.
I'm sure most people don't condone that, but everyone is entitled to make mistakes and poor judgements throughout their life, surely? Does one action have to define someone indefinitely?
What did you think of his videos after watching them?
Everyone with a certain amount of money should be a Tory then?
I've never really understood the insuly of 'champagne socialists'. It just seems like a conservative invented phrase to laugh at rich people who aren't cnuts.
I never said otherwise.. I was responding directly to someone saying the only reason he's not on the radio anymore was because of PC hysteria....
I agree with a huge amount of what he says. I just don't find anything revolutionary, innovative or particularly constructive in it. Most of it is basically the fat you chew when you're putting the world to rights over a few pints isn't it?
I admire him using his status to promote his arguments, although I doubt it's going to do his book, DVD and ticket sales any harm or cost him anything - but who says it should.
What bugs me is the that the thousands of people listening to what he's saying wouldn't give it the time of day if it wasn't Russel Brand saying it.