Friday, October 25, 2013

New Statesman — Russell Brand on revolution: “We no longer have the luxury of tradition”

But before we change the world, we need to change the way we think....
For me the solution has to be primarily spiritual and secondarily political. This, too, is difficult terrain when the natural tribal leaders of the left are atheists, when Marxism is inveterately Godless. When the lumbering monotheistic faiths have given us millennia of grief for a handful of prayers and some sparkly rituals.
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”. This maxim is the very essence of “easier said than done” as it implies the dismantling of our entire socio-economic machinery. By teatime....
We now must live in reality, inner and outer. Consciousness itself must change. My optimism comes entirely from the knowledge that this total social shift is actually the shared responsibility of six billion individuals who ultimately have the same interests. Self-preservation and the survival of the planet. This is a better idea than the sustenance of an elite. The Indian teacher Yogananda said: “It doesn’t matter if a cave has been in darkness for 10,000 years or half an hour, once you light a match it is illuminated.”...
To genuinely make a difference, we must become different; make the tiny, longitudinal shift. Meditate, direct our love indiscriminately and our condemnation exclusively at those with power. Revolt in whatever way we want, with the spontaneity of the London rioters, with the certainty and willingness to die of religious fundamentalists or with the twinkling mischief of the trickster. We should include everyone, judging no one, without harming anyone. The Agricultural Revolution took thousands of years, the Industrial Revolution took hundreds of years, the Technological Revolution took tens, the Spiritual Revolution has come and we have only an instant to act....
The revolution of consciousness is a decision, decisions take a moment. In my mind the revolution has already begun.
Russell Brand

This transported me back to the Sixties and Seventies. Russell Brand is the new Abbie Hofmann and Jerry Rubin and "Emmet Grogin" rolled into one, with a sprinkle of Paul Krassner and a dollop of Hunter Thompson. Throw in a touch of Bucky Fuller, and some Wavy Gravy rapping on LSD. Oh, and some Allen Ginsburg, too. This guy is goin' places. Will he be a successor of dearly departed George Carlin?

If you haven't seen this interview yet:


4,212,694
NEWSNIGHT: Paxman vs Brand - full interview

3 comments:

Roger Erickson said...

Well duh! Note to world: "We never DID have the luxury of TOO MUCH tradition."

This is a restatement - for the People of Walmart - of the theories of
1) evolution?
2) statistical process control?
3) War Doctrine? (e.g., Sun Tzu)?

Aside from all the Sturm & Drang, just summarize these basic concepts, and teach them to a higher proportion of 5th graders?

THAT is how cultures evolve.

They tune their processes for steering emerging citizens to newly discovered take-off points.

Aka, loading emerging trains of individual and group thought at better stations, sooner.

This ain't rocket science. And there's always a more concise way to get'r done, sooner & better.

Tom Hickey said...

A pretty consistent social pattern is initial break with former rigidity and a burst of new freedom and creativity. Then success breeds convention and eventually convention turns into tradition, at which time no one remember exactly why the conventions arose and the context in which they produced success has changed. The group then become sclerotic and perishes unless the cycle begins anew with a repudiation of tradition and rigidity, and there is new burst of freedom and creativity.

Unknown said...

It's the money system that is destroying the planet since:

1) It drives nearly everyone into debt.
2) Servicing that debt requires exponential growth.

OTOH, common stock as private money does not require borrowing, much less at interest.

But I've poisoned the pill by appealing to Scripture, haven't I? Well, here I go again:

In the Bible, "profit" is good while "profit taking" isn't! So that rules out usury right off the bat. OTOH, common stock as private money allows profits to be distributed via stock splits without "taking profits" via a reduction in the assets!

But continue on with a government-backed counterfeiting cartel cause TINA? Don't you wish? Well, too bad because there is an ethical alternative.