Robert Kirchner — Russell Brand’s Revolution

Who would have thunk that the revolution would be spearheaded by Russell Brand. Robert Kirchner looks at Brand and his latest book, Revolution, from the vantage of an anarchist (of the left).

Why should anyone serious care about Russell Brand? Because culture shapes society and its institutions and celebrities and music shape culture, especially the culture emerging with youth.

So here's a celebrity who self-identifies with anarchism in a contemporary environment of high employment where youth sees its future disappearing, class power is coming to the fore, and populism is rising.

Turns out that TPTB are indeed taking note of Brand and not favorably.

Center for a Stateless Society

Russell Brand’s Revolution
Robert Kirchner

Adam Parsons — Sign me up to Russell Brand's sharing revolution

“The agricultural Revolution took thousands of years,” he writes, “the industrial Revolution took hundreds, the technological tens. The spiritual Revolution, the Revolution we are about to realise, will be fast because the organisms are in place; all that needs to shift is consciousness, and that moves rapidly.”

Open Democracy
Sign me up to Russell Brand's sharing revolution
Adam Parsons

Chris Dillow — Russell Brand & our political culture

Pointing to the ugliness of this plant, however, should not distract us from the fact that our biggest problem is our anti-intellectual political climate.

 This coming out of Britain, which is hyper-intellectual compared with the US.

I am not sure that this is a good criticism of Brand and the position he stands for though, which is basically the position Occupy Wall Street took in refusing to make specific demands.

What this position states is that ordinary people are not supposed to figure out the details of governance, but they are not so dumb as not to notice when things are a mess. This position is most effectively stated in the streets. Getting into the street sends a strong message to those who are supposed to be smart enough to figure it out, which is why they occupy the positions they do, that they are doing an unacceptable job and that job is in jeopardy.

This argument was made among various activist groups in which I participated during the anti-war demonstrations in the Sixties and Seventies. There was no agreement on solutions but unanimity on the need for taking action against an intolerable situation.

This is actually a good strategy and tactic as a fulcrum. Of course, there has to be a debate about alternatives, but the beginning of a revolt against unacceptable conditions and behavior is not the time to be having it. Focus instead on what most people revolting agree on, which is what is unacceptable. Then let a hundred flowers bloom. Some of those flowers are going to come from TPTB interested in not getting shown the door. But that won't happen unless they think that there is a good chance that they will be turned out, and they understand the consequences of righteous anger a lot better than reasoned argument.

But at some point, solutions have to be found, agreed upon, and implemented. This is the outcome not so much of planning, however, but of action. Events in motion evoke practical solutions, and the necessity of time forces compromise where previously different parties stood on principle.

Stumbling and Mumbling
Russell Brand & our political culture
Chris Dillow | Investors Chronicle

Natasha Hakimi Zapata — Russell Brand on How Capitalism Silences the Inherent Human Desire for Fairness

Man on fire. 

It's really about undeserved privilege.

Truthout
Russell Brand on How Capitalism Silences the Inherent Human Desire for Fairness

Natasha Hakimi Zapata

Prachi Gupta — Russell Brand calls upon thousands for “peaceful, effortless, joyful revolution”

Back to the Sixties.

Salon
Russell Brand calls upon thousands for “peaceful, effortless, joyful revolution”

Prachi Gupta

Russell Brand: we deserve more from our democratic system

Following his appearance on Newsnight, the comedian explains why he believes there are alternatives to our current regime

The Guardian
Russell Brand: we deserve more from our democratic system
Russell Brand

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.

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

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:

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NEWSNIGHT: Paxman vs Brand - full interview