When I told
my parents about being elected President of the Student Council, I asked for
some advice, I asked ‘How do I be a good leader?’
One of the
many suggestions was to watch an interview with Russell Brand. It’s quite a
strong one and to be sure, controversial one. However, while every single
person I knew was reposting it on facebook saying that it was amazing all I
could think was:
“What a god
damn ass.”
I’m all for
change. I think change is the one think that keeps us as a human race from
going extinct. Granted, that also results in the death of millions of species
and the general screw up of our global environment, but Hey! Change is
happening.
What Brand
talks about, actually defends himself about is the fact that he doesn’t vote.
He never has, and he never will. I think that that’s great. Each to his own,
and I admire him for sticking to his guns.
However,
what I hate is that this man, is a Comedian/Actor by profession. He isn’t a
political thinker, or a philosopher. He is a comedian who says that ‘the system
sucks, so I won’t work with it. I want a new system’
Those words
were searing hot, but they have no strength to it. It will get ample of
support, because the apathetic people that I spoke about last time? They love
it! They’ll make a statue of this clown because he said what ‘had to be said’.
Let’s go
back a second, ‘what exactly did he say?’
That the
government needs to represent the interests of the people. That they need to
solve the economic disparity between the rich and the poor.
Again, we
are not privy to all the intricate decisions that a government makes. That’s a
separate argument all together, however what we are doing? Blindly saying that
the government isn’t working for us.
That’s not
how it works. I love that Brand was calling people for a revolution, and I want
a revolution, but I want a revolution where the people storm the houses of
Government and say, “You will do this for us. We want this. Nothing else.”
But by
saying that you should revolt by not voting? That’s not going to solve
anything. Your vote is important simply from the perspective that it’s your
vote. If you choose to not vote, you are saying that you do not care and you
refuse to be a part of the system that exists.
That is
unbelievably childish. It’s as good as seeing all your friends playing a game,
refusing to play the game, sitting in the mud and decisively saying that you
won’t play until everyone plays your game.
And the
problem that extends from that; is that everyone will have their own game, or
at least different variations of the same type.
Secondly,
Russell Brand is hardly a person to talk about the disparity between the rich
and poor. Yes, this is a personal attack, however, considering the nature of
the statement, a personal touch is required.
Russell Brand
is a celebrity, he recently trashed his Hugo Boss sponsor at an event because
of some god forsaken reason, and a couple of years ago, he got married in
Rajasthan and must have blown more than a couple of million dollars in that
wedding that lasted less than a year. If his dream is to cure the economic
disparity, would it not be more effective to actually take a personal effort in
it?
It’s great
to applaud a man who takes it upon himself to say the things that everyone
wants to say. But if you look at what he’s saying, and realize how unbelievably
retarded it is, you’ll be quick to click the next link.