1/. Please define capitalism.
2/. Please define socialism.
3/. Please define revolution.
4/. Please define dictatorship.
5/. Please define historical obliviousness.
I am not the first of Brand’s critics and I hope that I won’t be the last, although it’s more the critics than their subject matter that I feel the need of correcting.
Your humble servant has shared the now viral interview with the words “I’ve been saying this forever” but I feel like I should be more clear. I have been quite vocal here about my view that there is no future in politics. In that sense I share Brand’s exhaustion at the current political system.
I agree with him on his more obvious arguments, but they are as old as the counterculture itself if not older and he is nothing more but yet another tired and cliche déjà vu of the hippies in the 60s and the anti-war advocates in the 70s the New Leftists of the 80s etc. His eloquence notwithstanding, Brand seems to be quite historically oblivious that we have been here before. He has been (un)fortunate enough to not experience revolt or revolution, especially when those bring about authoritarianism and dictatorship.
Why the hell is such obliviousness excusable? He calls for a vague leftist revolution as if that ever solved anything. He speaks of capitalism and socialism as if he understands their definition. Can we be done with such ignorant tripe already?
There is a thirst for intellectual artists and public figures that “stick it to the man” and have a real debate with the defenders of the status quo, but I would strongly advise the general populace against being easily swooned by a charismatic entertainer with a wide vocabulary. Many political monsters of the past shared this charisma.
Maybe it is time that we stopped making these intellectual fallacies time and time again. Maybe it’s time that we stopped falling in love with every pretty boy who knows big words but little about their meaning.
Maybe we should be a little more damn careful about who our heroes are.
Much love,
Zen Politics
“Russell Brand ‘s Homework” – Published October 27, 2013
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