Russell Brand's view on the riots
Discussion
"These young people have no sense of community because they haven’t been given one. They have no stake in society because Cameron’s mentor Margaret Thatcher told us there’s no such thing."
That Thatcher! Is there nothing she can't be blamed for? 13 years of f
k ups from Labour, and it's still all Thatchers fault!
That Thatcher! Is there nothing she can't be blamed for? 13 years of f
k ups from Labour, and it's still all Thatchers fault!nellyleelephant said:
"These young people have no sense of community because they haven’t been given one. They have no stake in society because Cameron’s mentor Margaret Thatcher told us there’s no such thing."
That Thatcher! Is there nothing she can't be blamed for? 13 years of fk ups from Labour, and it's still all Thatchers fault!
Granted, I should have probably put 'on the whole' That Thatcher! Is there nothing she can't be blamed for? 13 years of f
k ups from Labour, and it's still all Thatchers fault!
Millionaire Hollywood resident said:
As you have by now surely noticed, I don’t know enough about politics to ponder a solution and my hands are sticky with blood money from representing corporate interests through film, television and commercials, venerating, through my endorsements and celebrity, products and a lifestyle that contributes to the alienation of an increasingly dissatisfied underclass.
I agree with this bit. The rest is irrelevant handwringing tosh.
Good write up that many here won't agree with.
"I remember David Cameron saying “hug a hoodie” but I haven’t seen him doing it, why would he? Hoodies don’t vote, they’ve realised it’s pointless, that whoever gets elected will just be a different shade of the “we don’t give a toss about you party.”
Politicians don’t represent the interests of people that don’t vote. They barely care about the people who do vote. They look after the corporations who get them elected. Cameron only spoke out against News International when it became evident to us, US, the people, not to him, (like Rose West, “He must’ve known”) that the Newspapers Murdoch controlled were happy to desecrate the dead in the pursuit of another exploitative, distracting story.
Why am I surprised that these young people behave destructively, “mindlessly”, motivated only by self-interest? How should we describe the actions of the city bankers that brought our economy to it’s knees in 2010? Altruistic? mindful? Kind? But then again, they do wear suits, so they deserve to be bailed out, perhaps that’s why not one of them has been imprisoned. And they got away with a lot more than a few fking pairs of trainers."
Well?
"I remember David Cameron saying “hug a hoodie” but I haven’t seen him doing it, why would he? Hoodies don’t vote, they’ve realised it’s pointless, that whoever gets elected will just be a different shade of the “we don’t give a toss about you party.”
Politicians don’t represent the interests of people that don’t vote. They barely care about the people who do vote. They look after the corporations who get them elected. Cameron only spoke out against News International when it became evident to us, US, the people, not to him, (like Rose West, “He must’ve known”) that the Newspapers Murdoch controlled were happy to desecrate the dead in the pursuit of another exploitative, distracting story.
Why am I surprised that these young people behave destructively, “mindlessly”, motivated only by self-interest? How should we describe the actions of the city bankers that brought our economy to it’s knees in 2010? Altruistic? mindful? Kind? But then again, they do wear suits, so they deserve to be bailed out, perhaps that’s why not one of them has been imprisoned. And they got away with a lot more than a few f
king pairs of trainers."Well?
Edited by Mojocvh on Friday 12th August 14:54
nellyleelephant said:
"These young people have no sense of community because they haven’t been given one. They have no stake in society because Cameron’s mentor Margaret Thatcher told us there’s no such thing."
That Thatcher! Is there nothing she can't be blamed for? 13 years of fk ups from Labour, and it's still all Thatchers fault!
And they can never be bothered to quote her correctly either:That Thatcher! Is there nothing she can't be blamed for? 13 years of f
k ups from Labour, and it's still all Thatchers fault!"There is no such thing as society: there are individual men and women, and there are families."
Margaret Thatcher
Mojocvh said:
Why am I surprised that these young people behave destructively, “mindlessly”, motivated only by self-interest? How should we describe the actions of the city bankers that brought our economy to it’s knees in 2010? Altruistic? mindful? Kind? But then again, they do wear suits, so they deserve to be bailed out, perhaps that’s why not one of them has been imprisoned. And they got away with a lot more than a few fking pairs of trainers."
Well?
Ah yes, those bankers again. The bogey men of the last couple of years thanks to the constant repetition of the mantra "it was the bankers wot did it".king pairs of trainers."Well?
What I object to more than anything is that Brand has his opinions published and read, yet the people who actually have some experience of the kids being talked about are pushed to the margins.
This Livejournal entry was written by a woman who actually teaches these London kids and has far more of an insight than some 3rd rate Hollywood dwelling celebrity who's so far removed from his middle class roots (never mind having any experience of the realities of life on a Clapham council estate) that his opinions are formed at best from received wisdom and the bias of his own politics.
Livejournal said:
What these riots - which aren't demonstrations, but parties got out of hand, with fires and prizes - is the degree of alienation from their own communities, their inability to acknowledge that they are part of any community. They also don't see themselves as angry or even oppressed, because they cannot look beyond the circumstances they are in and the peer pressures around them. And it is about bad parenting, to the extent that when the 13 to 20% (of children leaving school with no qualifications) become parents they have no aspirations or responsibilities for their children to inherit. That won't change if you treat merely them as victims, and enhance their sense of entitlement to trainers and TVs, nor if you treat them merely as criminals and process them through a judicial system that encourages recidivism.
He's not really said anything at all there though, has he? I mean, apart from a verbose lament on the nature of celebrity and his own self-obbsession, masquerading as self-awareness and irony, all he's really said is "Let's not have kids being all disconnected and let's make them feel part of society so they don't smash it".
Incisive stuff.
Incisive stuff.
Disastrous said:
...a verbose lament on the nature of celebrity and his own self-obbsession, masquerading as self-awareness and irony...
exactly what i was thinking but was too fick to express. as if admitting his considerable contribution to and success from idiot culture, somehow makes his views more inciteful. suprisingly well written though
Edited by fbrs on Friday 12th August 15:54
He often writes or speaks in this way - consciously striving to sound like an intellectual, and trying too hard. It makes him sound like a pompous prick, and I find it almost unreadable.
And like so many others he has utterly failed to understand the "no such thing as society" comment. I've no great affection for Thatcher, but at least I took the trouble to understand what that quote was about, and it isn't what those who regurgitate it think.
And like so many others he has utterly failed to understand the "no such thing as society" comment. I've no great affection for Thatcher, but at least I took the trouble to understand what that quote was about, and it isn't what those who regurgitate it think.
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