Russell Brand quotes on revolution

[Ichingcarpenter]

Last edited Sat Jan 3, 2015, 05:28 PM - Edit history (1)

“The only Revolution that can really change the world is the one in your own consciousness, and mine has already begun.”



“If you want to understand what’s most important to a society, don’t examine its art or literature, simply look at its biggest buildings.” In medieval societies, the biggest buildings were its churches and palaces; using Campbell’s method, we can assume these were feudal cultures that revered their leaders and worshipped God. In modern Western cities, the biggest buildings are the banks—bloody great towers that dominate the docklands—and the shopping centers, which architecturally ape the cathedrals they’ve replaced: domes, spires, eerie celestial calm, fountains for fonts, food courts for pews.”

“A small minority cannot control an uncooperative majority, so they must be distracted, divided, tyrannized, or anesthetized into compliance.”

“In the U.S., the 400 richest people have as much as 185 million people, over 60 percent of the population. As absurd as that is, on a global scale, the richest 85 people have as much as 3.5 billion people, half of humanity!”

“If you feel how I felt, I have been taught a few techniques that might help you. Here’s one for a kick-off: You have to forgive everyone for everything. You can’t cling on to any blame that you may be using to make sense of the story of your life. Even me with my story of one nan that I love and another that I don’t—that story is being used to maintain a certain perspective of mine, a perspective that justifies the way I am, and by justifying the way I am I ensure that I stay the same. I’m no longer interested in staying the same; I’m interested in Revolution, that means I have to go back and change the story of my childhood.”


“I used to believe in the system that I was born into: aspire, acquire, consume, get famous and glamorous, get high and mighty, get paid and laid.”


“The nation state is a relatively modern idea, and I don’t think we’re getting a lot out of it except for flags and World Cups.”
― Russell Brand, Revolution

“The most potent tool in maintaining the status quo is our belief that change is impossible. “Democracy is the worst form of government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.” Winston Churchill quoted this on being informed he’d been voted out of office in spite of Britain’s victory in the Second World War.”

“Eckhart Tolle says, “Addiction begins with pain and ends with pain,” meaning that pain is behind compulsive behavior. Eleven years clean, I still feel the urge to medicate pain. Whenever events don’t go my way, my first instinct is to annul the feeling, to look for an external resource to solve the problem. The second part of Eckhart’s edict kicks in here—addiction “ends with pain.” Medication of any kind offers only a temporary solution; it always leads back to pain and becomes therefore predictably cyclical.”




Read his book
Revolution.....

Russell and my daughter

[mr blur]

1. Sorry, but Brand is a loud-mouthed fool.

A self-obsessed, rather stupid loud-mouthed fool.

[whatchamacallit]

3. I believe that's referred to as psychological projection n/t

[Ichingcarpenter]

8. Projection

[Ichingcarpenter]

4. sorry

I'm willing to read your next NY times best seller

please inform us when you achieve something of substance.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

37. Does that mean Anne Coulter is worth listening to too?

Brand's book was a best seller because he's achieved celebrity in another field, not because of its contents.

[Katashi_itto]

23. Project much?

[Skittles]

29. he's a character

but you have COMPLETELY misread him

[deutsey]

31. Not at all

He makes a lot of sense, if you listen to him.

Is he the perfect political messenger for our time and place? No, and I'm pretty sure he'd be the first to point that out. He's not pushing an ideological agenda...he's opting for unvarnished sincerity and honesty, imo, which is is rare these days and sorely needed, as far as I'm concerned.

Personally, I've had enough of polished, perfectly rehearsed, rhetorical bullshit. As John Lennon (as flawed as he was) once sang, "Just gimme some truth. All I want is the truth."

[chrisa]

47. +1 - No acting talent, annoying, and a huge creeper. His quotes have the depth of a teenager who

fires off cliches like "Fight the machine!" and "Free yourself from the matrix!"

What's next? Is Seth Rogen going to lecture us on politics?

[PowerToThePeople]

7. Welcome to DU

gatsby-1219
2. OMG

He's a fruit cake

You may want to rethink your use of language or you may not last.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=fruitcake

[PumpkinAle]

5. I like Brand and some of his stuff is brilliant,

but then sadly some of his musings are just not cohesive.

Having said that though the great thing about people like Brand is they get people talking and thinking and that is a good thing.


Lovely photo of Russell and your daughter.

[Ichingcarpenter]

9. That's also how I look at him

he does stir things up and makes us talk about what is really going on and matters with his humour and wit.

[Ernesto]

6. A lil' bit of Mr. Brand

goes a lonnnnnnnng way.

I for one have had enough all ready.

[msongs]

10. "the rich have got their channels in the bedrooms of the poor" - L. Cohen. one of my fave quotes nt

[DetlefK]

11. I lost any respect for Russel Brand when he called on people not to vote.

"Are you dissatisfied with the politicians that are in charge? Then stop voting until the one, true, perfect politician of your dreams comes along."

He later tried to take it back, but it doesn't sound sincere to me.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/russell-brand-occupies-wall-street-and-calls-for-revolution-again-9798218.html

And he proposed to use elections as a sign of discontent and protest against the establishment. Protest by voting for someone unusual. What he hasn't taken into account: That's exactly how radicals unfit for politics come to power.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/28/russell-brand-right-democracy-wrong-about-how-change-it

[MohRokTah]

12. I didn't have much respect for Brand before reading this

This has not altered my opinion. Any fool who says don't vote is unworthy of any form of consideration.

[Bluenorthwest]

14. Do you despise George Carlin?

“I don't vote. Two reasons. First of all it's meaningless; this country was bought and sold a long time ago. The shit they shovel around every 4 years *pfff* doesn't mean a fucking thing. Secondly, I believe if you vote, you have no right to complain. People like to twist that around – they say, 'If you don't vote, you have no right to complain', but where's the logic in that? If you vote and you elect dishonest, incompetent people into office who screw everything up, you are responsible for what they have done. You caused the problem; you voted them in; you have no right to complain. I, on the other hand, who did not vote, who in fact did not even leave the house on election day, am in no way responsible for what these people have done and have every right to complain about the mess you created that I had nothing to do with.”

The last time DU went into apoplexy over this Brand quote, there was a poster who had Carlin as his sig line saying 'Brand says don't vote, he's terrible, not like hero George Carlin'.
It was hilarious. Because that poster did not know Carlin's work, just as neither you nor he know Brand's. Judging something in advance of seeing it is something best left to Republicans.

[MohRokTah]

16. I loved George Carlin, all the way up to that rant. eom

[brooklynite]

18. Oh, well if a comedian says its a good idea...

[deutsey]

32. Because voting for the usual suspects has served those of us at the bottom so well

And that's coming from someone who has always held his nose and voted for the lesser of two evils since '84, when I was first eligible to vote.

[MohRokTah]

34. Because when a large number of people refuse to vote you get fucked up candidates.

Those who do not vote are the problem. Brand's bullshit compounds the problem.

[L0oniX]

48. When the rich choose the candidates the vote is for the rich.

[randr]

13. As a masterful wordsmith Mr. Brand is quite entertaining

However, the future of our entire social, political, and economic future is what the ballot is all about.

[G_j]

15. I like Brand

eom

[brooklynite]

17. Am I supposed to have a clue as to who he is?

And am I supposed to care?

[MineralMan]

20. He's the current political crush for the Millennials.

That is all you need to know about him.

[madinmaryland]

22. I had to look him up on wikipedia to figure out who he is.

[treestar]

30. I did too

There are so many people out there - thank goodness for google!

[cwydro]

28. I can't stand him.

Easy for the wealthy to throw all this revolution talk around.

I know he did not grow up wealthy, but he is now.

[Recursion]

41. A fairly gifted comedian who has done some of the best writing on addiction of the past 20 years

His comedy routines I can take or leave (he's not actively bad, but nothing to write home about). His writings on addiction are absolutely wonderful.

His writings on politics I mostly can just leave.

[MineralMan]

19. I find it difficult to consider arguments for Russell Brand

from people who don't take the time to spell his first name correctly. That's especially true when his name is properly spelled in the body of a post more than once.

I don't care for Mr. Brand all that much anyhow, though. I've met many people in my life who were much like him, and I didn't much like them, either.

[Ichingcarpenter]

24. It was spelled iright in the rest of the OP

the spell check missed it in the rest of the OP
but your post is so relevant on obscurity of dialogue. Now go out and yell at the clouds.

[FrodosPet]

21. Russell Brand is relevant because?

[MADem]

27. +1,000 !!!! nt

[MADem]

25. Follow that Revolutionary Millionaire!!!!!!!

http://www.celebritynetworth.com/richest-celebrities/richest-comedians/russell-brand-net-worth/

Some people pay to hear that schtick, I guess...it certainly won't hurt his bottom line!

[WinkyDink]

45. Laugh at your own trough, at our home-grown Limousine Liberals.

[MADem]

46. When the thread is about one of them, sure--but it's not.

So why even go there? "Look over there" doesn't work for me.

If you want to create an OP about Limousine Liberals, you're more than welcome to do that! That said, Brand certainly is one, and even if he isn't "home grown," he certainly makes a pretty penny telling us all about our shortcomings! Pay him money and he'll tell us how much we all suck! Quite a step up from someone who once had a "Shagger of the Year" award named for him, owing to his winning it three times in a row...

http://www.howmuchmoneytheymake.com/celebs/how-much-money-does-russell-brand-make-salary-net-worth.htm

[Rex]

26. Oh okay I see now lol. nt.

nt.

[Zorra]

33. Wow, the status quo loving conservatives really swarmed all over this one. nt

[liberal_at_heart]

35. Revolution must have conviction which is lacking right now but it is growing.

I completely agree with Russell. It must be a total transformation of consciousness.

[Recursion]

36. I like his writings on addiction

His stuff on politics kind of falls flat with me, but then I'm not his audience there.

[joshcryer]

38. I'm his audience but it still falls flat.

Because it comes off as demagoguery. He can do so much with his resources. But he blusters.

[Recursion]

39. And his "resources" aren't just external -- he's a very gifted writer

That's what's so frustrating. (Also I seem to recall you're about my age {late 30s}; I think his audience for his political stuff is roughly half our age.)

[joshcryer]

40. Indeed, my friend.

You may be somewhat more practical than myself, but I assure you I admire pragmatism in our current political climate (if not always, having recently finished watching The Roosevelts and realizing how much a pragmatist FDR was).

I hold out hopes Brand can pull it off, maybe evolve a bit, realize what he has internally and externally. I was disappointed when he bashed Chomsky as a cannibal without recognizing that he himself is no better, on the scheme of things. It really came off as he trying to present himself as better. I am a huge Chomsky fan, and I do think Chomsky has lost his way here or there, but I'd never say that of Chomsky, there are parts where Chomsky calls it correctly, and parts where he's wrong, that's not a big deal. In the end I agree with Chomsky, Brand, and others like them, but I just approach things differently, in application. That's probably where the pragmatism comes in.

[n2doc]

42. Yeah sure. Put your arse on the line, or shut up n/t

[WinkyDink]

44. He is.

[WinkyDink]

43. For RB's critics, specifically about his own $$: Did our F. Fathers/Paine give up their $$?