Russell Brand vs. Jeremy Paxman

[Banditbandit]

Didn't work for the Maoris. They want money now instead!

Yeah - we took your beads and blankets in the past - but we learn quick !!!

[BoristheBiter]

Yeah - we took your beads and blankets in the past - but we learn quick !!!

Yep good scam that one.

[Crasherfromwayback]

Yeah - we took your beads and blankets in the past - but we learn quick !!!

Lol. Reckon! Who needs blankets to keep warm once you've been introduced to whiskey!?

[Ulsterkiwi]

Won't you reconsider your definition of fail?

Not really no.
I think others on this thread have encapsulated it well, he is witty, fast thinking and articulate but he did not actually say anything that has not been said before. He does not deserve special attention because of his ideas, they are not in any way unique to him. What is of interest is he is someone with a cockney accent who knows how to use the english language to express himself and is otherwise known for taking nothing seriously, in fact his job is to take the piss and be disrespectful. Despite that, he seems to have an opinion on how society should work. Great. Did he express himself well? Yes. Did he say anything patently untrue? Not really. Did he bring something new to the table for consideration? Absolutey not.

What I will always do is be open minded. "How so?" you say, well if he was to be interviewed again about this I would give him another listen. Failing once does not preclude you from trying again or trying as often as you need to, to get it right. I would critique that interview with the same method, does he answer the question he poses? It would be interesting to see if he actually uses the privileged position he is in to make a difference or is just blowing hot air out of his ass because he is famous and he can.

[mashman]

Not really no.
I think others on this thread have encapsulated it well, he is witty, fast thinking and articulate but he did not actually say anything that has not been said before. He does not deserve special attention because of his ideas, they are not in any way unique to him. What is of interest is he is someone with a cockney accent who knows how to use the english language to express himself and is otherwise known for taking nothing seriously, in fact his job is to take the piss and be disrespectful. Despite that, he seems to have an opinion on how society should work. Great. Did he express himself well? Yes. Did he say anything patently untrue? Not really. Did he bring something new to the table for consideration? Absolutey not.

What I will always do is be open minded. "How so?" you say, well if he was to be interviewed again about this I would give him another listen. Failing once does not preclude you from trying again or trying as often as you need to, to get it right. I would critique that interview with the same method, does he answer the question he poses? It would be interesting to see if he actually uses the privileged position he is in to make a difference or is just blowing hot air out of his ass because he is famous and he can.

Fair enough.
He's a famous voice that's raising the issues. Do you know of many others? Certainly none that I've seen who are so well known and mainstream. As you say it's his ideas that matter and as the interview highlighted, he's looking for alternatives. I've been through the same thing so probably have an idea of where he is. I think he did well and hope that he's the voice that kicks it off... coz as you and others have noted, he probably has what it takes, verbally, to encourage people to re-examine their "philosophy". As far as I can tell he just heeds a few answers and the flood gates will open.

In regards to alternative, there are quite a few and I've read as many of their books, seen their films, read their sites etc... to gain a better understanding of how they intend to make those changes. Yet those who propose these alternatives only ever set out the future goals and are generally scant on detail in regards to how we get their and they all get slightly tongue tied when confronted with something they haven't had to consider. The stupid thing is that they then get lambasted for their lack of knowledge before being dismissed entirely. Oddly enough that's very close to the reasons that I don't vote. What people don't realise is that it isn't the speaker that is the problem where it's actually a lack understanding of the idea. Don't understand what's being said, shoot the messenger, don't think for yourself, carry on the need of being spoonfed. It's amusing to see, but there's less and less of the, oh no it can't be done's around these days, so hopefully society will keep on turning the screw.

I hope he gets some time to think about it a bit more, although having a look at his tour schedule, I doubt he'll get any real quality time to do so, so we may not see him for a year or two depending on who he talks to, what he chooses and how fast he learns. I guess we wait a wee while longer.

[BoristheBiter]

Fair enough.
He's a famous voice that's raising the issues.

...................stuff in the middle...........

I hope he gets some time to think about it a bit more, although having a look at his tour schedule, I doubt he'll get any real quality time to do so, so we may not see him for a year or two depending on who he talks to, what he chooses and how fast he learns. I guess we wait a wee while longer.

Ok here is a thought for you to consider.

Maybe the majority of people are happy with the status quo and are quite happy to rumble along as they are.
Have you ever considered this?
Have you ever considered you are a minority and will never change it?

You, and Russell, say you don't like the current way people are voted in, well unless you come up with an alternative then nothing will change and as we (NZ) have just voted to keep mmp than it doesn't look like much is going to happen there.

You would have to change the entire western world and that isn't going to happen anytime soon.

[mashman]

Ok here is a thought for you to consider.

Maybe the majority of people are happy with the status quo and are quite happy to rumble along as they are. Never know until they're asked.
Have you ever considered this? Yes.
Have you ever considered you are a minority and will never change it? Yes.

You, and Russell, say you don't like the current way people are voted in, well unless you come up with an alternative then nothing will change and as we (NZ) have just voted to keep mmp than it doesn't look like much is going to happen there.

You would have to change the entire western world and that isn't going to happen anytime soon.

I have an alternative.

Just the western world? And you thought you were thinking . You wouldn't have to change the whole world, just 1 country and prove that it works. The rest will soon follow.

[Winston001]

Not really no.
I think others on this thread have encapsulated it well, he is witty, fast thinking and articulate but he did not actually say anything that has not been said before. He does not deserve special attention because of his ideas, they are not in any way unique to him. What is of interest is he is someone with a cockney accent who knows how to use the english language to express himself

Did he bring something new to the table for consideration? Absolutey not.

What I will always do is be open minded. "How so?" you say, well if he was to be interviewed again about this I would give him another listen.

Nice critiques Ulsterkiwi.

Lets take a more moderate view. I was impressed by Russell Brand. The other actor/celebrity who is known for his intelligence is Stephen Fry who is a polymath with Mensa-level genius.

Russell Brand was a troubled youth who had only basic education. He went to an acting school at age 16 but also became a drug addict. No university for Russell. He had attention deficit disorder and is bipolar which is obvious from his emotional swings in the Paxman interview. Basically he isn't the sort of person who succeeds in life and yet he has done so in an astonishing way.

In the interview Brand uses language we'd expect of a PhD scholar and more importantly he uses it correctly. Consider this sentence and imagine constructing it yourself under pressure in a television interview:

"So if we can engage that feeling, instead of some moment of lachrymose sentimentality trotted out on the TV for people to pore over as emotional porn..."

You have to respect the guy. He is self educated and has to have sharp intelligence to even understand let alone comfortably use terms such as lachrymose.

[Winston001]

However the fact Russell couldn't enunciate even a fragment of how the revolution would work is telling. He does not have the deeper educational background to draw on philosophers such as Mill or Marx, or from history: the sort of answers Stephen Fry with his Cambridge background could address for an hour.

But what the heck. Russell Brand is refreshingly clever and I do not doubt that he will develop ideas, probably not new ones but he will have a wider audience than most political studies lecturers. And that is good for all of us.

[ducatilover]

Did't albert einstein say something like, 'If you cant\'t explain it in simple terms, you dont understand it properly yourself' -or something to that effect?

Ironic post is ironic.

[BoristheBiter]

I have an alternative.

Just the western world? And you thought you were thinking . You wouldn't have to change the whole world, just 1 country and prove that it works. The rest will soon follow.

And who's county will you change? not ours as we have already voted on that puppy.

But again why change? only a handful are crying about it.
When we go to the polls and the majority vote it in then we will change........................but you don't vote............

[Ocean1]

only a handful are crying about it.

Just mushman, in fact.

So not even that.

[mashman]

And who's county will you change? not ours as we have already voted on that puppy.

But again why change? only a handful are crying about it.
When we go to the polls and the majority vote it in then we will change........................but you don't vote............

Any country that takes on the idea. I reckon NZ is in with a better chance than most. Funny thing is though, you haven't voted on that puppy at all.

How do you know how many there are given that the country hasn't been asked?
No it won't. Voting has only ever changed the taxation situation and added the odd law here and there, nothing else changes. Damn right I WON'T vote, as I won't throw it away on the meaningless nonsense that our "leaders" come up with as policy and just settle for the lesser of two evils. I see that no meaningful changes take place, so why would anyone vote? In fact I'd go as far as to say that those who vote are being irresponsible towards their countrymen and have ignored their due care on the grounds that the law doesn't require them to. Ignorant fuckers.

Just mushman, in fact.

So not even that.

Do you have any objections to putting it to a vote?

[Ocean1]

Do you have any objections to putting it to a vote?

None whatsoever.

I'll give it the big fuck off just as soon as you tell us what you want.

[mashman]

None whatsoever.

I'll give it the big fuck off just as soon as you tell us what you want.

Cool.

I'm a giver.