Paxo v Brand starts in 5 minutes

[cesare]

Personally I think the significance of the Brand interview exists independent of Brand (no shit says the semiologists at the back), whatever confused ideas Brand quite eloquently articulated come secondary to the fact that there is someone on news night arguing that electoral politics are dead and revolution is not just the answer but quite inevitable.

I'd suggest Brand is to be treated as nothing more than a dipstick, in all senses of the term.

*googles semiologist*

 

[butchersapron]

I repeat, pay attention to the small print:

 

[nino_savatte]

*googles semiologist*

Here's one for you.
http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/fr/barthes.htm

 

[frogwoman]

well put/well argued piece, hard to disagree with much of it ( though I'm personally pretty conflicted on it all.)

"And are the working class really that stupid that they need a celebrity writing in the New Statesman, a magazine aimed at self-described “opinion formers”, to tell them to wake up, that the great men speak and they will follow?"

To which the answer is obviously no , but with a 1000 atomised, disparate struggles taking place everywhere, everyday, from global stages to iindividual workplaces and communities, it's can undoubtedly be a source of strength and re-invigoration to sometimes look up and see/hear someone talking the kind of fundamantal political truths on national tv that are very, very rarely seen/heard on that medium.

Of course the likes of Brand are only going to get that kind of platform because of who / what they are, it's a given, but the effect that has on the impact of the message works both ways, undermining it to some, causing other to listen up , and some of us to just enjoy hearing what we already know broadcast on a newsnight.

i agree with you, perhaps i should have made a point similar to what revol said above

 

[cesare]

Here's one for you.
http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/fr/barthes.htm

Thank you (I think ). There was me thinking that an on-line dictionary would be sufficient

 

[nino_savatte]

Thank you (I think ). There was me thinking that an on-line dictionary would be sufficient

His book, Mythologies is worth a read and it's quite accessible (remarkable for a French theorist).

 

[cesare]

I repeat, pay attention to the small print:

This reminds me of Occupy + CTers.

 

[Hollis]

Where do semiologists hang out these days?

 

[el-ahrairah]

Where do semiologists hang out these days?

he's over there.

 

[Hollis]

Ah right! Wish I was one tbh.. sounds great, poncing around arguing the toss about slipped signifiers.. Money for old rope.

 

[cesare]

Ah right! Wish I was one tbh.. sounds great, poncing around arguing the toss about slipped signifiers.. Money for old rope.

 

[discokermit]

rome's first servile war was led by a clown.

 

[TruXta]

rome's first servile war was led by a clown.

Beppis Grillus?

 

[discokermit]

Beppis Grillus?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eunus

 

[frogwoman]

forgot about this one

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/row-after-russell-brands-prank-983777

 

[ska invita]

talking of comedians who cross the line talking politics I thought Frankie Boyles interview with mark the taxi driver was a good watch

+
Frankie Boyle on BBC bias & the lack of politically questioning comedians

 

[classicdish]

Russell Brand in front of Keith Vaz's Home Affairs Committee on Drugs, being more restrained and serious (although there are a few 'moments') and being a lot more specific about policies etc.

 

[smokedout]

He's full of shit about drugs and it says a lot about him. His obsession with abstinence as the only solution, and the reasons he justifies it shows that he can only see the problem through the eyes of his experience, in this case as a young man on the brink of fame and with money in the bank already. He mocks stability as a concept, saying ha as if people go out and take drugs/drink to get really stable - well perhaps not when they are young and partying but for older substance misusers that's exactly why they use, to make them feel better, normal, not sick. He cant/wont see that because its not his experience, just like he cant see his misogyny because it just seems funny to him, its a dangerous trait for a rich man becoming involved in politics to be unable to empathise or accept that other peoples needs might be different to his.

 

[treelover]

Which is not to say that Brand is just a fool or that people who watch him in their millions are just enjoying a celebrity tantrum. Now, as in the 1920s and 1930s, many inhabitants of most European countries agree with Brand's slogans that all politicians are crooks and democracy is a sham. Today's crisis has left Europe in a pre-revolutionary situation. Or, if that is going too far, you can at least say that Europe looks ready for radical political change. Unfortunately for Brand, who sees himself a radical leftist of some sort, apparently, the greatest beneficiary of the nihilism he promotes is the radical right.Many people are surprised that the rightwing and neo-fascist movements have benefited most from a banking crash brought by the most overpaid people on the planet. I have to confess to being shocked as well. But I should not be, and nor should you. Classic fascism movements borrowed from the left, and today's neo- or post-fascist movements follow suit. Mussolini emphasised that fascism was a third way between capitalism and socialism.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/oct/26/russell-brand-needs-more-than-wild-emotions

Nick Cohen seems to be saying a lot of things about RB and the growing populist revolution phenomenon as Froggie,

 

[frogwoman]

I'm not so sure he is to be honest, like paxman he seems to be suggesting that mainstream electoral politics is the answer etc as in this bit

The democratic left is no better than the democratic right. Ed Miliband is as great a menace as David Cameron. Obama is the same as the Tea Party.

 

[xes]

 

[DexterTCN]

BBC radio 5 now

 

[Kid_Eternity]

BBC radio 5 now

What's he saying?

 

[xenon]

What's he saying?

He's saying, it's very difficult to grasp. Very difficult to put into words but he doesn't want to go on and on...

Although that might have been Sebastian Vettel.

 

[exiledinwales]

Russell Brand joins RED YOUTH to speak at October Revolution celebration, Southall

(CPGB-ML)

Possibly a wind up but it's in the description box of one of their YouTube videos.

 

[treelover]

I think this is just the sort of micro group he may endorse,


seriously

 

[Geri]

I bet he hardly ever changes his trousers, like Jim Morrison. Imagine how sweaty they must be around the crotch area. Minging.

 

[Frances Lengel]

He's full of shit about drugs and it says a lot about him. His obsession with abstinence as the only solution, and the reasons he justifies it shows that he can only see the problem through the eyes of his experience, in this case as a young man on the brink of fame and with money in the bank already. He mocks stability as a concept, saying ha as if people go out and take drugs/drink to get really stable - well perhaps not when they are young and partying but for older substance misusers that's exactly why they use, to make them feel better, normal, not sick. He cant/wont see that because its not his experience, just like he cant see his misogyny because it just seems funny to him, its a dangerous trait for a rich man becoming involved in politics to be unable to empathise or accept that other peoples needs might be different to his.

I remember him on some programme about drugs and there was this doctor on there who prescribed methadone and Brand was supposed to be interviewing her but he was just talking over her, not letting her get a word in at all and just going on about how abstinence was the only show in town and how he had achieved abstinence and how it worked for him etc. Thus neatly showcasing his solipsism, misogyny and dogmatic approach to addiction all in one go.

 

[twentythreedom]

I remember him on some programme about drugs and there was this doctor on there who prescribed methadone and Brand was supposed to be interviewing her but he was just talking over her, not letting her get a word in at all and just going on about how abstinence was the only show in town and how he had achieved abstinence and how it worked for him etc. Thus neatly showcasing his solipsism, misogyny and dogmatic approach to addiction all in one go.

She used to script me years back. A brilliant doctor. He was an obnoxious, bullying, shouty cunt to her - that bit of TV really made me angry tbh.

 

[DrRingDing]

Get your fuckings chops around this.....

http://anarchamoose.wordpress.com/2013/10/24/glorification-of-celebrity-dicks-stop-it/

It’s not my revolution if I can’t stab Russell Brand (and his ilk).
It’s not my revolution if it isn’t mobilised by the most marginalised.
It is not my revolution if I can’t dance on the dying embers of white supremacist cishetero-patriarchy.

NO GODS, NO MASTERS, NO CELEBRITIES.

So posing as an anarchist but advocating some sort of vanguardism by "the most marginalised"