Here he is on American TV:
Russell Brand Destroys MSNBC Talk Show Host - Discusses Bradley Manning And Edward Snowden - YouTube
He thinks it's a waste of time to vote in elections:
NEWSNIGHT: Paxman vs Brand - full interview - YouTube
Sorry Paxman, Here's Why I Don't Vote
Posted: 27/10/2013 20:5
What would I do with a ballot paper? Practice the art of origami, or maybe draw a crude stick man cartoon? Anything, really, but actually vote with it.
Does that mean I'm an angry youth hell-bent on anarchy or a lazy student, too drunk or asleep to have any interest in politics? Surprisingly no. I am one of many young people disillusioned with the current political system and refusing to pick a lesser of the evils we are offered every few years.
Russell Brand caused a stir (when doesn't he?), when he told a baffled Jeremy Paxman that he had never voted, and never will. He outraged the Newsnight host further by urging young people not to vote, something I think Brand got completely right.
Voting these days seems to be a choice between which posh man in a suit is going to lie to us least. As always the general election will be a two-horse race between parties who are completely out of touch with modern Britain. Unfortunately nobody understands that connecting with the youth of today is going to take more than a few Tweets and putting policies on an app. No political figure is accessible to the general public, they can talk about unemployment and understanding life on benefits but I doubt any of them needed grants at Oxbridge.
Sorry Paxman, Here's Why I Don't Vote | Planet Ivy
Russell Brand is wrong – if you don’t vote, you just won’t matter
Should the government ignore your job? Your education? Your family? If you don’t vote, that’s exactly what they will do.
Should the government ignore your job? Your education? Your family? If you don’t vote, that’s exactly what they will do.
BY TONI PEARCE PUBLISHED
Today is National Voter Registration Day. It’s made me think of Russell Brand. I’m not going to apply condescension to his prose – I think he’s articulate and eloquent actually. I’m not going to dismiss him off hand as somebody who doesn’t know what he’s talking about, he does. I might have something to say about his attitude to women, but that’s for another article.
You don’t need to have a politics degree to capture the mood of the nation, echoed in Russell’s sentiments – voting is pointless and even dangerous: it only encourages them.
I actually agree with his overarching point - he wants to create a genuinely fair system. “To really make a difference, we must become different,” he says, and that’s exactly what I want to see. I do have one slight rebuke though – Russell, you’ve never voted, it’s careless to denounce something that you’ve never experienced.
However, that aside, Russell and I have some things in common. I too have moments of weariness and exhaustion with the process, but never let myself be indifferent. I do “give a fuck about politics”. That means I value my vote.
If you don’t vote, you won’t have your voice heard. The simple fact is the electoral roll underpins our democracy and our lives. If you don’t vote – will you resign? Will you quit your job? Will you just withdraw from society? Because you won’t have a say over employment, the economy, or any of the smaller or bigger polices that impact our lives on a daily basis – whether we like that they do or not.
Should the government ignore your job? Your education? Your family? If you don’t vote, that’s exactly what they will do. If you examine voter turnout, what you see is white, older males dominating the process and government polices reflect this. Or take the power of the ‘grey vote’ – it’s rare, if ever, you’ll see this demographic protesting. They often don’t need to.
An Ipsos Mori poll showed that at the last election 76 per cent of over-65s were still voting. Their power at the ballot box is respected – because they use it. Voting means power and when you don’t vote, you give up this up.
NON-VOTING:
- Cultivate Your Own Garden
- Why I Would Not Vote Against Hitler by Wendy McElroy
- Why I Refuse to Register by Carl Watner
Non-voting - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Non-politics - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
WARNING: DON'T VOTE (Jennifer Aniston, Leonardo Dicaprio, Halle Berry, Sarah Silverman, ...) - YouTube.
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