A Ricochet Science Experiment
The object of this post is to determine how many Ricochet readers' heads will explode in response to an item that has nothing to do with Sarah Palin.
The British actor/writer Russell Brand, who is either -- depending on your taste -- a comedic genius or an insufferable git (or possibly both), has written an editorial for the Guardian in which he tries to come to grips with the violence convulsing English cities. As you'll see, it contrasts somewhat with the Peter Hitchens piece I cited yesterday.
Brand is a self-confessed ex-lout, so he brings an insider's perspective to the spectacle of young people wantonly trashing their own communities. More than that, the piece is striking for the absolute confidence it conveys in the left's enduring dominion over the ideas of love, compassion, and generosity of spirit. There's an analogy to be drawn to American politics -- the received stereotypes of the Democrat as inclusive, tolerant beacon of kindness and the Republican as narrow-eyed, business-suited, other-bashing Scrooge -- but the Brand and Hitchens pieces are most useful for the joint portrait they present of the two poles of British political culture. Summed up, Brand's prescription for the unrest is love the lads more. Hitchens would likely prefer that they receive six of the best bending over a chair.
Hit it, Russ:
I should here admit that I have been arrested for criminal damage for my part in anti-capitalist protest earlier in this decade. I often attended protests and then, in my early 20s, and on drugs, I enjoyed it when the protests lost direction and became chaotic, hostile even. I was intrigued by the anarchist "Black bloc", hooded and masked, as, in retrospect, was their agenda, but was more viscerally affected by the football "casuals" who'd turn up because the veneer of the protest's idealistic objective gave them the perfect opportunity to wreck stuff and have a row with the Old Bill.
That was never my cup of tea though. For one thing, policemen are generally pretty good fighters and second, it registered that the accent they shouted at me with was closer to my own than that of some of those singing about the red flag making the wall of plastic shields between us seem thinner.
I found those protests exciting, yes, because I was young and a bit of a twerp but also, I suppose, because there was a void in me. A lack of direction, a sense that I was not invested in the dominant culture, that government existed not to look after the interests of the people it was elected to represent but the big businesses that they were in bed with.
I felt that, and I had a mum who loved me, a dad who told me that nothing was beyond my reach, an education, a grant from Essex council (to train as an actor of all things!!!) and several charities that gave me money for maintenance. I shudder to think how disenfranchised I would have felt if I had been deprived of that long list of privileges.
That state of deprivation though is, of course, the condition that many of those rioting endure as their unbending reality. No education, a weakened family unit, no money and no way of getting any. JD Sports is probably easier to desecrate if you can't afford what's in there and the few poorly paid jobs there are taken. Amidst the bleakness of this social landscape, squinting all the while in the glare of a culture that radiates ultraviolet consumerism and infrared celebrity. That daily, hourly, incessantly enforces the egregious, deceitful message that you are what you wear, what you drive, what you watch and what you watch it on, in livid, neon pixels. The only light in their lives comes from these luminous corporate messages. No wonder they have their [expletive deleted] hoods up.
...
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.
If we don't want our young people to tear apart our communities then don't let people in power tear apart the values that hold our communities together.
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. But I know, as we all intuitively know, the solution is all around us and it isn't political, it is spiritual. Gandhi said: "Be the change you want to see in the world."
In this simple sentiment we can find hope, as we can in the efforts of those cleaning up the debris and ash in bonhomous, broom-wielding posses. If we want to live in a society where people feel included, we must include them, where they feel represented, we must represent them and where they feel love and compassion for their communities then we, the members of that community, must find love and compassion for them.
- Comment (40)
- · Quote
- · UnfollowFollow (1)
- Pages:
- 1
- 2
Comments:
Oct '10
Re: A Ricochet Science Experiment
Sense of Community isn't something you're given. As with most things, it's something you must work at to create and sustain.
Edited on August 15, 2011 at 6:03pmOct '10
Re: A Ricochet Science Experiment
Did anyone here make it through the whole piece? (Without skimming!) Good grief, it was overly long and poorly written. Comprised mostly of biography and some joke attempts that just fall flat, it's not a serious piece and one wonders why the Guardian would even bother printing it (except that Brand has achieved some level of fame in the popular culture, which would seem a self-defeating argument, but there you go).
I invite you to go and read his last paragraph. Now re-read it to verify that, yes, it really is that incomprehensible. Marvel at the huzzahs in the comments section. And now weep, for not only do they not understand why these events have befallen them, Britons are almost certainly inviting more of the same.
Sep '10
Re: A Ricochet Science Experiment
Chris Deleon: You know what? I agreed with Peter Hitchens and I also agree with this guy to a degree. He of course mixes up a lot of liberal nonsense into the whole thing, but there are some truths poking through in spite of that.
Ever heard of "Tough Love"?
Dang! Chris beat me to it. I had in mind the kind of love a top sargeant has for his troops. Or a father for a son.
It is society's job now to punish these yobs, not to shower them with love (whatever that means). Sadly, it appears that this responsibility is being shirked as well, from the first reports of court hearings.
May '10
Re: A Ricochet Science Experiment
So if even if every youth in England was given the same "privileges" as Brand, he seems to imply they would still be inclined to participate in protests and riot. This is drivel. Interesting drivel but drivel nonetheless. The poor disadvantaged youths must have government cheese, dependence on which seems to have spawned the problems we witnessed.
May '10
Re: A Ricochet Science Experiment
I would recommend reading Theodore Dalrymple on the riots and the breakdown of British society in general. The lack of community which Brand bewails isnt the result of Tory policies. It's due to the welfare state and the entitlement it fosters. When you are given everything, you don't care about your community. Maybe if every Brit had to pay some fee, say $3.58 a month, to live in England, these people would behave more decently and would care about their community.
Jul '11
Re: A Ricochet Science Experiment
Judith, please note that I too exploded about the time dear Maggie was maligned. What does this ignorant prat know about anything? Reading about a 'self-confessed ex-lout' I am overcome by a mental image of a young Brand being taught that everything his family is without was because of Thatcher. Meanwhile one or both of his parents didn't work, and money got tighter and as it got tighter rather than taking ownership, they blamed Thatcher. I hope that KarlUB is wrong about Brand because in 5 to 10 years I'm not sure I want the likes of him swelling our ranks. What a preposterous defense of barbarity. Love them more... Yes, because if only someone had given H. Himmler a hug, he wouldn't have been such a murderous [Removed for Decency] head.
Sorry, it is too early in the morning for this kind of stuff, it tends to send me into paroxysms of incredulous ranting.
Edited on August 15, 2011 at 6:24pmSep '10
Re: A Ricochet Science Experiment
I think Mr. Brand's thoughts can be best described in terms of diffuse costs and specific benefits.
Costs - He is rich and famous and so has enough money (for now) to kick in a little more if needed (and if it gets to be too much he can emigrate to the US or some other jurisdiciton with lower taxes). The vast proportion of the costs for this compassion and served-up "community on a plate" is on the backs of others.
Benefits - He is specifically dependent on these yobs especially young ones to support him (i.e. go to his awful movies and see his awful "comedy" and buy either of his two count-em two! books). I have not and will never pay to see such an arrogant idiot (I like to think of myself as outside the idiot demographic, but time will tell).
May '10
Re: A Ricochet Science Experiment
How does Brand explain those poor/petite-bourgeoisie shop-keepers with the dark complexions, English as a second or third language, an indifferent education via government schooling, and a non-Christian religion ; find it within themselves to build a business from scratch, and arm themselves to protect their life's work from those fun loving Black Bloc types?
Oh I forgot, it is all the fault of mass consumerism, advertising, and of course ex-shopkeeper's daughter Margaret Thatcher. (It was 21 years ago when she left office and the Riotous Comedian Brand was 16 at the time).
Glad the Council paid for your training as an actor, can they have their money repaid now please Russell? Oh and about the criminal damage you engaged in, any chance of recompence to those you damaged.
Run along you performing monkey, BBC2 needs some more profanity masking as humour.
(For your next tattoo Mr Brand, try this "A claim for equality of material position can be met only by a government with totalitarian powers." - Von Hayek
Edited on August 15, 2011 at 6:57pmMar '11
Re: A Ricochet Science Experiment
Nope - I am glad Chris and Judith read the whole piece, so I don't have to. It's kinda like listening to Mr Obama - something best avoided, like root canals.
Dr Dalyrmple, on the other hand, is well worth reading, even though I know his position, he just writes so well (kinda like Mr Steyn).
Aug '11
Re: A Ricochet Science Experiment
jhimmi: Sense of Community isn't something you're given. As with most things, it's something you must work at to create and sustain. · Aug 15 at 9:02am
Edited on Aug 15 at 09:03 am
Short and well said. After being given everything else, those on the dole are meant to be given a community? How is it that a person becomes to dysfunctional that they cannot even live together with other people? Oh, it's from giving them the expectation that all should be given to them.
@David Foster: Those quotations were excellent. I took the image of "throw them corn" literally. How many of us have seen images of disorganized aid handouts devolving into fist fights over who gets the most and can take the most from others? Results like these are not arguments against aid; they are arguments against the notion that aid is enough.
Edited on August 15, 2011 at 7:36pmDec '10
Re: A Ricochet Science Experiment
Steven Drexler
Chris Deleon: You know what? I agreed with Peter Hitchens and I also agree with this guy to a degree. He of course mixes up a lot of liberal nonsense into the whole thing, but there are some truths poking through in spite of that.
Ever heard of "Tough Love"?
Dang! Chris beat me to it. I had in mind the kind of love a top sargeant has for his troops. Or a father for a son.
It is society's job now to punish these yobs, not to shower them with love (whatever that means). Sadly, it appears that this responsibility is being shirked as well, from the first reports of court hearings. · Aug 15 at 9:06am
The principle was clearly stated in Deuteronomy:
"I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before thee life and death, the blessing and the curse: therefore choose life, that thou mayest live, thou and thy seed."
Since children have the ability to choose what they will do, it's essential to delineate their choices and the consequences of each. Emphasizing only one choice's consequences is insufficient.
Oct '10
Re: A Ricochet Science Experiment
Excuse me, but isn't this exactly what conservatives have been talking about for decades? Isn't the importance of local control, strong civic institutions (like religion), sane entitlements, downsizing the administrative state, etc, all about community building?
I'm always amazed when lefties notice social breakdown. It's not like we haven't been shouting it in their faces for fourty years. Conservatives are very big on community values--we certainly complain about family breakdown enough!--and we've always been the ones to encourage "a stake in society" (i.e. American-style nationalism). But the lefties hate nationalism, even the multi-ethnic territory-base nationalism we have in America.
I mean, are they for social integration and social development, or against it? They seem to want both.
Apr '11
Re: A Ricochet Science Experiment
That blame isn't as surprising to me. For a few years I debated politics on a gaming forum (odd, but we did it). I was one of the few conservatives. There was one gamer from England who, about 13 years ago, was willing to blame the UK's problems on Thatcher.
It was only Saturday that my local paper ran an editorial entitled "Rioters are Margaret Thatcher's Grandchildren."
For the liberal/progressive mindset, it's never their ideas or actions that lead to the problems that arise. It's always the fault of another source if blame must be cast. As Thatcher largely deviated from usual UK domestic policy, she remains the progressive's scapegoat.
Apr '11
Re: A Ricochet Science Experiment
What a sap.
Aug '10
Re: A Ricochet Science Experiment
Crow's Nest: Three cheers for maritime law.
As for Brand, I was really getting concerned that he was a moral idiot (in the literal sense) and complete buffoon--a man who neither knows what seriousness is nor is capable of it-- but thankfully he salvaged the whole interview by citing a tiresome platitude. · Aug 15 at 7:53am
Sitting at my desk looking enjoying my view of LA Harbor, talking taxes with my pro-Buffet buddy, using maritme law to explain how coporate tax refugee-ism is flight to a lighter tax/regulatory burden .
Once I brought up Liberia, the nickel dropped for him.
This deal in the Med could become the next great naval war in world history, You would know, do you think are aready for it?
I miss the Reagan Navy and bemoan the zombified state of our merchant marine industry.
Edited on August 15, 2011 at 10:00pmApr '11
Re: A Ricochet Science Experiment
They are angry because they feel their god has abandoned them.
"Once abolish the God, and the government becomes the God."
~ G.K. Chesterton
Dec '10
Re: A Ricochet Science Experiment
Joseph Eagar: Excuse me, but isn't this exactly what conservatives have been talking about for decades? Isn't the importance of local control, strong civic institutions (like religion), sane entitlements, downsizing the administrative state, etc, all about community building?
I'm always amazed when lefties notice social breakdown. It's not like we haven't been shouting it in their faces for fourty years. Conservatives are very big on community values--we certainly complain about family breakdown enough!--and we've always been the ones to encourage "a stake in society" (i.e. American-style nationalism). But the lefties hate nationalism, even the multi-ethnic territory-base nationalism we have in America.
I mean, are they for social integration and social development, or against it? They seem to want both. · Aug 15 at 10:56am
Leftism is remarkably incoherent, brittle, and dogmatic. You're right to point to nationalism as a great big bogeyman of the Left, Joseph. The Left is religiously opposed to making distinctions of any kind, but especially between the nationalism of good nations versus the nationalism of evil nations. All nationalism is bad.
I keep remembering Evan Sayet's Heritage lecture.
Aug '10
Re: A Ricochet Science Experiment
I find it more likely that people in Britain are rioting in rage at what Russell Brand did to Dudley Moore's memory in the remake of Arthur.
Aug '11
Re: A Ricochet Science Experiment
Is it strange that Mr Brand makes no causal link between the privileges and support he enjoyed and the state of inner void that led him to eagerly join violent mobs, even if as a mere fellow traveller.
The real problem, though, if one does make this connection, is to figure out how to reverse it. The Brand and the Hitchens type of solutions would both seem to exacerbate the problem.
Aug '10
Re: A Ricochet Science Experiment
What strikes me is the depth of people's dependency. They view reality as some sort of matrix created by other people, into which they are are placed with the expectation that those other people will create meaning for them. If they are miserable and wretched, it is because the powerful have not provided for them. They betray no sense that reality consists of opportunity, but life is something one must create for oneself.