Russell Brand once again proves he’s infinitely more interesting and amusing when he’s not doing stand-up comedy in this video, where he tears apart interviewer Jeremy Paxman (a kind of British version of Kerry O’Brien) who questioned the validity of Brand being asked to guest edit an edition of political journal The New Statesman, especially since Brand has never, ever voted.
“It’s not that I’m not voting out of apathy” Brand explains. “I’m not voting out of absolute indifference, and weariness, and exhaustion of the lies, treachery, and deceit of the political class that has been going on for generations, and which has now reached fever pitch, where we now have a disenfranchised, disillusioned, despondent underclass that are not being represented by that political system, so voting for it is tacit complicity with that system and that’s not something I’m offering up.”
Protecting the planet and eradicating the economic disparity between rich and poor are the highest priorities on Brand’s political agenda. While he admits any defined practical solutions are far from complete (“Jeremy darling, don’t ask me to sit here in a bloody hotel room and devise a global utopian system!”), it’s a fascinating watch, and while I doubt we’ll be seeing Brand move into 10 Downing St anytime soon, his eloquent explanations of the problems he sees (and the revolution he firmly believes is imminent) proves that he certainly has come a long way from doing heaps of heroin and shagging everyone he meets.
