Thanks for posting it.

he speaks to me and apparently to others

I used to get mad also when my fan letters weren't answered... Damn that Maureen McMormick!!!

He might be rich but lots of rich people aren't in the 1%






edited for spelling!

While I do vote (consider it an obligation), I agree that little will change without a "revolution" - which imo will involve a digital component designed by millennials.

But even here at DU most people believe that an anti-establishment candidate doesn't have a chance.

Leftist outside groups are infiltrated by the FBI and broken up or misdirected.

And still, the Tea Party hasn't actually ACCOMPLISHED anything, other than wasting insignificant (in the big picture) amounts of money.

the funders thought that they were needed to derail the momentum to end their neo-liberal ideology. And you're also right that they haven't actually accomplished anything other than bringing down the brand of the establishment Republicans too.

We need something that brings down the Dem neo-liberals now too. But it will have to be people based because there are no Kochs out there to fund something like that.

about what he said.
If there was a summation and I was interested in the what he said I would then decide to watch the clip...or not.
I'll pass for now.

including why he doesn't vote

He's surprisingly articulate. Give it a minute. It's hard to summarize.

Can't let those ad rates suffer.

But I'm willing to give him a chance because he does seem to have changed lately. I could be wrong and he could be just doing schtick, but I'll wait and watch.

Voting sure as hell worked for the Tea Party.

Sure, start a revolution if you want, but if you can't be bothered to take a little time out of your day to cast a ballot, then we should all give up.

don't follow blindly.

What I thought was most interesting is the reaction of the young people I know, watching this.

I'm glad Lenin and Trotsky didn't have that attitude. Revolutionists most of the time have given up on the idea that voting in the dictatorship of capital makes any difference in the real lives of real people.

Brand was encapsulating what a LOT of people think. Basically that there are NO candidates or parties out there that represent the working class and poor. Which is why 50% of people who are eligible to vote don't even bother to get registered.

If a guy in line at the supermarket starts talking to me, I'll probably be annoyed and think "why should I care?"; but if he makes sense I'll still listen to what he has to say.

is what I'm saying.

the guy in the checkout line? I'm with the poster who said that if they make sense, I'll listen and discuss. Celebrity has nothing to do with it. Except for the VERY important point that celebrity does allow for a platform for opinions to be disseminated. As to the opinion themselves, I (and you) can take them or leave them, agree or disagree. Since I'm a revolutionary socialist, I happen to agree with this celebrity. Steven Baldwin, I don't agree with so much.

There's your answer.

but the details of her love life, yet you claim to have no idea who Russell Brand could be. Yeah, okay. But it really doesn't matter who he is. Attack the substance of what he said. "I never heard of him" is not an argument. I didn't know who Howard Zinn was the first time I read his book. But I read it anyway and it certainly struck a tone with me. I suppose I should have cast it aside because I didn't know who he was.

That's a distraction. A point of view that can be argued; an argument about "process". The important thing is that he's addressing the true problem: Capitalism. The ultra rich own the world and are fucking over the planet and everyone else who lives on it, and the system ultimately serves only them.

ZOMG HE DOESNT VOTE?!?!?

and I LOVE to hear from my 20 yr. old daughter and her friends that he is gaining some resonance with them.

Socialism is SUCH a dirty word here because of our ignorance and the brainwashing that goes on. (By "here" I mean U.S.,not DU. )

If someone, anyone, can start breaking through, there may be hope.

These young folks and their open minds give me hope!



*No one "system" is perfect, but an antidote to capitalism is terribly needed at this time.

Depending on what you mean by socialism. If you say "socialism" and people think you mean social democracy, you're ok. But if you really criticize capitalism, you're gonna get attacked.

But I clearly get what he is saying.

there is space for this discussion.

by the plutocracy. He loses that point when he doesn't realize the vast difference in social policies that affect us all at the individual level.

but you're here...

People don't vote in N. Korea. Maybe he would enjoy living there???

...but only vaguely calls for (or merely is waiting for) some unspecified kind of "revolution" to come along and magically make things somehow better, unable to articulate any solutions, all mixed in with telling people not to bother voting.

I suppose I can see the appeal if you're looking around for someone with a high profile getting angry at the things that make you angry, but this strikes me as little more than naive ranting by someone who strikes me as overly impressed with himself for merely spotting and bitching about problems that many other people can see just as well, if not better, than he can.