Branding Utopia
If you haven't seen the Paxman–Brand interview yet, go see it.
All very valid points, and beautifully spoken. But I'm not sure Brand actually says anything original in the interview! Paxman agrees with him on most of his points. Yes! Perhaps there should be some redistribution of wealth from the super-rich to those poorer. Yes! Places like Eton or Oxford or the Houses of Parliament are daunting, scary places for people not from privileged backgrounds. Yes! Maybe Jeremy Paxman should grow his beard and braid it into his armpits*.
I don't think these are new thoughts or ideas. And I don't think it's particularly helpful spouting them and then calling for a revolution to 'change everything'.
I see the current political system a bit like London's aging, Victorian water and sewerage system. It was built a long time ago by people with brilliant ideas and who were genuinely trying to do good. And it does works up to a point. On the whole everybody gets their water for drinking and their waste taken away. But there are inefficiencies along the way. Leaky water supplies damage high streets and we are wasteful with our fresh water (using drinking water to wash clothes, dishes and ourselves).
It could all be so much better, a utopia of plumbing is possible! Perhaps we could develop a system that delivers water more safely and evenly, avoiding pressure build-ups and ruptures. Also, would it not be more efficient to recycle our water, using low-waste water for things like washing and showering? Sounds fantastic! However, we can't shut down the existing, inefficient system because then we would have nothing. And something, no matter how far from ideal it is, is usually better than nothing.
So that leaves us with another option - we 'make do and mend'. We recognise that there are specific problems and we try to figure out why things are going wrong in these instances. We then make small changes to the pre-existing pipe-work to fix those problems. Tweaking and modifying the whole complex system until we're left with something a whole lot better.
This is happening in London, the Victorian sewers and water pipes are slowly being replaced with more efficient methods of carrying water. And it is happening in Parliament too. The Parliament today is a whole lot different to the Parliament of the 1700s, 1800s, or even 1900s. The Press is free from government influence, the slave trade has been abolished and women can vote (to name but a few changes that have taken place over the last 300 years).
It seems that Russell Brand is saying, "let's scrap this failed system and start again!" But to me, this is as absurd as saying, "let's fill in London's water services tomorrow and start from scratch!"
*He didn't actually agree with this point, but I wish he had!
I thought I would add my two pennies (whatever that's worth!).
Russell Brand makes a lot of very interesting points. He draws on the large disparity between the super-rich, '1%' and the rest of us. He is also disgusted at the way we are abusing our environment (and seemingly doing nothing about it). His point about the decoration of the House of Commons is excellent.
"The Houses of Parliament, [are] decorated exactly the same as Eton, [they're] decorated exactly the same as Oxford. So a certain type of people go in there and they think, 'Eurgh! This makes me nervous!'. And another type of people go in there and they go, 'This is how it should be!' And that's got to change"While, in theory, anybody can be voted in to 'govern' our country, the reality is that a certain 'class' (can we still use that word?) of people are more comfortable in the environments that breed leaders. And I agree with him, this has to change to become more inclusive to more of the population.
All very valid points, and beautifully spoken. But I'm not sure Brand actually says anything original in the interview! Paxman agrees with him on most of his points. Yes! Perhaps there should be some redistribution of wealth from the super-rich to those poorer. Yes! Places like Eton or Oxford or the Houses of Parliament are daunting, scary places for people not from privileged backgrounds. Yes! Maybe Jeremy Paxman should grow his beard and braid it into his armpits*.
I don't think these are new thoughts or ideas. And I don't think it's particularly helpful spouting them and then calling for a revolution to 'change everything'.
I see the current political system a bit like London's aging, Victorian water and sewerage system. It was built a long time ago by people with brilliant ideas and who were genuinely trying to do good. And it does works up to a point. On the whole everybody gets their water for drinking and their waste taken away. But there are inefficiencies along the way. Leaky water supplies damage high streets and we are wasteful with our fresh water (using drinking water to wash clothes, dishes and ourselves).
It could all be so much better, a utopia of plumbing is possible! Perhaps we could develop a system that delivers water more safely and evenly, avoiding pressure build-ups and ruptures. Also, would it not be more efficient to recycle our water, using low-waste water for things like washing and showering? Sounds fantastic! However, we can't shut down the existing, inefficient system because then we would have nothing. And something, no matter how far from ideal it is, is usually better than nothing.
So that leaves us with another option - we 'make do and mend'. We recognise that there are specific problems and we try to figure out why things are going wrong in these instances. We then make small changes to the pre-existing pipe-work to fix those problems. Tweaking and modifying the whole complex system until we're left with something a whole lot better.
This is happening in London, the Victorian sewers and water pipes are slowly being replaced with more efficient methods of carrying water. And it is happening in Parliament too. The Parliament today is a whole lot different to the Parliament of the 1700s, 1800s, or even 1900s. The Press is free from government influence, the slave trade has been abolished and women can vote (to name but a few changes that have taken place over the last 300 years).
It seems that Russell Brand is saying, "let's scrap this failed system and start again!" But to me, this is as absurd as saying, "let's fill in London's water services tomorrow and start from scratch!"
*He didn't actually agree with this point, but I wish he had!
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