Regardless of how tomorrow’s UK election turns out, Russell Brand, who now believes it is more important to vote for Labour to stave off the austerity-mad “free market” Conservatives, just grows and grows in stature as a gifted and committed activist. He mixes compassion, wit and brilliant intelligence, and is dedicated to using his celebrity ("The Trews" YouTube channeland now a film called “The Emperor’s New Clothes”) to get across the most salient truths about the real elephant in the room.

That is, that the 99% have been bamboozled and driven into deep personal economic crisis by a quid pro quo relationship between financial global elites and world government rulers. Our elected politicians globally have chosen to keep kicking the can down the road while still enriching themselves, and not enough people who have the channels have been willing to stand up and speak out against it. In that regard Brand is a particularly rare breed.

He’s spent this past week devoted to hosting interviews with the leaders of three main parties in the UK, a refreshing antidote to the stilted, starched and cushioned drab-speak of media conciliation. It’s nothing new for him lately. For the good part of a couple of years now he’s accepted the mantle of using celebrity as a means to an end. Harry Belafonte is someone who comes to mind here. Brand is a comedian and actor who uses his charismatic qualities to great effect also. His hands-on involvement has resulted in activism for housing rights in London to Occupy Rupert Murdoch, the subject of which, specifically the multi-faceted devastating effect of monopoly-owned media, to me ranks as the most important issue directly responsible for the erosion of democracy, next to money in politics and the denigration of our education system, which subjects students to chronic American Exceptionalism indoctrination through mythologized history and ultimately functions as a molder of obedient workers and uncritically-thinking masses, ripe to be manipulated by corporate masters.

If this trailer is any indication this is the kind of film that could wake up people who, weren't ready for or who fell for the propaganda against the message of OWS, or prematurely missed the totality of Michael Moore's "Capitalism: A Love Story," or thought maybe "Inside Job" was a bit too dense.





Three years on and the Occupy message of the 99% vs. the 1% is firmly entrenched in the lexicon and completely understood by virtually everyone. Everybody now understands economic inequality is taking a devastating toll on the middle class, from student debt, to consumer debt, to rising housing costs, to rash under- and un-employment. The ideas of meritocracy, egalitarianism and social safety net have been slashed to shreds. From every corner of the globe the masses realize they’ve been defrauded and are being kept in the dark by broken governments deeply corrupted by endless payoff money.

And to that extent, Brand has certainly earned a voice at the table. I say put him up against any politician in a debate, to just watch the gap grow bigger and bigger between the grasp of the issues, honesty, integrity, compassion and commitment to doing the right thing. I stand by that, because a politician is informed mostly by his/her staff and the trajectory in which he/she’s landed in D.C. That means the majority of one’s time goes to lobbyists, fundraising and doing as much as possible not to ruffle any feathers, while one just bides one’s time for the Big Payoff Day, when one re-enters the revolving door of D.C. as a lobbyist or consultant.

I haven’t seen a politician with a more curious, finely focused, and incredibly cogent mind, who is able to communicate with such natural ease, than comedian/actor Brand is. His ability to synthesize lots of information, speak with genuine empathy and compassion and put himself in harm’s way with the afflicted speaks way more to me than any political speeches. I’ve got a feeling many, many more resonate with his tenets than any carefully-crafted, pr-speaking, beholden politician.

With ever more polls showing Congress’s approval rating in the single digits and overwhelming majorities of Americans believing there is no meritocracy, the wealthy rule our government and the American Dream is way too far out of reach, belief and fealty to such a system is almost dead and buried, if not already.

Personally, I'm tired of dutifully assigning superpowers to politicians; they're just men who have ideas too, like you and I. Unfortunately most of them are business men, and their ideas about the job mostly seem to be about furthering their and their friends' fortunes, at the cost of the social safety net for the masses. What's the point of government, if it's dictated by concentrated wealth in the hands of the few?

The sooner we drop the deference to "our betters"/guys-in-same-looking-suits, the better off society will become. I believe there's a majority of folks in the world who would rather hear from artists and scientists, poets and musicians, authors and filmmakers, comedians and painters, academics and farmers, rather than the lawyers and CEO's that fill the halls of Congress and their pockets with taxpayer money.

This guy soars in his grasp of politics, which is more than we can say about almost all politicians today. He's courageous, and has committed himself. How many celebrities can you say that about?

He's a stark, refreshing antidote to the corrupt, staid and outmoded way we've allowed society to be organized as a hierarchy for people with money to jurisdict over our personal lives. I find Brand more inspiring than anyone in politics today (except for maybe Sawant). Because he literally puts himself on the front line and uses his celebrity to fight for the marginalized and the voiceless.

The gist of his message is that the current system is completely broken and hijacked by financial elites, it's time to step up together in solidarity against this corporate coup d'etat. Start by forming alternative groups, cooperative businesses and mutual aid societies, in your local communities. It's just waiting to happen. People can be galvanized, there is power in the solidarity of people coming together outside of politics solely. All change starts from the ground up (see every single major legislative stride in past two centuries).

A true inspiration and beacon of light during a ghastly time of odious cowardice, continued corporate plunder, media malfeasance and virulent financial criminality.

All I want is the truth, just gimme some truth…









Gimme some Trews.