Russell Brand

Well this is one quirky guy, seems that most people either like him or loathe him, I must say that his humour doesn't make me laugh but I find him intriguing and when he speaks out about something he reveals quite a brilliant brain. I like him!!

 

He's a very insightful and intelligent man, but not particularly funny. The thing is though, he can be. He is funny when he doesn't mean to be, like when he makes a frank observation about something that is ridiculous but normal. But when he actually tries to be funny, he is just an buffoon.

 

I cant stand him to be honest. Dont find him funny and cant stand his ramblings. Also his voice grates on me

I think sometimes he says some really dangerous damaging things tho

For example on the jonathon ross show he started spouting on about never trusting anyone in authority.

Which is a very dangerous statement to make especially if impressionable young people pick up on it.

Teachers etc already have a hard time and some young people can be very disillusioned and think everyone is against them anyway. People like Russell brand making broad statements like that i think is very damaging.

Just glad my brother didnt watch it because then he would spout even more conspiracy theories. Latest one is the military in japan have been injecting people with microchips which turn them into man eating zombies so they had to shoot them all

*sigh*

 

Generally very sound advice in my experience, although there are of course exceptions to the rule.

 

Young people are right to think that. At least that's true here in the UK. British society hates youngsters. If you are a teenager, then by default you are a chav, held in contempt by everyone, judged by people that know nothing about you. All forms of fun are illegal in Britain, with signs stating 'No ball games' on every patch of communal green space, notices saying that the police have the right to move or disperse 'crowds of 2 or more'. I actually saw this one at a bus stop once. It was basically saying that if you were a teenager waiting for a bus with your friend, the coppers had the right to make you leave the bus stop because you were part of a crowd of 2 or more. We even have companies that make their living out of treating kids, literally, the same as blood sucking insects ( http://www.compoundsecurity.co.uk/security-equipment/mosquito-mk4-anti-loitering-device ). We give our kids a substandard education, limited training opportunities, or the choice of a mortgage sized debt for a mediocre education, and then we bang on about the lazy unemployed youth and mock them for being unskilled and thick. We treat youngsters with utter contempt, and if anything illegal happens, we automatically assume it was kids or youths. Then we wonder why they are disillusioned, depressed, and distrustful.

 

No i agree there are many problems and they need to change

Unfortunately we always seem to focus on the negative aspect of things and that applies to young people, old people, people on benefits, rich people etc

Whether its human nature that thats the way it is or just the media is another matter

But broad sweeping statements like brands also only focus on the negative

The authority figures in our lives include parents, teachers, police, doctors, etc who include people who want to help and want the best for you or society etc

Not all authority figures are out to get you and to screw you over and stab you in the back and have bad intentions. Which is what unfortunately a sweeping statement like dont trust anyone in authority implies in the most basic interpretation

And unfortunately people will hold on to that and run with it and become paranoid adults who think the world is out of get them and that everyone is there to hurt them lie to them and deceive them. Which is horrible and very damaging to the individual.

I don't condone seeing the world with rose tinted glasses either because there are people who will mess you about and have bad intentions etc

But there needs to be a balance.

I have watched over the years statements like that hold my mates back so much because of how it effects their mindset and its really sad. Don't even get me started on the whole illuminati stuff as well that does far too much damage too and creates too much paranoia

 

The trouble is, young people, by definition, are young, ie haven't lived very long, ie have limited life experience. This is why any advice we offer has to be general, as they, for the most part, lack the experience to contextualise more complex advice. We rightly teach very young kids not to trust strangers, even though most 'strangers' are fine, but we have to teach them to be suspicious of all strangers because its not the ok ones that's the problem, it is the minority of weirdos that's the problem. The kids are not equipped with enough life experience to tell the difference, so we teach them to be wary of all strangers.

The same is true with slightly older kids, except that most authority figures actually are out to 'screw you over' as you put it. The coppers will pick on the softest target, ie the one that is easiest to pin things to. They have to, they are judged by how many crimes they 'solve'. There's no point spending weeks of effort pursuing the kid that actually did wrong, that knows how to play the system, when some random whose never done anything wrong in his life was in the area at the time, and is naive enough to believe that the innocent have nothing to fear, so will answer any question without even thinking first.

Authority figures could also be bosses/employers. What sort of person would teach a kid to trust their boss? Sure, some (many) bosses are good people, but any good boss will put the business first for the good of the company, and that means you can be the boss's best mate one minute, while it suits the company, and then dropped on a whim the next, because some change of company direction or whatever means you are no longer needed.

None of this is anything to be bitter about. It just makes sense. But by the same token, it makes sense to understand this, and understanding this and full trust are mutually exclusive notions.

Most people will deliberately deceive someone at some point. Most people will do it to some extent quite a lot of the time. Some people will do it a lot, and a few will do nothing but attempt to deceive. This isn't a negative or pessimistic thing, it is just a fact of life. It would be cruel to teach the kids otherwise, as they are going to find that out for themselves sooner or later, and if they remember that you told them otherwise, then they'll see you as one of those that set out to deceive them. Of course it is also important to teach the kids that some people can be trusted, that there are more good people than bad, but the default stance should be to not trust people until they earn our trust. You wouldn't park your car in the middle of a city and then leave your wallet, phone and keys on the roof while you wandered off for an hour would you? If you started working for a new employer, would you not check your bank account on or shortly after the first pay day to see if they'd paid you the agreed amount?

Indeed there does, but that doesn't come from telling, it comes from showing. Never trust anyone that says 'trust me' (an old saying). Lead by example and all that. That just isn't happening. From a youngsters eyes (or certainly when I was a youngster, and still now that I'm not), all we see is people in the media, people in authority, feeding us a constant stream of blatant lies and telling us how half of society is in some way bad. The people right at the very top of the pile of authority figures, government ministers, can't even treat each other with respect and courtesy, so how can anyone expect that they'll be anyone less contemptuous to them?

 

I'm not going to quote your post, but, I will say this to you CL1 - you present a strong argument ... sadly, you present it dressed up in "fact" when it is merely your opinion.
Please, do not state your opinion as "fact" in order to add merit to your personal point of view: it has the potential to offend those who actually know the facts within some of your sweeping statement/s

 

Agreed!

 

Russel Brand, I think he is a Nutter !

 

I couldn't agree more with CL1. I didn't trust authority when I was young(er) and I trust them less now but I still had respect for the right people. That doesn't mean I didn't tow the line and all that, I just questioned it.

And as for conspiracy theories, I know them all but believe very little of it. It certainly opens your mind to the possible...

 

Yes me too, got me in trouble a few times as well!!!

 

for

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ondon-despite-claiming-voting-waste-time.html

So he then goes on to want a position in authority for himself!

 

You are not going to believe this : But I got expelled from a private kindergarten at the age of 4. My poor Mum was told to come and collect me ...
80 years on still causing trouble. Just think I could have been a politician.

 

Well they have a clown as London Mayor at the moment, so they might as well replace him with another one.

That is once the first clown becomes Tory leader.

God help us.