Via John Podhoretz on Twitter comes this glimpse into the mind of a socialist multimillionaire.
Russell Brand, the comic best known for his Judd Apatow movies and brief marriage to Katy Perry, resurrects the spirit of Occupy in this interview with Jeremy Paxman. Brand doesn’t just want to protest, he wants a revolution:
It probably could go without saying this his ideas are tired Marxist tropes. The immiseration of the proletariat will lead to an uprising and usher in the final stage of social evolution, a permanent socialist government.
It was tried. Millions died. Google it.
Brand’s reference to the Occupy movement is fitting. Occupy was an openly anti-capitalists movement who liked to burn and smash banks in particular. It’s no accident that the worst kind of juvenile (even infantile, remember the pooping?) response to free markets devolved into a shambling disaster of unsafe camps within weeks. Occupy collapsed under the weight of their own pathetic idealism after a head-on collision with human nature.
When they think no one is looking most people, including Russell Brand, are out for themselves. If only there were a system which could channel people’s rational self-interest into useful goods and services for others. Such a system could change the world for the better and even lift hundreds of millions of people out of destitute poverty.
I will say this for Brand. As much as I despise his ideology I can’t help but be impressed by his ability to talk. Jeremy Paxman has made a career out of eviscerating people in interviews. He is one of the best in the world. For Brand to come in with such an absurd premise and still be able to rhetorically keep up and even turn the tables a little with his rapid-fire dialogue is impressive. God save us from quick-witted idiots.