There is a certain irony in the predicament in which Russell Brand, former “comedian” and now shirtless self-appointed guardian of the “truth” (a recently hotly contested concept), finds himself.
On the one hand, he proclaims himself a victim of Cancel Culture, persecuted and insulted on social networks for his alleged sexual crimes, prejudiced without a fair trial, condemned without due process.
On the other, he harnesses the wild power of the mob in his defense on multiple platforms, demanding that his millions of followers open their minds to the idea that he is not, in fact, a filthy sexual pest but a brave and noble warrior whose actions have made him the target of a nefarious old world cabal consisting of shadowy government agents, big pharmaceutical companies, “mainstream media” and quite possibly a few lizardmen too.
The double standards are impressive. Brand invokes “free speech” as both proof of his innocence and justification for his paranoid ramblings; and yet seeks to deny it in the case of his accusers and alleged victims.
He rails against the “cancel culture” that jeopardizes his lucrative online revenue streams, seemingly oblivious to the irony that the vast, unregulated power of social media is precisely what enables these virtual lynchings against him in the first place.
SARAH VINE: There’s a certain irony in Russell Brand’s predicament
On the one hand, he declares himself a victim of Cancel Culture. On the other, it harnesses the wild power of the crowd for its defense across multiple platforms. The brand is photographed in 2014
Live by the sword, die by the sword, you might well think. But there’s more to this than a man desperately clinging to his magical money tree as the storm engulfs him. This is a fundamental change in the way society functions.
The Internet has created an entirely new class of humans, defined not by hard work, intelligence, kindness, or courage – or even any of the qualities by which we measured humanity – but by a simple ability to appeal to illusions, to the paranoid. and the dispossessed.
The Internet was never intended as a tool of destruction: it was meant to make life easier, to connect minds, to usher in an era of utopian wonder. And in many ways it has succeeded: life in the online age has many advantages that those of us who grew up in an analog world could hardly have imagined.
But the deeper the tendrils of digitalization seep into every aspect of our existence, the more the dark side begins to emerge. From elementary school children exposed to hardcore pornography to all manner of extremism and abuse, the complete absence of any sort of civil, moral or legal barrier online has encouraged the most depraved aspects of the human psyche to flourish.
And as the lines between virtual reality and real reality become increasingly blurred, the infection has spread. Increasingly, success is no longer sought in philosophy, art, academia, literature or philanthropy: it is measured by the number of followers on social networks or the approval of the algorithm .
Skills and education seem less and less useful; experience, wisdom, dedication, hard work and loyalty do not matter. The old world order is slowly but surely collapsing and society in all its forms is being reshaped.
We’re caught in a never-ending downward spiral of mindless TikTok-ification, where the more you’re willing to expose yourself – and the more you push the boundaries of what’s decent, moral, honest and truthful – the more you are rewarded, financially and socially .
Ultimately, Russell Brand is just Andrew Tate (right) in ripped jeans
Why get a real job in the real world that requires real work when you can make a lot of money just by turning on your computer and feeding the hunger of billions of humans on this planet – for porn, for conspiracy theories, for viral dance trends – or anything that generates clicks and views?
From Kim Kardashian to trans Bud Light poster girl Dylan Mulvaney and every budding sensation in between, the Internet has transformed civilization into a sinister circus of grotesques, a spectacle of futility with as much intellectual fodder as ‘a triangle of melted cheese.
Ultimately, Russell Brand is just Andrew Tate in ripped jeans, a prince of this new empire of the depraved and deranged. He honestly believes that his virtual power places him beyond control and makes him immune to the laws and restrictions of the real world.
And the saddest truth of all? He is almost certainly right.
Have you ever done something so spectacularly stupid that you fear you’ll lose your mind? The other morning I left my house and panicked when I saw my car was missing. I summoned my daughter and her long-suffering boyfriend, who scoured the immediate area and confirmed they were nowhere to be found. I called the police and reported it stolen.
Some time later, I was riding my bike when I suddenly had a flash of realization. I knew exactly where my car was: I had left it in an underground garage near my office. What followed was an extremely uncomfortable call to the police for not reporting the theft and a huge amount to pay to the parking lot.
Now I understand what people mean when they talk about “senior moments.”
A head start with Posh and flex
Remember a few years ago when Victoria Beckham went through that weird phase where she was photographed lying down with one leg in the air?
Is this just an extension of that? Or maybe that’s just what happens as you get older: you can’t get out of bed like you used to.
Either way, it’s a terribly strange way to advertise a perfume.
Victoria Beckham model for her beauty brand unveils new line of perfumes
The other day I was driving through a part of the countryside which has been dug up to make way for HS2.
All I can say is that if the government had come and caused such a disaster in my neighborhood, I would be furious at the thought that it was all for nothing.
Last week, Iran approved a law that allows women to be jailed for ten years if they are dressed “inappropriately.”
In November, he will assume the presidency of the Social Forum of the UN Human Rights Council.
That’s right: a regime that rapes, tortures and kills women because they don’t wear headscarves, as part of a leadership role in human rights.
No wonder Russia, after being kicked out for invading Ukraine, thinks it should return. Why stop there? Kim Jong-un doesn’t have much to do at the moment…
I don’t understand why Sir Keir Starmer thinks that imposing VAT on private school tuition fees will “break the class cap”.
This surely won’t affect the elite, but middle-class parents will be forced to remove their children from private schools and place them in the public system.
So this is the modern Labor Party: protecting the super-rich, penalizing the ambitious middle class and expanding public services even further. Keep going Keir, you’re on your way to a winner!
I don’t understand why Sir Keir Starmer thinks imposing VAT on private school tuition fees will ‘break the class cap’
Avanti goes into reverse…
Comedian James Nokise’s account of a ridiculous three-and-a-half hour taxi ride to Edinburgh after his Avanti West Coast train service from London was disrupted at Preston due to a ‘track fault’ » was hilarious.
After what appears to be a terrifying trip in which his taxi driver “decided to change lanes without signaling and almost hit a minivan that was passing him,” Nokise concludes, “Maybe.” . . throwing money at taxi drivers and forcing them to drive for several hours in the middle of the night may not be the best contingency plan for the train companies.
Indeed. But at least they tried. The same cannot be said of companies like British Airways which, when they leave their passengers stranded – as they increasingly seem to do – simply drop them off outside the airport, often in the middle of at night, without any assistance.
It’s been weeks since they did this to me in Marseille – and still not a hint of a refund or a breath of apology. Lost in the mail, perhaps?
Isn’t it interesting how, after a few weeks of liberal media lamentations about Rishi Sunak’s so-called “shift to the right” (i.e. some minor tweaks to the government’s green policy ), he reduced Labour’s lead in the polls by eight. points?
Could it be that voters want a conservative prime minister who does conservative things?
How do you know when someone has lost the argument? When they start insulting you.
To wit, Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey said “clown” was not the “bad C-word” for the Tories. Pathetic.
Sir Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats, at the party conference in Bournemouth on September 26
