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cali

(114,904 posts)
Thu Apr 11, 2013, 04:40 AM Apr 2013

Russell Brand on Thatcher. Pretty interesting.

This particularly struck me:

"It always struck me as peculiar, too, when the Spice Girls briefly championed Thatcher as an early example of girl power. I don't see that. She is an anomaly; a product of the freak-onomy of her time. Barack Obama, interestingly, said in his statement that she had "broken the glass ceiling for other women". Only in the sense that all the women beneath her were blinded by falling shards. She is an icon of individualism, not of feminism."

so did this:

There were sporadic resurrections. She would appear in public to drape a hankie over a model BA plane tailfin because she disliked the unpatriotic logo with which they'd replaced the union flag (maybe don't privatise BA then), or to shuffle about some country pile arm in arm with a doddery Pinochet and tell us all what a fine fellow he was. It always irks when rightwing folk demonstrate in a familial or exclusive setting the values that they deny in a broader social context. They're happy to share big windfall bonuses with their cronies, they'll stick up for deposed dictator chums when they're down on their luck, they'll find opportunities in business for people they care about. I hope I'm not being reductive but it seems Thatcher's time in power was solely spent diminishing the resources of those who had least for the advancement of those who had most. I know from my own indulgence in selfish behaviour that it's much easier to get what you want if you remove from consideration the effect your actions will have on others.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2013/apr/09/russell-brand-margaret-thatcher

It's a long, somewhat disjointed piece but it's interesting.

14 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Russell Brand on Thatcher. Pretty interesting. (Original Post) cali Apr 2013 OP
there's something about Russell I tell you Skittles Apr 2013 #1
I agree. He's surprisingly insightful. cali Apr 2013 #2
another quote. barbtries Apr 2013 #3
OK, I admit I knew very little about Brand cali Apr 2013 #5
Really well done. djean111 Apr 2013 #4
I thought it was excellent. Thanks for sharing. GreenEyedLefty Apr 2013 #6
I just read the entire piece trumad Apr 2013 #7
Excellent. Solly Mack Apr 2013 #8
wow. I had no idea what a political analyst he is! Wow, again! BlancheSplanchnik Apr 2013 #9
A rocker who reads and writes? I'm impressed. Honeycombe8 Apr 2013 #10
He's not really a rocker. He's known as a comedian, writer and actor cali Apr 2013 #11
Oh...well, that explains that. nt Honeycombe8 Apr 2013 #14
Great article. Thanks for posting! LeftishBrit Apr 2013 #12
A good, thoughtful meditation deutsey Apr 2013 #13

barbtries

(28,799 posts)
3. another quote.
Thu Apr 11, 2013, 06:20 AM
Apr 2013
Perhaps, though, Thatcher "the monster" didn't die yesterday from a stroke, perhaps that Thatcher died as she sobbed self-pitying tears as she was driven, defeated, from Downing Street, ousted by her own party. By then, 1990, I was 15, adolescent and instinctively anti-establishment enough to regard her disdainfully. I'd unthinkingly imbibed enough doctrine to know that, troubled as I was, there was little point looking elsewhere for support. I was on my own. We are all on our own. Norman Tebbit, one of Thatcher's acolytes and fellow "Munsters evacuee", said when the National Union of Mineworkers eventually succumbed to the military onslaught and starvation over which she presided: "We didn't just break the strike, we broke the spell." The spell he was referring to is the unseen bond that connects us all and prevents us from being subjugated by tyranny. The spell of community.


that nails what the right has done here in the US as well. if they can dissolve the greater community they can continue to enjoy their own and never mind all the dead bodies and suffering children.
 

cali

(114,904 posts)
5. OK, I admit I knew very little about Brand
Thu Apr 11, 2013, 06:40 AM
Apr 2013

I've only seen him once when he was interviewing some Westborough Church freaks and it was funny but it really didn't showcase how smart he is.

I'm impressed by his insight.

 

djean111

(14,255 posts)
4. Really well done.
Thu Apr 11, 2013, 06:35 AM
Apr 2013

His point about why expect compassion and forgiveness for someone who loathed both of those qualities is spot on.

BlancheSplanchnik

(20,219 posts)
9. wow. I had no idea what a political analyst he is! Wow, again!
Thu Apr 11, 2013, 07:28 AM
Apr 2013

Brilliant!

I've only ever seen a few pictures of him and a movie trailer, a few years ago. I sure didn't expect *this*.

 

cali

(114,904 posts)
11. He's not really a rocker. He's known as a comedian, writer and actor
Thu Apr 11, 2013, 08:25 AM
Apr 2013

though he has done some singing.

deutsey

(20,166 posts)
13. A good, thoughtful meditation
Thu Apr 11, 2013, 09:24 AM
Apr 2013

"Is that what made her so formidable, her ability to ignore the suffering of others? Given the nature of her legacy "survival of the fittest" – a phrase that Darwin himself only used twice in On the Origin of Species, compared to hundreds of references to altruism, love and cooperation, it isn't surprising that there are parties tonight in Liverpool, Glasgow and Brixton – from where are they to have learned compassion and forgiveness?"

"If you behave like there's no such thing as society, in the end there isn't."



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