Last week, there was some issue that came up and Russel Brand made a statement that I agreed with.
I said at the time that I can't stand this guy, but I was all Ok with what he was saying.
Since then, I have learned a thing or two about Mr Brand.
And it has raised my regard for him immensely.
The first thing was a gossip item from HuffPo. I don't generally care at all what celebrities do but this one stated that Brand and his now ex-wife Katy Perry had had an amicable divorce and that, even though he could have taken half of her millions, he walked away without a dime of hers. That is decent. And in the modern world, that kind of decency is remarkable. Ok, score one big point for RB.
But now, today, I found this on HuffPo:
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/...
This is a very thoughtful, well written piece by someone who is clearly thinking.
I don't see Israeli military action in Gaza as a religious issue. For me it seems to be the action of an extreme right wing government that has strong economic ties to right wing organisations in the US. {snip}It is the exclusion of the sane majority that allows extremists to prosper. The insanity across the Middle East is so deeply terrifying and giddyingly futile that most people, despondent and bilious want to look away. We know the US can't be trusted. We know the UN are inactive. We know something has to be done to stop the violence in Gaza and the new medieval horror of ISIS but who can we trust? Our own governments, about who we know nothing for certain except they lie and pursue their own ends, sexing up and dumbing down, arming then attacking, fair-weather friends but perennial weapons suppliers?
Sane analysis.
And he backs it up with a plan of action:
One of the few ways we, ordinary, uneducated and as yet not directly effected people can participate in a climate where big business and big government do nothing but profit and prevaricate is to let them know that they do not act on our behalf and will not profit from our indifference. Methods like the Avaaz's petition provide a moderate but direct way to tackle extreme problems that we can all participate in.
This is not a boycott of Israel, of Israeli goods. I would not endorse the withdrawal of kosher goods from supermarkets which is happening in Britain, measures like that negatively impact ordinary people who are nothing to do with this extraordinary problem.
Brand (and Avaaz) is calling for a boycott of companies that do business with tyrants.
Here's the petition he's talking about:
https://secure.avaaz.org/...
So, I had this guy all wrong, he's a much better person than I had thought and he's doing good with his celebrity