I never liked Russell Brand. His style of comedy always struck me as a Camden Hipster cross breed of Pete Doherty and the Artful Dodger.

So when I heard second-hand reports of his call to arms in front of Jeremy Paxman, a glimmer of hope shot through me.
Perhaps this clown prince of unkempt hair was more than he seemed.
On the surface, Brand calls for the majestic and glorious change envisioned by revolutionaries throughout history.
But like most elements of modern pop culture, it is only on the surface.

© Youtube

Brand attempts to inspire revolution by highlighting social and political ills that have been named and shamed for years.
Not to take away from his commendable work with people suffering from drug addiction, but his infantile rhetoric would be great if he did a damn thing to help politically. He is an armchair anarchist.
To those unfamiliar with the pejoratives of the left, an armchair anarchist spouts revolution, calls for insurrection and cries for rebellion, all from the comfort and more importantly the safety of their own home.
The armchair anarchist does not vote. “If voting worked, it would be illegal,” they cry from small gatherings in Starbucks in the middle of a G8 protest and on message boards and online forums.

This breed of political ‘activism’ is quite attractive to the fashionably socially-aware.
Requiring no real effort or input, broad and grand ideals and themes can be proclaimed without any action behind them.
The manifesto of the armchair anarchist is a collection of quotes from Marx, Guevara and Chomsky, copy and pasted into Twitter - #Revolution.
Don’t confuse the armchair anarchist with the hacktivist. Those cyber-punks put their keyboards and internet connections behind the rhetoric, and actually try and change something.

In calling the youth who follow him to adopt this brand of politically charged apathy, he is removing the purchasing power of a rightfully disenfranchised generation.
Obviously the Tories, Labour or the Liberal Democrats do not represent the political change he is calling for, but there are parties that do fight for his views.
They are the Socialist Party, the Socialist Workers Party, the Pirate Party, the Libertarian Party and even the Green Party.
How do you help these parties create change? You vote for them.
If you have been disenfranchised and feel the establishment does not represent you, agreeing to have nothing to do with it is negligent abuse of your society and country.

By not voting at all, you are not involved. You are an armchair anarchist.Voting is the start. People in far less politically liberated parts of the world die for this right.
Then comes protest: marches, sit-ins, strikes and boycotts.
If all else fails, there’s the option of armed revolt.
But let’s be honest, if it comes to armed insurrection, how do you think Russell Brand would fair against a Challenger tank?