An analysis of conspiracy promotor Russell Brand
prospectmagazine.co.uk
An analysis of conspiracy promotor Russell Brand
1–10 of 14 posts
Re: An analysis of conspiracy promotor Russell Brand
#2Seems odd for the author to refer to Brand as being "alt-right" when his preferred conspiracy theories are of the classic far-left variety. If you move in leftist circles you will meet people with these sort of views quite commonly.
Re: An analysis of conspiracy promotor Russell Brand
#3Seems odd for the author to refer to Brand as being "alt-right" when his preferred conspiracy theories are of the classic far-left variety. If you move in leftist circles you will meet people with these sort of views quite commonly.
I've always seen Russell Brand -like many street preachers- as something similar to the raw verbal intelligence we see now in LLMs: capable of bringing a stream of words with interesting derivatives, easily interpretable as agreeable and intelligent, and then hallucinating a little. Yet in the depths of those regurgitated concepts that are a mix of things you've already seen, you search for glimmers of any abstract idea that you haven't thought before. Something that tickles your brain. And you find none.
He also has good timing.
Re: An analysis of conspiracy promotor Russell Brand
#4Seems odd for the author to refer to Brand as being "alt-right" when his preferred conspiracy theories are of the classic far-left variety. If you move in leftist circles you will meet people with these sort of views quite commonly.
Michael Parenti's "Conspiracy and Class Power" is still a classic for anyone looking for a succinct overview, from the left, of how conspiracy operates as one many tools in the power elite's chest: https://youtu.be/t21UZxRYYA4 The "conservative celebration vs. liberal complaint vs. radical analysis" framework in particular is one that just bears out over and over again.
The recent revelations that Chomsky (always an assiduous conspiracy denier) was chumming with Epstein was a pretty major moment of schadenfreude for those of us on the left inclined to conspiratorial analysis.
Re: An analysis of conspiracy promotor Russell Brand
#5Seems odd for the author to refer to Brand as being "alt-right" when his preferred conspiracy theories are of the classic far-left variety. If you move in leftist circles you will meet people with these sort of views quite commonly.
Horseshoe theory. Very little separates the extremes from each other.
Re: An analysis of conspiracy promotor Russell Brand
#6It was a good article. I remember hearing Brand's views years ago and generally thinking they were good (left wing worker supporting talking about the disenfranchised) even though I don't like his public/ acting persona or ability. It sounds like he's just chasing an audience now, maybe that's all it ever was and this is where he ends up once fully optimised.
Re: An analysis of conspiracy promotor Russell Brand
#7In the end, thanks to the algorithms, almost everyone on the internet who’s chasing fame, seems to end up as a snakeoil salesperson of some variety.
Re: An analysis of conspiracy promotor Russell Brand
#8Seems odd for the author to refer to Brand as being "alt-right" when his preferred conspiracy theories are of the classic far-left variety. If you move in leftist circles you will meet people with these sort of views quite commonly.
Horseshoe theory. Very little separates the extremes from each other.
Horseshoe theory is an evidence-free smear of anything outside the Overton window.
The Overton window has been creeping to the right for the last half century, so traditionally leftist views like freedom of speech, a right to privacy, and being anti-war are now outside the window. Anyone who still holds those values is effectively far right, say the horseshoe-calling centrists.
Nonsense!
Re: An analysis of conspiracy promotor Russell Brand
#9In the end, thanks to the algorithms, almost everyone on the internet who’s chasing fame, seems to end up as a snakeoil salesperson of some variety.
Jell Biafra quoted Marshall McLuhan "the purpose if pop culture is to soften to blow of evryday life."
Re: An analysis of conspiracy promotor Russell Brand
#10It was a good article. I remember hearing Brand's views years ago and generally thinking they were good (left wing worker supporting talking about the disenfranchised) even though I don't like his public/ acting persona or ability. It sounds like he's just chasing an audience now, maybe that's all it ever was and this is where he ends up once fully optimised.
He's also a bit of narcissist, and I mean that in a clinical sense not as an insult. I mean look at some of his stand-up specials, they central theme in them are basically talking about himself. True is self deprecating at times, but the focus is still on himself. I even heard in an interview he was pondering starting a religion but was talked out of it by people close to him (thankfully). Being seen as mesiah would really kick narcissism into high gear. But he found another route to attention through conspiracy theories. Shame because he does have a way with words.