Big brother isn’t watching you
Big brother isn’t watching you is a commentary posted in The Guardian on August 11 2011. In it Russell Brand discusses the UK riots which happened between 6 and 10 August the same year. Russell Brand is an English man who immigrated to the USA. He is a comedian, actor, radio and television presenter, singer, columnist, and author. The commentary’s central conflict is between the void and society. Feeling as if they are not and are not allowed to be part of the community over and over leaves the English youth confused and not treated fairly by the system.
After moving away from his birth country Brand starts to feel nostalgic about his origin. Hearing about rampant looting and arson attacks of unprecedented levels on the news made Russell Brand write the commentary. It is a humorous article on a very serious topic. Between funny comments and slang Brand does get the reader to get an awareness and compassion for those who got injured. He describes how the shops and the English citizens’ livelihoods get destroyed. It gets destroyed by a youth who feels neglected and poorly treated by the system. His conclusion is that society has to step in and get the country working and get the youth to fit into society.
The commentary is a sarcastic piece of literature that shows Brands dissatisfaction with the way the riots have been handled and the UK government. “mindess”. “However “unacceptable”
and “unjustifiable” it might be, it has happened so we better accept it and, whilst we can’t justify
The Essay on Among Society’s Youth
Substance Abuse is all around us in today’s society. 60% of all illicit drug users are between the ages fifteen and twenty-four (Stats Canada). This means teens have the highest risk to fall into a path of drug use. Three common factors can cause drug abuse among teens; Social Factors, ‘the high mentality’, and the availability of a drug to teens. These factors can not only cause ...
it…and work out why so many people feel utterly disconnected from the cities they live in” (lines
55-57).
the writer is deeply touched by the riots, but he thinks it has been handled completely wrong. Instead of looking at the reason why the riots happened, they focus on the physical damage.
The whole commentary is written with a very direct and honest style. All the formal details that often are used in articles about such serious topics. The style is straight forward, Brand is very open and argumentative. He uses harsh sarcasm to express and underline his opinion, which is shown in the following quote: “Wow! Thanks guys! What a wonderful use of planet’s fast-depleting oxygen resources” (lines 51-52) Here Russell Brand comments on the Home secretary Theresa May calling the rioters’ behavior “unacceptable” and “unjustifiable”. It is clearly shown that Brand does not think her statement is correct, and he would rather have been without it. This does not mean, that he doesn’t think the riots are “unacceptable” and “unjustifiable,” he disagrees with the government’s involvement.
Brand claims that the young people of England have lost faith in the government no matter which party leads. They don’t vote and therefore they become invisible in the political spin. That is when things really start to spin. The minority will be pushed around in the system, their interests not being taken into mind by the powerstruck system which role it is to protect the English citizens.
Russell Brand calls out to his landsmen with a plea for change. Make the government take care of the people’s best interest instead of making the outcome of the next selection their primary interest.
But is Russell Brand right in his strong accusations of the English government, or is he commenting on something bigger than his knowledge? In 1995 Brand attended a school of dramatic art which he was expelled from, because he smashed a glass bottle into his head and cut his chest and arms, after receiving criticism. This type of behavior is very exaggerated and ignorant like the riots. He also described how he was an activist in his 20’s. The young generation is under tough terms, but is it because of our own ignorance? Has the world grown too big to handle or try to comprehend because of the massive globalization that has been erupting over the last decades? It is impossible to create a society that will satisfy everybody involved. The riots in the UK can spread. If one man’s death can create so much chaos and violence, it must only be a matter of time before similar events will appear in other parts of the world.
The Dissertation on Covenanted Governments Government People Man
The covenant is very dear to our modern world, being that many political philosophers that shaped our modern world based much of their theories on a covenanted government. When looking at the United States, the theory was considered important from the Mayflower Compact and on. The theory of "a covenanted people" is associated with Locke, Hobbes, and Rousseau. Our "framers" took all of the ...
