Kinda Revolution With Russell

I was listening to Russell Brand’s audio book of his cracking read REVOLUTION the other day. You should to, if you have the means.

In it he regularly addresses the inequality and unnecessary idolisation of the elite. This elite includes rich and famous celebrities like him. He doesn’t shy away from this at all and ‘hangs a lantern’ on the skepticism that the reader (or listener) my feel toward the author.

He declares that his rags to riches Cinderella story has given him the rare perspective of someone who had lived both ends of the economic scale. Few people in poverty rise. Fewer still descend from their ivory towers into the trash. In seeing both sides, he comprehends the fallacies and prejudices of both. This is his launching point toward would be cynics.

Shoot the messenger if you will, but don’t let your own assumptions about him enable you to reject the ideas in his book.

Brand sees the hypocrisy in his persona and he acknowledges it. He plays a fool very well and you could say that it’s a great defence against his multitude of accusers. But he is no fool. He is intelligent, articulate and convicted to his cause. He is an agent provocateur to a generation of desensitised, disenfranchised consumers. A voice of dissent and a herald to ‘the inevitable big change’ that is coming soon. I don’t know what that is, but something tells me it is long overdue.

So, this brings me to you.

Have you ever sabotaged your own convictions because you thought to yourself... ‘hmmm, that’s a bit hypocritical’? Was that a genuine criticism of yourself, or was it a convenient way to back out of a belief that became a bit hard to maintain.

I’m not judging. Just asking. I’ve done it and do it regularly. My point is that being kinda hypocritical is like being kinda mindful. You can’t expect to be 100% 24-7. Seeking that level of commitment is folly.

I invite you to consider this. When you find yourself thinking, ‘Yeah, nah. I might come across as a bit of a tosser if I do that’... just ask yourself this.

Would I like to be the person that believes in that commitment enough to follow through?

And then ask yourself this.

Is the act of trying to be a better person... actually a step toward BEING a good person?

Kinda worth trying isn’t it?