In the article “we deserve more from our democratic system”, Russell Brand discusses some interesting and controversial views on our current political system. Russell Brand has never voted and claims “the impact of voting is negligible”. He believes wealth-inequality and the destruction of the earth are some of the biggest problems caused by our democratic system, and a revolution, or complete reform of our political system is necessary. For the most part, I agree.

One of Brand’s first, and most important, points is that “democracy is irrelevant”. After stating this he goes on to say “as long as the priorities of those in government remain the interest of big business, rather than the people they were elected to serve, the impact of voting is negligible”. Although Brand is very blunt with his point and doesn’t explain what has led him to believe this, I completely agree with him. Most people will argue that although no major changes occur from voting, a small change for the better is better than no change at all. This argument, although not fundamentally flawed, misses the point. I agree that voting can make a small difference. Currently, a small difference is not what we need. By voting you’re simply supporting the political system which has failed those who need the support of government the most whilst keeping the corrupt and rich in power. Voting, in the current system, is simply the tool used to keep up the mass delusion of choice. Voting is supposed to make a difference and currently it does not.

When discussing how Clegg, once in power, reneged his promise to remove tuition fees, Russell Brand claimed  “When students, perhaps students who had voted for him, rioted they were condemned”. Although this may be an exaggeration, the very fact that a politician can receive votes because of a promise he made, revoke that promise, and stay in power, is wrong. When there is a riot, it is not something that should be ignored. Riots are a sign that people feel let down and ignored  by the democratic system and want change. The whole idea of completely ignoring a massive amount of public will to change is the complete opposite of what the democratic system claims to be. Riots are almost always a sign that the democratic system has failed to represent the people, or as Brand puts it “People riot when dialogue fails, when they feel unrepresented and bored by the illusion, bilious with the piped in toxic belch wafted into their homes by the media”.

Brand goes on to address how he is “beginning to think they just don’t want inequality on the agenda because its a real problem that needs to be addressed”. I agree on the basis that the Government tends to be completely ignorant of real, big issues. I think this is because they require big solutions, and simply put, most politicians are either too lazy or too scared to actually change anything. I agree with Brand in the sense that I believe that most politicians have the mindset of trying to maintain the current system, pretending everything is going perfectly well (which may be true for them), rather than moving forward and addressing real problems.

In general I agree with Brand’s article and what he stands for. I believe that the current democratic system serves the rich and powerful, rather than those who actually need its help. I believe that most politicians, once in power, change their mind to the easy option and completely ignore the real issues. I definitely believe that we deserve more from our democratic system.