”BIG BROTHER ISN’T WATCHING YOU”
Void versus community spirit. These two feelings are feelings humans all across the world must deal with every day. They feel like missing out on something because the society doesn’t give them the space needed to become a success. In the summer of 2011 rioters in England drew the government’s attention to the fact that they felt neglected and overlooked in the society. In the commentary “Big Brother isn’t watching you” posted on The Guardian website, the English comedian, actor, musician and writer, Russell Brand explains the rioter’s motive for the 2011 UK riots. Russell Brand currently lives in Los Angeles but he still has a strong connection to his native country and therefore the riots in the UK have also become his problem. In the commentary he describes the situation seen from his point of view. Russell Brand uses an overload of sarcasm and irony to describe his position on the riots. He is very sarcastic about the way the 2011 UK riots have been handled and uses sarcasm to point out his dissatisfaction with the UK government. His attitude to the 2011 UK riots is that it is a common problem, which must be solved jointly. Russell Brand is very astonished at the way the rioters are being described as “mindless”. “However “unacceptable” and “unjustifiable” it might be, it has happened so we better accept it and, whilst we can’t justify it…and work out why so many people feel utterly disconnected from the cities they live in” (lines
55-57). This quotation shows that Russell Brand can agree on the fact that the riots are unacceptable and unjustifiable but what is done cannot be undone. In his opinion the government should focus on why the rioters are doing as they do instead of focus on the fact that they burned down houses and ruined shops and so on.

The style in which Russell Brand has written this commentary is very no-nonsense and harsh. He makes no secret of his attitude on the 2011 UK riots. Russell Brand has a distinct opinion and he expresses it with no kind of restrains. As mentioned above he is also very sarcastic in his style of writing. The following quotation exemplifies his sarcasm and harshness. “Wow! Thanks guys! What a wonderful use of planet’s fast-depleting oxygen resources” (lines 51-52). When reading this you have no doubt, that he isn’t serious in this quotation. It is obvious that he isn’t grateful and that he rather would have heard something with substance. In the commentary Russell Brand is in sympathy with the rioters. Earlier on in his life he too has felt the void, but he was privileged. He had a mom who loved him and a dad who told him that nothing was beyond his reach. Russell
Brand is aware that most of the rioters don’t live under the same circumstances as he did when he was a teenager. They have no education, their family unit is weakened, they have no money and there is no prospect of improvement. So seen from this point of view Russell Brand understands the rioters. He is aware that they are not as privileged as he was and therefore he understands their way of expressing themselves. No matter what they do, they don’t feel any signs of improvement in the future. To get these improvements the society has to make changes in favour of the young people on the margins of society.

Contrary to the government Russell Brand is very realistic. He views the country from a modern perspective and sees the situation of today. In addition to this the government is very idealistic.
They will not face the fact that these rioters act like they do because of their position in the society.
They feel neglected in the society and in the political decision-making process. Russell Brand exemplifies this claim in a quotation by David Cameron: “Hug a hoodie”, David Cameron said in a speech held in 2006. But Russell Brand has never seen David Cameron actually hug a hoodie. To this Russell Brand asks, why he should. “Hoodies don’t vote, they’ve realised it’s pointless, that whoever gets elected will just be a different shade of the “we don’t give a toss about you” party”
(lines 92-93). This quotation illustrates a hoodie’s way of viewing the government. It doesn’t matter who gets elected, the young people on the margins of society will always be the young people on the margins of society.

Russell Brand criticizes the government in his native country. “If we don’t want our young people to tear apart our communities then don’t let people in power tear apart the values that hold our communities together” (lines 105-106). This quotation exemplifies the motive for the riots. From
Russell Brand’s point of view the government is the rioter’s motive. But at the very end of the text he says that the solution is all around the Englishmen - and it is not political, it is spiritual. In this case Russell Brand has chosen to quote Ghandi by saying: “Be the change you want to see in the world” (lines 112-113). This is exactly what the rioters have done. They were being ignored until they started to burn down houses and shops - this was their way of telling the government that they wanted to be heard. They were the change.
Be the change you want to see in the world. To change something you have to engage yourself -you have to ask yourself: What is my motive and what do I want to achieve by doing this? But mostimportant of all you have to be able to deal with the consequences. If you can handle all of this,YOU can make the world a better place for everyone to be.