Thinking Styles: An Analysis of Russell Brand's Interview with Jeremy Paxman

Running head: THINKING STYLES
Thinking Styles
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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THINKING STYLES
Transcript Analysis
1. Jeremy Paxman is a British broadcaster and a journalist who is conducting the
interview of comedian Russell Brand. Russell Brand has never voted in his life, but
he is currently editing a political magazine. The conversation between the participants
is about the current social and political scenario and how Russell Brand has the
authority to edit a political magazine without ever having voted in his life. The
purpose of the interview is to understand how the political system needs overhauling
and how showing apathy by not voting is not the solution. on one hand, Russell Brand
looks for an alternative political system where the rights of the underclass will be
preserved and their voices will be heard and on the other hand Jeremy Paxman wants
to know how voting is important in a democracy and only by voting can the common
people raise their voice and change the system. Russell wants revolution where the
underclass can revolt against the corruption that is prevalent and propose a socialist
egalitarian system. The interview will make the corporations wake up to their
responsibilities of paying taxes, the duty of the Government to preserve the
environment and make sure there are no economic disparities.
2. Russell Brands tells his story of being a drug addict till the age of 18 and that has
affected his mentality of revolting against the rich and the developed who are trying
to oppress the economically deprived class. He tells his story of being a drug addict
and coming from a socially deprived class that has not their rights heard. He is
voicing his opinion as a representative of a social class which is devoid of a proper
representation and is underserved by the political system which only cares for the

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THINKING STYLES
rights of the rich. Drug problem is a recurring issue of the social and economic class
that he belonged to which has been impoverished and denied of basic rights
(Monaghan and Yeomans 2016). Not having their issues resolved and their rights
preserved, they do not resonate with the political system and therefore considering
voting for them a futile exercise. They believe that the political system is apathetic to
the needs of the deprived and they see that the political system is serving the rights of
the big corporations because they run the economy. The political parties are
defending the big banks and corporate because they believe that the big corporate will
curtail the taxes and the political system is only trying to keep the interests of the rich
and the powerful in mind while devising their policies. In the opinion of Russell
Brand, he is saying that the government is creating segmentation in the society and by
doing that they are not addressing the issues of people coming from the lower strata
of the society.
3. Russell Brand has never voted in his life and he does not believe in the idea of voting
someone to power who will have the same mentality of serving the rich and the
powerful and not pay attention to the needs of the poor. Paxman says being an editor
of a political magazine without having voted will reduce his authenticity in the eyes
of the people because no one should take anyone seriously who ahs not exercise their
democratic right to vote.
4. In the video, Russell Brand believes that voting will not make any difference and
people should not vote because the political party for whom people are voting is
apathetic to the needs of the underclass and voting for them will not make any
difference. This is an opinion which is not buttressed by facts. The fact is that in a