In a YouTube video uploaded Friday, comedian and podcaster Russell Brand reacted to politicians, pundits, and celebrities around the world expressing public support for Ukraine during the conflict through what he calls "empty gestures."
Brand compared the weeks-long Freedom Convoy protest in Canada that sought change at the ground level to many pontificating about the war on social media.
Brilliant from @rustyrockets: “Oh no! There’s a war in Ukraine! Quick! Do some empty gestures!” pic.twitter.com/7jut5Il7hd
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) March 6, 2022
"Look at what happened in Canada," Brand pointed out in the video clip on the Ukraine-Russia conflict. "Some people said, 'Oh, the thing about that truckers protest is that it's a bit noisy and a bit of a nuisance.' Yeah, that's what protest is! You have to make a bit of a nuisance of yourself in order to be heard, because democracy does not afford you the right to do what you need to do."
Brand expressed, "What I fear is that we risk creating a world in where the only things allowed are empty gestures." He then mimicked virtue-signaling figures on social media: "Oh no, there's a war in Ukraine! Quick, do some empty gestures!"
He summed up the argument by saying "what we need is the means of protest."
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