#chip somers

[rustyboots-blog]

RB and Chip Somers. Aw. 

[koolewongs]

"Role is something people play, model is something people make, both of those things are fake."

[tesouf-blog]

"What there needs to be is love and compassion for everybody involved. I think if people are committing criminal behaviour then it needs to be dealt with legally but you need to offer them treatment, not some airy-fairy let's-all-hold-hands-and-hug liberalism, but because it deals with the problem and it prevents further crimes being committed. Addicts that get clean, one day at a time, through abstinence-based recovery generally speaking stop committing crimes. That's better for the victims, that's better for the addicts, that's better for society."

This is the full-length version of Russell Brand and Chip Somers' committee on addiction, which was held yesterday (24/04/2012). They raise some interesting points on how they'd deal with the judicial system where drugs are involved, specifically on how the "criminal" should be dealt with for the most gain in the long-term. Of course the entire committee is compiled of well groomed, Guardian types, but despite all the counterpoints thrown at them both Brand and Somers come across calm and articulate. 

I cannot tell whether Brand did this purposefully or under duress but he repeated all of his key points several times, including key words: love, compassion, abstinence-based recovery and authenticity. I found this especially interesting to watch as Brand is well known for glamorising and then damning drugs in the public eye, as a hugely popular - or at least active - public figure. This is something that the committee actually touches on several times (the first instance being about 10 minutes in). 

"Time is infinite"

[benetc]

Russell Brand talking a lot of sense at the Home Affairs Select Committee.