Howard Stern, Russell Brand Debate Democracy, Talk New Book 'Revolution'

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In great spirit of his new book "Revolution," Russell Brand and Howard Stern engaged in a healthy, heated political chat Wednesday morning.

It began when Stern confronted Brand about his recently expressed attitude that people should not vote. "That's not the end of my sentence," Brand said. "I said: People deserve real, genuine democracy."

Brand has very strong opinions about the way American government should be run, and expressed them openly and eloquently on the Stern Show.

His plan would be "direct democracy", where society is encouraged to vote directly on the issues that concern us most--similar to the way "America's Got Talent" operates as viewers support their favorite contestants.

"You are going to be integral to the revolution," Brand joked to Stern.

Brand also proposes an honest media that informs the public of the true reasons behind government actions, i.e. the Iraq invasion, and whose interests were being recognized there. He jumped into a rapid rant on the issue.

"You have to have an informed population--and the only way you can have an informed population is by having a media that is fair and just." He argues this is difficult in American society, where media and news outlets are owned by only a handful of corporations, and therefore, only a few specific, potentially biased perspectives.

"We should all be involved in our democratic process. We should run our own communities, our own work places, and we should run them together.

Not just for the benefit of a few economic elites," Brand said. "Also, why can't I get a girlfriend?"

Brand's book, "Revolution", is on shelves now, and includes many of his political opinions as well as his characteristic hilarity. Read an extract from his new book, on shelves now, via The Guardian.