we are conservatives, hear us roar (1 Viewer)

[crssixtyeight]

from today's guardian...

One of the first columnists on www.conservativepunk.com was Dave Smalley, the frontman of punk group Down by Law. 'I'm a punk rock conservative,' he declared. 'I'm a patriot and I scream into dirty microphones. Hear me roar.'

suddenly it all makes sense...

 

[NecroSteve]

AAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA!!!

 

[Phil]

Fuck Michale Graves.
Fuck Michale Graves.
Fuck Michale Graves.
Fuck Michale Graves.
Fuck Michale Graves.

 

[spuded]

how iodd, i always had a soft spot for down by law, especially that 500miles cover thingy!

 

[GARYXKNIFEDX]

how iodd, i always had a soft spot for down by law, especially that 500miles cover thingy!

I loved Dag Nasty and DYS and did like Down by law at the time. but I always thought it was funny how he was drinking and smoking when he was last in ireland. i asked him about this especially considering DYs lyrics and his excuse was he was on his holidays. Idiot.

 

[spuded]

he was on hollers, thats the best excuse

 

[pete]

Ian MacKaye, a founding member of the influential punk bands Minor Threat and Fugazi, suggested that such fears might be overstated. As an outspoken "straight edge" punk - one who does not drink or do drugs - MacKaye was sometimes mistaken for a conservative (he's not) and saw his message of sobriety seized on in the early 1990s by conservative Christian punk bands. MacKaye likened the punk aesthetic to furniture. "Once it's built you can put it into any house," he said. "You can be a lefty and go to Ikea or you can be a right-winger and go to Ikea." Punk, he said, "is a free space where anything can go - a series of actions and reactions, and people rebelling and then rebelling against rebelling."

Levy of Rolling Stone agreed. "Broadly speaking," he said, "the idea of disruption was a punk aesthetic strategy. Tear apart your shirt, wear it that way. If you want to have an ugly guitar sound in the middle of your song, go ahead. And certainly spitting wasn't frowned upon."

Levy suggested that posting conservative views online while much of the punk movement is engaged in earnest liberal political organizing might be the cyberequivalent of an audience member spitting on a band's lead singer during a show, "although it's a lot more hygienic," he said.

http://www.azcentral.com/ent/pop/articles/0323goppunkers23.html

 

[oh shit]

spouting right-wing rhetoric just to align yourself in opposition to the majority opinion of the punk scene is completely ridiculous.

 

[Super Dexta]

No more ridiculous, however, than spouting left-wing rhetoric in order to align yourself with the majority opinion of the punk scene.

 

[nooleen]

i am so bored
i am so bored
B-O-R-D
i mean b-o-......BORED

 

[oh shit]

No more ridiculous, however, than spouting left-wing rhetoric in order to align yourself with the majority opinion of the punk scene.

agreed, but then again the punk scene is one of the few cultural spheres where a left-wing discourse can actually exist, outside universities and indymedia... based on some of the debates that have taken place on this board i'd say there seems to be a healthy level of individualism as opposed to blank conformity.

 

[Super Dexta]

Mmmm... I dunno... obviously this is a matter of opinion.... but I just feel a lot of the time that too many people's political opinions don't go much deeper than slogans and whatever they read on their favourite bands' lyric sheets. Obviously you're of a more optimistic mindset than i am, which is commendable in itself!

 

[NecroSteve]

Left-wing, right-wing, doesn't make a difference to me. I see it all as the one big heap of SHITE!!! Why do people need to have someone else's views instead of coming up with their own?

 

[oh shit]

can someone make a thumped metal forum for necrosteve? he seems so lonely.

 

[Lili Marlene]

agreed, but then again the punk scene is one of the few cultural spheres where a left-wing discourse can actually exist, outside universities and indymedia... based on some of the debates that have taken place on this board i'd say there seems to be a healthy level of individualism as opposed to blank conformity.

for more details check out my thesis in one years time where i attempt to document 'the scene ' only to find that it disintegrates in my hands....... possibly

 

[oh shit]

for more details check out my thesis in one years time where i attempt to document 'the scene ' only to find that it disintegrates in my hands....... possibly

i will!

 

[needtokill]

Mmmm... I dunno... obviously this is a matter of opinion.... but I just feel a lot of the time that too many people's political opinions don't go much deeper than slogans and whatever they read on their favourite bands' lyric sheets. Obviously you're of a more optimistic mindset than i am, which is commendable in itself!

In my experience the problem I find is that if you're not willing to tow a party line you're looked down on.You're expected to be outspokenly political in the scene, and if you're not, or if you don't agree with the majority,you're somehow seen as less punk, or less important.

 

[oh shit]

In my experience the problem I find is that if you're not willing to tow a party line you're looked down on.You're expected to be outspokenly political in the scene, and if you're not, or if you don't agree with the majority,you're somehow seen as less punk, or less important.

yeah but if you dont care that much about the politics then you probably shouldnt worry about the political... although i guess it can be intimidating or somethin.

 

[needtokill]

yeah but if you dont care that much about the politics then you probably shouldnt worry about the political... although i guess it can be intimidating or somethin.

????
Not sure what you mean Bernard.Intimidating?No.Arrogant?At times.The presumption that someone has nothing to offer because they don't spout political lyrics or attend demonstrations or whatever is very dangerous (not to mention stupid).Fact:some people are involved in Diy/Punk/whatever culture because of the creative/musical/communicational (is that a word?) side, and to discount them is unfair I reckon.I've had various debates with various people about this and as far as I'm concerned if you're into it for the politics cool, I respect that, but you have to respect people who aren't.You shouldn't be made to feel that you have to agree with certain things just to be "punk", which in my experience over the years I've seen to be the case.No-one, be they politico or not likes to be talked down to, and everyone's entitled to their own opinion.Simple as that.The punk scene and the activist scene admittedly are interwined to a degree, but they aren't one and the same, and involvement in one should not force people to feel that they HAVE to be involved in the other for fear of being mocked or excluded, or to make people feel superior because they are active in both.
That's all.

 

[Cormcolash]

Right houl' on now, is being political cool or not cool? Cause obviously I will have to adjust my views according to the answer. By the way what sort of clothes are punk right now?