| Punks, real punks that is, live and die by the punk ethic, a code of honor which all true punks abide by. I don't claim to be a punk or follow their ethics very closly but these are simply my observations on their.....shall we say....rules. Now you can go around calling yourself a punk, listening to your radio friendly Mxpx and Blink 182, but in reality you are no different than anyone else in popular culture if you don't respect and follow the punk ethic. Another misconception about punks is that they have this impression that in order to be a punk they must despise the government (aka. their parents). I can't tell you how many times I've herd this conversation at my school. WANNA-BE PUNK: Dude Man...I hate the government man! GUY: Why's That? WANNA-BE PUNK: Because Man...They oppress me man. Like yesterday man....my mom came in my room at like 3 am and told me to get some sleep! Can you believe that man! Dude I hate them man...they suck, how dare they try to discipline me! Dude.... I got the munchies..... Sound at all familiar? Well real punks are not entertained by this type of conflict. A true punk would look down on this kid citing that he is a childish idiot. Another important issue I would like to address is the misconception that punk is in any part built on clothing. The unnatural hair color and punk studded leather jackets from the late 70's was not so much a style but an anti-style. An attempt to force people to look at life a little differently. When the suburban middle class began imitating this new "style," the punk underground became alienated and abandoned the clothing (see Fast n' Bulbous). It is true that the pointless anger that started the punk revolution in the post vietnam 70's has faded away and that punk rock is different today. The music and ethics have both evolved into something that fits into todays modern philosophy. Think about it, in a world were self expression and ecconomic help for minorities is welcome...what are you gonna scream about??? It's also hard to fight the power, when your making 50k a year. Still even these "neo-punks" like to associate themselves with the tradition of loud raunchy riffs and lyrics about how much there parents suck. Below I have outlined the basic principals of the *Modern punk*. Maybe you can learn somehthing from it when you closely compair it to yourself. |
| THE PUNK MANIFESTO |
| - Don't Sell Out |
| 1) Don't change yourself for money or because others tell you to. Far too often the punk community ends up being the very sell-outs they claim to despise; very sad indeed. |
| 2) Don't endorse the products and ideas of conformity for the sake of conformity, to do so would comprimise your integrity and make you appear as though you were motivated by profit. |
| - Individuality |
| 1) This relates back to the idea of not "selling out". Be yourself even if it offends others. As long as what you are doing is right, then you should stand by your beliefs. |
| 2) Do not allow your image ot degrade even if you are not directly responcible for the degradation. For example, pictures of bands in magazines showing sex appeal to sell records should be frowned upon because it takes away from the true image. (That and it makes you look like a jackass to those who really care about you and the music). |
| - Don't Let Others Tell You What Is Right And Wrong |
| Noteworthy Links!!! A History Of Punk - This is an excellent site that covers most of the underground movement in general. Specifically the Punk movement. |
| 3) What else does selling out suggest? The Beatles and the Ramones both made movies to promote their careers which would never have been accepted by less popular bands. Unfortunatly, It is true that people will turn the other cheek to a clear "sell out" violation if it is popular enough to do so. All I can say to that, is that history only seems to remmember the things it wants to remmember. i.e. - great music, popular bands, etc. |
| - The Equality Issue |
| 1) Don't let the constitution tell you what is right and wrong. Remember, even Nixon said that "If the law wrong, break the law". |
| 1) In the 60's and 70's, punk was about doing your own thing and not worrying about how you paired up to other musicians. Punks spent years fighting "arena rock bands" or "corporate rock bands" like Led Zeppelin. Why? Because their image was that of masters at work. The punk ethic has always stessed that no band is special; as long as you play your instrument with feeling, your just as good if not better than any arena rock band. |
| Well that's it. Feel overwhelmed by the ethical mumbo jumbo yet? Like I said these are not written in stone and different groups value different aspects of this general outline. To some people, it dosn't matter if what your doing is moral or not. To others, the equality issue is not as important. In the end all that matters is that you have fun. BUT if you only get one thing out of this mess try to remmember, punk isn't about what cloths you wear but how you think! |
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