while im reiterating posts, letâs touch this one!
so, so many well-meaning people going âwell, if feeling punk is what makes people be nice and do nice things, let them say theyâre punk!â to which, yeah, i canât stop them
my objection isn't "being nice isn't punk, therefore don't be niceâ
my objection is that we've reached a point where every positive human behavior gets reframed as an aesthetic identity instead of just being a positive human behavior
if you think helping people is good, then help people because it's good!
if you think kindness is good, be kind because it's good!
i don't understand the need to run every moral action through a "but is it punk?" filter first, especially when a lot of the people doing this have no actual interest in punk as a culture, music scene, history, or political tradition (for better or for worse)
at a certain point "punk" just becomes shorthand for "thing i personally approve of," and then the word stops meaning anything at all
ANYWAY! hereâs some punk bands you could check out if youâre interested in punk music that might reflect the values you hold dear but youâre not sure where to start: Against Me!, Crass, The Dicks, MDC, X-Ray Spex, The Muslims, G.L.O.S.S., Big Joanie, Los Crudos, Pansy Division! give them a try! happy thrashing!