The Next Best Thing to Anarchy Is Getting Government Off Your Back
Posted by: Kevin D. Korenthal | 09/10/2008 2:39 PM
By Kevin D. Korenthal
In recent months the "preaching to the choir" conversations that I have had with fellow Republicans have been more often replaced with inquiries from people I associated with in my uncontrolled youth. Old friends from my "rebel period" (High School through age 28) have begun to seek me out and engage me in conversation about politics.
In the 1980's I was quite a bit the rebel that I do not appear to be today. I think it is this apparent extreme change of views that has convinced friends of that era gone by to quiz me on how it is possible that someone who broke so many rules and adopted the mantra of rebellion could have become a Conservative Republican.
The whole reason I chose to rebel while others fell in line and did what was expected of them (like my brother) was because I wanted to be as close to true anarchy as I could get. And at the time, punk rock and its offshoots (death rock, mod, & new wave) constituted the music of the anarchist rebellion taking place in America. You might recall that an early and consistent metaphor for what punks were rebelling against was Republican President Ronald Reagan.
The movie SLC Punks is a movie about the mid 1980's punk rock scene in Salt Lake City Utah. In the film, the main protagonist and his friends (a varied mixture of punks, mods and cool "geeks") party all night at the apartment of the main characters. In one scene a broken television reveals a graffiti-style photo of Ronald Reagan. The punk rock period of the 1980's was looking for a scapegoat for all of the angst and loathing they felt towards society and Reagan made the perfect poster child. But in the end, the main character of the film, Stevo, comes to terms with the dreams his father has for him and his own desire to be successful and, as the movie ends, we see Stevo accepting his adult role as a tax-paying citizen of the country. This story line is not quite as ridiculous and Stevo's transformation not as "sell out" as it appears. Stevo has simply crossed the bridge between the real society he grew up in and the fake one that glorifies anarchy and chaos.
In the end, Ronald Reagan turned out to be the closest thing to an anarchist that modern politics has seen. His message of DIY ingenuity and a strong stance against those that want government in control of everything appealed to the punks. But rather than embrace the old ex-actor, they made him the mascot of their discontent. The punks of the 80's are now corporate executives and soccer moms of the 1990's and 2000's. And they are beginning to realize that throughout those tumultuous times, most of them saw more in common with Ronald Regan than they had truly known at the time.
I think I too have evolved in this fashion.
As a teenager, I always noted that Ronald Reagan exuded strength and independence and the desire to let Americans live with as little government intrusion as possible. Other miscreants of my era must have, at least subconsciously, felt that way as well.
The bottom line is that a strong contingent of yesterday's punk movement is now a blossoming sector of the conservative movement. That "leave me the hell alone" attitude of the punks circa 1984 has morphed into the less government, more freedom crowd that will cast their votes for Republicans in this election.
UPDATE: See here and here for articles that relay a similar opinion to mine.
In recent months the "preaching to the choir" conversations that I have had with fellow Republicans have been more often replaced with inquiries from people I associated with in my uncontrolled youth. Old friends from my "rebel period" (High School through age 28) have begun to seek me out and engage me in conversation about politics.
In the 1980's I was quite a bit the rebel that I do not appear to be today. I think it is this apparent extreme change of views that has convinced friends of that era gone by to quiz me on how it is possible that someone who broke so many rules and adopted the mantra of rebellion could have become a Conservative Republican.
The whole reason I chose to rebel while others fell in line and did what was expected of them (like my brother) was because I wanted to be as close to true anarchy as I could get. And at the time, punk rock and its offshoots (death rock, mod, & new wave) constituted the music of the anarchist rebellion taking place in America. You might recall that an early and consistent metaphor for what punks were rebelling against was Republican President Ronald Reagan.
The movie SLC Punks is a movie about the mid 1980's punk rock scene in Salt Lake City Utah. In the film, the main protagonist and his friends (a varied mixture of punks, mods and cool "geeks") party all night at the apartment of the main characters. In one scene a broken television reveals a graffiti-style photo of Ronald Reagan. The punk rock period of the 1980's was looking for a scapegoat for all of the angst and loathing they felt towards society and Reagan made the perfect poster child. But in the end, the main character of the film, Stevo, comes to terms with the dreams his father has for him and his own desire to be successful and, as the movie ends, we see Stevo accepting his adult role as a tax-paying citizen of the country. This story line is not quite as ridiculous and Stevo's transformation not as "sell out" as it appears. Stevo has simply crossed the bridge between the real society he grew up in and the fake one that glorifies anarchy and chaos.
In the end, Ronald Reagan turned out to be the closest thing to an anarchist that modern politics has seen. His message of DIY ingenuity and a strong stance against those that want government in control of everything appealed to the punks. But rather than embrace the old ex-actor, they made him the mascot of their discontent. The punks of the 80's are now corporate executives and soccer moms of the 1990's and 2000's. And they are beginning to realize that throughout those tumultuous times, most of them saw more in common with Ronald Regan than they had truly known at the time.
I think I too have evolved in this fashion.
As a teenager, I always noted that Ronald Reagan exuded strength and independence and the desire to let Americans live with as little government intrusion as possible. Other miscreants of my era must have, at least subconsciously, felt that way as well.
The bottom line is that a strong contingent of yesterday's punk movement is now a blossoming sector of the conservative movement. That "leave me the hell alone" attitude of the punks circa 1984 has morphed into the less government, more freedom crowd that will cast their votes for Republicans in this election.
UPDATE: See here and here for articles that relay a similar opinion to mine.
