Dispatch from the European front vol. 4

[Efrim]

Political language - and with variations this is true of all political parties, from Conservatives to Anarchists - is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.
-George Orwell

The punk rock will get you if the Government don,Äôt get you first
-Rhett Miller

All you Fascists are bound to lose!
-Woody Guthrie

Dispatch 4: Punk Rock Fascism in Amsterdam

Amsterdam is a curious place. It seems to be built on pure contradiction. At any moment it may very well collapse under the weight of its own absurdity. One of the most historically well preserved major European cities is home to one of the most liberal viewpoints. Amsterdam,Äôs two largest tourist attractions stand in stark contrast to each other.  One of these attractions is the Ann Frank House. This is a place of grave consequence, severe gravity and weight, absolutely full up implications about humanity. The second of these attractions is hash bars. No offense to those who are of the inclination to partake in such activities (as I am) but hardly anything could be of less consequence than sitting around and getting high.
   
Whatever the state of Amsterdam may be, it does little to affect its curious inhabitants. They are perfectly happy being the black sheep of Europe and will simply go on doing their own thing and (by the way) doing it better than most of the other sheep. Amsterdam as a whole has a great attitude. The people here are well aware of the concept of a victimless crime and live and let live could very be the motto of the city. Of coarse, any such lifestyle tends to drive authoritarian types absolutely apeshit.
   
Such is the case with a group of punk rockers I met while in Amsterdam. It was certainly true in their case -and I suspect it is true of the punk movement in general- that punk rockers have no real interest in anarchy or any amount of freedom for that matter.
   
I was sitting one day in one of the central squares of Amsterdam. On this particular day I was wearing my Dead Kennedy,Äôs Holiday in Cambodia T-shirt. As I sat there I noticed a small roving gang of cycle punks (an anomaly of Amsterdam that I rather enjoy) off to my left. After a while they settled near me and eventually came up to me to compliment me on my shirt.
   
A conversation struck up and eventually one of the girls (whom I will refer to as Sheena) asked me if I had been to any good concerts recently. I replied that I had just gone to see Kraftwerk while I was in Vienna. It took a moment but as soon as they realized I had gone to see an ancient proto-techno band they distanced themselves from me. Nothing too blatant, but it was obvious that I was now an outsider to these people.
   
The situation worsened as they discovered the book I was reading. The book was Globalization and its Discontents by Joe Stiglitz. I explained to them that is was a criticism of neo-con style globalization and that it presented a plan for a sane alternative to the current style of global economics. This caused Sheena to launch into a rather ill-advised and horribly naive speech about the virtues of anarchism. After I corrected her on several points the group became openly hostile towards me and quickly rode off into the night.
   
It is quite easy to spot groups that are openly fascist. We can all spot the KKK or the Nazi,Äôs or the Republican party a mile away. But what about groups whose supposed aims are expansion of personal liberty and individuality? Sure, a punk rocker will shout at the top of his lungs about anarchy and doing things your own way, but if your own way happens to not involve ripped shirts and Clash CDs, then that punk will probably tell you to fuck off without so much as listening to what you have to say. Any Libertarian worth his weight in Ayn Rand literature will start going off about economic and personal liberty at great length at the drop of a hat. Of coarse, they fail to see how suspended their personal liberty will become when free market capitalism slices it up like eagle talons digging into a field mouse. He has simply conformed to a new system instead of truly riding himself of dogma. These groups abound in our world.
   
These poor men and women are the half-cabbages of our world. They have the good goals in mind but the fail to see the web they are ensnared in be it punk rock, free-market capitalism, Communism or the American Dream. They fail to see the big picture.
   
Perhaps there are some among us who are half-cabbages...still bound by rigorous dogmas they can never properly explain without the help of their preferred party propaganda line. Maybe there are some, but I suspect most here are eyes wide open. In any case, these half-cabbages are the target. They are the hope for the future. in 1984 George Orwell said that the hope for the future was the Proles, well the half cabbages are our proles. When you go out truth talking or jaking or mind-fucking remember that the best thing you can do is convert these people. A full conversion is impressive, yes, but pushing someone off a ledge is much easier and we need all the help we can get. At very least you can trick them into following a dogma you create for them, these people also make excellent cannon fodder.
   
We all have lots of fun every year fucking up the Republicans and other such people in small ways but I think it is much more important to really change a few minds, instead of simply ruining some asshole,Äôs day.

Cheers.



P.S. I will go against the current trend of posting my personal state of the union about this board. Such rants are boring and highly pretentious....though my rants also share these qualitys.....

[Bella]

I've been waiting for your latest installment, Efrim.
This is great. I almost feel like I was there with you.

Gotta agree that it's more important to change people's minds
than it is to irritate them and ruin their day.
Hmm....there's a lot to think about here....thank you for that.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

I've been waiting for your latest installment, Efrim.
This is great. I almost feel like I was there with you.

Gotta agree that it's more important to change people's minds
than it is to irritate them and ruin their day.
Hmm....there's a lot to think about here....thank you for that.

St Bella, Patron Saint of Lost Causes.

[Bella]

I've been waiting for your latest installment, Efrim.
This is great. I almost feel like I was there with you.

Gotta agree that it's more important to change people's minds
than it is to irritate them and ruin their day.
Hmm....there's a lot to think about here....thank you for that.

St Bella, Patron Saint of Lost Causes.

1. Phbbbt!

2.   I like that name.