This is my State of the Union Address for the Revolutionary Underground.
The RU (Revolutionary Underground, for retards that couldn't figure that out), is what I call any number of people, from any number of counter/subcultures, that are working to change this world for the better. By better, I of course mean what they think is best. To my knowledge, concensus on better hasn't been reached, but we shall get to this later.
Groups typically involved in this are the punks, the hippies, the left-wing intellectuals, the hip-hop set, any number of autonamous survivalist groups/cults. The list is hard to make because the RU is people looking for change. There are many punks who simply like green hair and spikes. No revolution there. No problem, not everyone is cut out for that sort of thing.
This is when things get weird though. Who is up for a change? Who are our leaders? In what direction is this revolution headed? When I look back to the sixties and their hippies, I saw an agenda, a direction, no plan to speak of, but they were trying. What about today?
No.
Let me tell you what I see. I see a bunch of hippies that identify with no message. They take their drugs, they wear smelly oil, they put on itchy hoodies, they smile.
They do not protest. No marches, no letters, no message. A concert isn't a mode of change, it's a fucking social club. You meet other worthless individuals with whom you can go into your van, and slowly kill the last remnants of the old hippy way.
A social club?
Let's talk punk. What do I see? It's a fashion show. "People think my Dead Kennedys coat is cooler than your vintage Ramones T-shirt." Conventional haircuts and popular music not allowed here. You like NOFX and the Dropkick Murphys? Congrats! You've just become too mainstream. You didn't follow the rules, no revolution for you. You aren't punk enough for it. Get out of here.
Go to college.
Become the left-wing intellectual. Not punk now. You listen to independant music, but you wear conventional clothes. You aren't a drunken slob now. You put on your avant guarde black box frames and listen to Guided by Voices, until you are eventually devoured by the machine. It hurts less when you go willingly.
What the point of this bashing?
Comparison. In all these instances I see two things. The first obvious one is the circle jerk fashion show that all of these cultures are. With so much effort spent accessorizing your outfits, it leaves little time for change. With a mind so focused on getting tail, subversion becomes a significantly smaller portion of your day. The point of the movement has dissolved, and they have devolved into the same corporate whores they claim to hate. They breathe in smoke from a Newport, and breathe out hate for lobbiest, and poison selling corporations. They hate Paris Hilton for being a slave to fashion, but won't be caught dead without their green hair in a perfect mohawk. They swing at a machine they cannot see, all the while tightening their collars.
How could they take those collars off? Perhaps with a little help from a brother.
Uh-oh. That dosen't fly. A punk won't help a hippy. He's not sure why. It was in a song somewhere. Urban-boy won't help out the privledged college boy. "Let his daddy's money help him out. I've got my own problems." Round and round they go. The same agenda on the tip of their tounge, but their fashions won't allow it.
Alienation.
I cringe when I see a rapper thank Dr. King for his sacrifices to promote equality, then walk off stage and get into a fight in which he uses the word faggot no less than 30 times.
Alienation. "They agree with our message, but they're not cool enough." It's the knife in the heart of the RU.
So my State of the Union can be summed up simply-
Fashion took the place of a message; ego took the place of progress.
I sum this up with a thought towards progress. What I think everyone needs is a fat dose of cyanide - for their ego. Instead of complaining that the oil company is fleecing you, walk to the store. Sure the oil company is still fleecing you, we'll get to that. In the meantime though stop being a slave. Don't bitch about how cigarettes cost too much, and it's unfair to smokers; quit smoking. Don't talk to me about a lack of educational opportunities; go to the library, pick up a fucking book. All your problems will still be there, but you will be moving to eliminate them.
The leash you put on yourself is much tighter than the one your corporate master has on you. Truth is, you break your leash, theirs dosen't matter. Because without the clutter of your fashions and preconceptions, you'll be ready for the revolution.
Ready to break your own chains?
Might I suggest our fine BIP section?
Permission to record this State of the RU, sir.
Go for it.
:mittens:
Whaddya know - hunter done bust his cherry!
...And hit the spot into the bargain
:Mittens:
Damn, great points, HSD! Well said.
you should frame this one, it's a great first.
10/10
RAH
:banana:
Bravo!
OFUK
hunter smashed that shit
:mittens:
Permission to distribute this and any future writings of yours?
QuoteDon't talk to me about a lack of educational opportunities; go to the library, pick up a fucking book.
I'd just like to reiterate this because of how much MotherFucking Troof (MFT) its got in it.
Quote from: The Littlest Ubermensch on February 06, 2007, 11:37:58 PM
:mittens:
Permission to distribute this and any future writings of yours?
If you see a relevant outlet for this, then by all means.
Unanimous praise for for a fantastic rant!
Good job Hunter
I knew you were good for something
:lol:
holy shit.
that was fucking great.
I'd like your permission to take this and tweak it just a bit (just the verbage, not the content) to maximize it's potential to reach my target demographic, which is poverty-ridden ghetto kids who don't speak conventional english. you mind?
personally hunter
i think it need a "good bless america" at the end
:lol:
Feel free to change whatever you need to for maximum effect.
If it wakes someone out of their fashion serving, "I'm so edgy and cool for bucking the system, that I don't have to consider what a douchebag I am for simply succumbing to another system set of standards," then add or subtract whatever.
It's more of an idea than a piece.
Exceptionally written hate-ridden poetry. It's very good "beachhead piece" as my old english professor would say about pieces of literature one could use to breach other peoples predispositions about writers/styles they'd heard a lot about and and made their mind not to. Excellent.
great rant!
that's what i like so much about this forum. and by forum, i didnt mean "discordianism" (cause really the 23s and pineal fnords are the green hair and spikes of discordianism, and except for perhaps some vague reference to the aneristic principle from time to time, we've left most of it far far far behind).
the way we keep cutting and hacking away at the bullshit, often just a little poke, sometimes a good bashing around the ears and once in a while a fullblown yihad.
so these things hurt once in a while, and i have found myself often disagreeing on the spot when it happens, only to realize later that it was indeed For Great Justice.
and we need to cut hard and weed it out, cause the machine grows everywhere, shit creeps in from every unattended shadow. pillars of foundations must be crushed when they become bars of the prison.
fortunately, we seem to grow new ideas at a much faster rate than it grows dullness of mind, so by disagreeing, vehemently crushing any idea that seems too settled in, anything we can get a good whack at, we may just end up ahead in this race (and have some lulz in the mean time).
I feel like recording this, and just yelling the whole thing at the top of my lungs.
Neighbors would prolly call the police, though.
Excellent rant. :mittens:
This is going into BIP v3.2.
This is a great piece!! I was just writing something similar only addressed to myself, an exercise in breaking my own prison bars, so to speak. It's all to easy to get caught up in bitching and whining about change, and making excuses as to why you can seem to get your shit together and effect change for your self.
Bravo.
As a matter of fact, I have been feeling this as of late.
I totally agree that this is the state of the union...
Good point(s). I have to agree with you. Only one thing is forgotten: that people will work for change if you make them (usually). Examples: the Civil Rights movement (MLK had plenty of fellow "activists" in that they talked about it. He ,and others, had to make them actually do it), the Sexual Revolution, the New Deal (despite its flaws, it's chief success was giving people civic duty), the November Revolution (in Russia), the Conspiracy Theorists (in the here and now), and the American Revolution. These things didn't just come about magically. They were inspired by a few key "players" (like Thomas Paine or V.I. Lenin). Getting fed up is only human, though. I've been there myself (I'm actually almost always fed up! ;) )