1977 – 1981 Jimmy Carter, 1981 – 1989 Ronald Regan, 1989 George Bush.
Be More Than An Animal
“Life is not primarily a quest for pleasure, as Freud believed, or a quest for power, as Alfred Adler taught, but a quest for meaning. Pg. 27, Frankl.”
Anarchy, chaos and no government were unending slogans within the punk rock community. Remember this structure. We turned the peace hippie finger symbol into vice, vandalism and violence. Plenty of clubs were destroyed and punks were not asked to come back. We rebelled against authority. The music and lyrics of songs moved us. Our persona as punks defined many of us but not all of us.
Today I see a President who is using these same ideals. Less government, anarchy against our United States constitution. Every day he creates chaos by dividing the people of our republic.
It is strange to me to see this. I am not the young punk I once was. When young I rebelled because I was angry at a world that let me down. I had the freedom to rebel. Other countries do not have this freedom to speak out.
Now as an older woman I see how corruption does not care about the goals of freedom. Without a conscious we have no chance of drawing a line.
As a young punk I developed and learned about compassion, integrity and creativity. I have a moral compass. I have come more to see the world as in a constant state of duality or contrary perspectives.
When Trump uses anarchy, chaos and less government to take from the poor and give to the rich, I rebel.
When Trump and his fossil fuel industry take from the land and give to the rich. I rebel.
When immigrants are housed in cages, similar as a concentration camp, and separated from their children to be sexually abused. I rebel.
When the republican party supports anti-abortion propaganda while taking healthcare away from children. I rebel.
Trump takes the truth and inverts it and surrounds it with emotionalism. A heated propaganda simile. Politicians do play their games, but Trump uses his ministry of propaganda like Paul Joseph Goebbels did. He was a German Nazi politician and Reich Minister of Propaganda of Nazi Germany.
As a young punk I unconsciously searched for the dignity of life. As young punks we questioned the status quo. I guess I am still doing this. It is a good quality to have. I want to believe that most living punks have this insight. A joined movement inside us individually and collectively. An inside continuity. A search for meaning.
I am sure we all see this differently, but this is my perspective. There was something that brought us together.
At a current Youth Brigade show I heard similar words spoken about politics, age and being angry. No longer young punks we are standing up for life as something to believe in. Something is very wrong with our current President.
“Three possible sources for meaning in work (doing something significant, in love (caring for another person), and in courage during difficult times. Suffering in and of itself is meaningless; we give our suffering meaning by the way in which we respond to it. At one point, Frankl writes that a person “may remain brave, dignified and unselfish, or in the bitter fight for self-preservation he may forget his human dignity and become no more than an animal.” ~ Victor Frankl, Man’s Search For Meaning.
