Punk Politics

I remember very well the adrenalin rush I felt on hearing God Save the Queen by the Pistols. I also recall being disgusted by their behavior when interviewed on TV and yet, I was also enthralled and fascinated. The music establishment was crumbling under the assault by The Clash, Sex Pistols, and many more like them. It was shocking fashion, shocking talk and shocking and outrageous behavior. A kick in the face to all the nice people with their nice cosy lives and boring bale existences…. It was fun while it lasted. Eventually, the status quo prevailed. Punk became the new romantics, The Police and well, mainstream again. Looking back, it was a rush, exciting, but just a back alley. We grew up. We became part of the system we had rebelled against.

When I listen to politicians like Nigel Farage and his ilk, I see the punk element has emerged in politics. Be outrageous, break the rules, say mean and nasty things, ignore convention and break the system – bring it to its knees. Farage probably was a punk rocker himself.

There is an element of the people who want to see the system broken. They want to two finger salute the Queen, the White house, the establishment and all that goes with it. They are happy to follow these punk politicians and behave in similar and even more grotesque ways to prove their point.

The era of punk politics has arrived and just like Punk rock, it got its start in the UK and then was exported to the USA where there were already rumblings of the same anyway.

In the end, there is nothing particularly good about being outrageous for the sake of being outrageous. In the end punk rock produced such non-outrageous bands as U2 and others. The system was restored. The punk revolution failed yet it had an effect. It did change things but it didn’t destroy the way things are. People tire of anger, hate and violence. Sooner or later, they want to go back to their lives the way it was before…

Punk master Farage is having his day in the Sun but in the end, the ship will right and sanity will prevail.

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