0. Statistics
I'm white, male, and come from parents who have $$ stability + lots of nice things. they bought a home computer.
We can pretty much can have anything we want at any time.
1. Psyche
I got on the internet and then I got on the internet and looked at funny pictures and talked to people and then I got on the internet and read about research on addiction and then I couldn't sleep at night, so I got on the internet as an alternative.
It was us and our screens for a long time.
Some kids went to school which really sucked. I don't even want to try describe it right now.
Homo sapiens have been living through starvation, bloody strife and dinner that runs away for tens of miles before you get to eat it for like thousands of years. So all of this is leaving alot of depression and compression and malformation on us considering that we need an outlet just to not die of depression or something.
1.1 OUTLET
But alot of people don't even really get the outlet that they apparently need, because, like, anti-depressants and amphetamines are what you are supposed to do to make yourself work in the modern world, and its ok, everyone knows that nobody actually runs or exercises like that. We invented mechanized monoculture farming, so we don't have to do that any more, remember?
But we still noticed that moving through space is fun. It's Really Fucking Fun!
We formed alot of
....
Swore off all prescribed medication and rode two miles
through nowhere to a water fountain spitting out hot water.
I sit at a bench at a compost heap and I'm about to pedal up a sixty degree slope.
At the top of a hill at a very rapid speed there's only one place to go.
At the top of a hill at a very high speed there's nowhere to go but down.
And it gets easier as I ascend my bike uphill on foot
'cause last time I kicked it into first I broke a gear by going too hard.
And it gets easier as I pass the Edward Scissorhands village
where privileged white kids date rape girls and taunt me in their SUV's. (ps hes talking about us team liquid boyz lol we rapists loololololollo)
yeah it gets easier as I see the double vans in our driveways,
I'm glistening but I know that some day I won't even break a sweat.
And it gets easier, as time goes things can only get better.
R-I-D-E. I wanna ride!
... But on the other hand alot of people, alot of the same people, ended up addicted to alcohol or sleeping pills or video games or dependent on something else and never really fixed their problems.
2. Economics
Pretty much the "american way of life" or consumerism or capitalism or whatever you call it is really fucked. Theres not enough resources in the world for every person to have as much nice shit as we have, and having "nice shit" doesn't make you happy anyway... its science! trust me!
And like, is the stuff that we have/produce even really any good anyway? Capitalism pushes products that appeal, not products that are actually generally good. Cheap plastic. Planned obsolescence. Cars. Golden Arches. Candy. Soda. Doritos Extra Sweet Chili Chips With Sodium and Fructose. TV. BattleNet 2.0 Ugly, dysfunctional clothing that is branded well. Powerade, and the Whole Foods brand of everything I just listed.
It takes alot of energy to make that stuff, and energy, especially in petrochemical form, is something we don't have that much of left on earth. Some people are really up on this stuff and its what keeps them up at night because they're pretty sure we're all gonna be poor and gas is gonna be 10+ dollars a gallon in a generation's time, meaning food'll be like 5 times as expensive and science is pretty damn sure theres no suitable replacement for gas on the horizon and coal and stuff isn't looking too hot either.
Not to mention the ice caps melting and 100 years of hard work being tossed in a landfill to decompose for the next hundred thousand years.
How do we deal with this stuff when its real to us? Do I want to build a house/career? Have kids? Car? Will it work any more? Will America work any more? Will it work for me when I am supposed to be growing up but can barely get past my own mental problems?
You took a little every day until I didn’t have shit.
Two years off and on and not even the chance to quit,
just a letter on a fridge
that I got from human resources.
I know that six weeks was kind of a bit much
and that nothing is forever, and that nothing should be. Someday it all
stops and I can’t sleep now because I’m not a real fucking adult
but I guess now I’ll have my life
from 7 to 6:45.
Marie! Marie! Marie! I’m sorry
I’ve been too busy
for the promise of an unfulfilling life.
The risks I took were mine to take.
We couldn’t communicate
in anything
but rote responses and shit eating grins.
And everything starts dwindling
when it’s all built on
power trips and pandering
power trips and pandering.
The letter arrived yesterday.
I didn’t have a drop to drink.
I had to play and drive four hours to Brooklyn
to my apartment of dirty shit and 1,000 lonely days ahead.
But I guess now I’ll have my life
with red and black out of my eyes.
Marie! Marie! Marie! I’m really stoked you set me free
from the promise of an unfulfilling life
where I can pay my bills and
pass out at eleven and not
wake up in the morning and start feeling bad.
Worst case of the Mondays that I’ve ever had
though I treat every weekday like a Saturday night
except for drinks I can’t afford.
A can of Shmidty’s, nothing more.
I need some more security
than that provided by choosing between
a job you hate, a job you hate
and a job that doesn’t pay.
I got too caught up with me
to behave responsibly.
Michael, Nathan and Christine, I’ve got no rent, Marie! Marie!
I was arguing with cops while I had a fake moustache on,
poorly handling emotions, swimming naked in the ocean,
breaking bottles all over your floor and leaving without our passports,
drinking gin and Zicam until 2 AM while playing rock band,
inviting myself into homes of strangers to drink all alone,
leaving sweat-soaked boxers on a bar ‘cause they said “put a t-shirt on,”
acting irresponsibly and trying to make a choice between
a job you hate and a job that doesn’t pay
3. I'm tired of writing this and its 5 in the morning lol, case in point, I'm fucked
But I want to post one more song, so, as cool as punkrock is and shit, cults aren't and art is fucking sweeeeeet!
Note: "Up the punx!" is a pro-punk slogan from a long time ago
I know it's hypocritical to point fingers at the people who point fingers. But when we all march to the beat of the same different drummer, the steps start to come off like clockwork. I guess Im saying we could stand to be nicer because when youre in a basement talking shit and interspersing it with speaking in namedrops and units, I must admit Im not the best when on the defensive. Id rather steal your whiskey than your heart in conversation. Id rather break three strings a song then stick to a routine like Im ripe for the picking after growing on a tree and then talk about the industry, cross-market positivity with vinyl nerds and brightly colored, quirky messy record sleeves. Id rather be vomiting and I despise vomiting. Blugh.
But thanks for the beer. I appreciate your time but can we talk about something else? If you really think that you and I are on the same page you can go ahead and fuck yourself. Because youve got coke and good looks, Ive got overdue library books so lets be friends and change the subject now.
Cause the last thing I wanna be is another negative asshole. Like God speaks through my acoustic guitar and Ive got the perfect set of morals on a dry erase board at the front of the house.
FOLLOW THESE CONDITIONS OR WELL KICK YOUR ASS OUT:
Vegans only: NO MEAT ALLOWED!
Straight edge only: NO DRINKING ALLOWED!
Fixed gears only: NO THREE-SPEEDS ALLOWED!
Me me me!!!: IM SMART! IM RIGHT! IM SMART!
I think its dumb when you take the inherently fun like riding bikes and singing songs and say theyre not for everyone as if for your whole life you were cool as shit.
Punk tourist!
Cause you still beg for cash cause you spent your parents last on a Greyhound to the Fest and your jacket says Crass but I dont give an ass Im not giving you fifty cents so that you can buy a forty and destroy a hotel party as the man who shrugs your mess up shrugs and says, This non-conformity looks like conformity, like boring nice people pose threats to your authority. This positivity is negativity and you boys sure left me with a mess to clean.
Smile big, hug bigger. Talk big, act bigger. Stop judging do something, shut the fuck up do something. Instead of sneering at my friends and me cause were not stealing buy a troubled friend a drink at the bar and tip well. Dont spend your time scoffing when do that youre just scoffing like the people who scoff at us while defending our community. Youre a teacher, youre a parent, youre the head of a dictatorship. When the ground is covered up in rules youre guaranteed to power trip.
This non-conformity looks like conformity. Why should anyone believe in our community? This organization doesnt feel like anarchy cause were suiting up to have the same identity and the boring nice people say, Shut up the punx! All the people who have barbecues to feed their friends and family, Shut up the punx! All the people writing zines with information, not just blaming things, Shut up the punx! All the boys and girls are fed up with just saying that were punk, we say, Shut up the punx!