>I'd argue that punk was largely an apolitical movement; there's no
>politics behind, say, The Damned or Siouxie. But the few groups that
>made political statements did so from the Left.
Skrewdriver, anyone? And then there's Fearless Iranians From Hell.
But I agree: I think punk bands that are not apolitical are mostly from the left. But there is also the argument that punk, by its very essence, was/is radical, leftist, and anticapitalist, regardless of the content of the lyrics: DIY, setting up their record labels and distribution, existing within and helping to create authentic subcultures, etc. Which I think is somewhat valid, but by that reasoning rave culture and the religious right are progressive also. I don't want to make that argument.
And Doug wrote:
>I agree that there was a lot of revulsion against the welfare state
>in early punk - Boredom and Nowhere were the destinations on two
>busses on the cover of a Sex Pistols single. And a lot of early
>American hardcore was hyperindividualistic, strength-worshipping,
>racist - i.e., heavily tinged with an American pop fascism. But there
>was a lot of revulsion against the authoritarianism, moralism,
>violence, and greed of Maggie & Ronnie.
Yeah, and often all of this gets combined in one very confused entity. Several years ago I saw a Fugazi (who are descended from one of hardcore's brightest lights, Minor Threat) show at which one of the singers said, This song is about people who dare to take welfare from the immoral state (or some such). The strange thing is that this is a band that sells its records for eight bucks, charges no more than five to get into their shows, and hasn't played a payed gig in their hometown for a decade because they donate all the money to soup kitchens and charities. How they reconcile ranting at people who take welfare but play benefit shows for the same people is a contradiction that's quite puzzling, even irreconcilable. To me at least.
Which of course is why the Minutemen were the greatest: their targets were imperialism and capitalism and fascism (that is, US government and business) not the victims of said.
Eric