“Reality Asylum”: The Issue of Meta-modernity
The reason that this shift of perception took place was because Punk paradoxically
succeeded in its purpose. The postmodern ideal which dismissed the accepted and expected
norms of society urged its followers to reject the foundationalist grand narratives imposed upon
them by their modernist predecessors (Irvine). These subcultures meant for people to form
their own unique voices in society and promote social change. What ended up happening was
after 70 years of these subcultural movements popularizing postmodernism, rebellion became
commercialized. Mainstream culture recognized this phenomenon of youth achieving identity
through things like “Punk clothes” and “Punk life styles.” Consequently, they manufactured the
“Punk image" and sold these items to youth as a way to be “cool."
Anarchy was fabricated into the hegemony of mainstream culture and Western culture
entered into what is known as meta-modernity (Irvine). This meant people took postmodernism
as a given rather than a problem to be solved. In turn, this reverted society to the behavior of
the modernists while maintaining the philosophy of the postmodernists. People understood that
fundamentalist institutions were flawed, but there really was not anything that could be done to
stop them. Yet, people did not see a fault in this mentality because the individual members of
society believed they were completing the quest of the postmodern ideal. They thought about
challenging traditional behavior, which could be rationalized as progress. And, everyone had
their own voices and they were seen as popular for being supposedly independent.
In doing this, one can see the dissolution of Punk’s crucial aspects. The prioritization of
the self dissolves anonymity. The fabrication of dissent into mainstream culture dissolves
resistance. And, the paradoxical nature of meta-modernity negates the reactionary idea of
Punk. Through this process, pragmatism emerged and idealism was made irrelevant. People
do not fight the systems that are oppressing them. Instead they see these structures as an
obligatory aspect of life. Therefore, all subcultures are inculcated into society. They become
simply another part of the hegemony. Self-actualization and complacency become their
priorities over societal actualization. Anything contrary to that world order is seen as
entertainment and therefore meaningless.
“Punk is Dead”: Where is Punk Now?
In the post-2000 era, Punk groups can still exist, but they exist as something other than
a subculture. They are simply music or at best the aforementioned co-culture. Essentially,
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