Workshop(s) 2016 | Page 93

Vonnegut and many Punks believe very strongly in radical leftism and utopian politics. Secondly, that Punk music encourages a far more violent and angry stance than that taken by Vonnegut. Thirdly, that it can be seen that Punk and Vonnegut are based primarily in ideals.

The argument is to be made that the Punk scene is not homogeneous, and neither are the beliefs held by those who participate in it. As time passes and new generations enter into the scene, bringing new ideas and influences with them, the ideology of the music they create will change. The only consistency in Punk throughout all its incarnations and offshoots (Pop Punk doesn’t count as punk, it never has, it never will ) is an ideology that centers around individualism and rebellion.

Folk-Punk, a modern off-shoot genre of Punk, combines traditional American Folk music with the aesthetics, ideology, and raw playing style of punk rock, and it encourages a less hostile and more accepting form of revolution. Many Folk-Punk groups create songs that directly contradict the pack mentality that is present in Punk’s anarchist politics. One such song is “Anarcho-Punks are mysterious…” The song’s final verse perfectly showcases how Folk-Punk is challenging the issues with the Punk mentality of the 1980s and 1990s,

“And it’s so much less confusing

when’s lines are drawn like that,

When people are either consumers or revolutionaries,

Enemies or friends hanging on the fringes

Of the cogs in the system,

It’s just about knowing where everyone stands.

But does it really make a difference if we get it?

Well do you really fucking get it?

No, no, no, no,

No, no, no, no…”