Do You Walk The Talk?

Make Your Own Damn Virtues

JULY 25 — Here’s the thing about us people in general — we are not very fond of rules. That’s why we like democracy, freedom of speech, freedom of thought, bla bla bla.

That’s also why I first fell in love with punk. But like democracy, freedom of speech, freedom of thought and the like, there will always be jerks who co-opt the damn thing and begin to make rules to suit themselves and their friends.

So despite punk’s infamy for its love of anarchy and freedom, it has sadly been hijacked by jerks who make up all sorts of dogmatic rules, and all of a sudden it’s become nothing more than another exclusive club.

You’re not punk anymore if your lyrics are not socio-political, and you merely sing about love, even though The Ramones, The Buzzcocks and The Undertones all did. You’re definitely not punk if you sign to a major label, even though The Clash, Sex Pistols and The Ramones all did. And so the list goes on and on about what’s punk and what’s not.

But you know what, let them have it. Like some people who say they believe in democracy, freedom of speech and freedom of expression, but still go ape when other people try to talk about something outside their sphere of beliefs, just let them have it. Let them take comfort in the belief that they’re way more enlightened than us puny mortals.

The real test of whether you’re more than just a fair-weather believer is when you’re confronted with something that you’ve never believed in. Can you take it?

Can you give that other person a fair chance to voice his or her opinions? And the thing about punk is, that is really the heart of the matter, to have that ability to really free our minds, to be able to accept anyone and everyone. Because let’s face it, how can we expect people to accept us for who we are when we can’t even give them the same courtesy?

By Aidil Rusli, Malaysian Insider, 25 July 2009.