Where have the punks gone??

Where have all the punks gone??

We need you back!!

In the seventies & eighties the punk genre provided a voice for the oppressed. The punks emerged from a time of greedy capitalistic governments and mass unemployment. Once again our society has found itself in a similar situation. In the late seventies the Sex Pistols led a musical counter attack on the oppressive regime, which was the start of a fresh way of thinking. You don’t have to accept the situation you are in if you’re not happy! This gave young people an empowerment that hadn’t existed pre-punk. Not only were people going to express themselves, they were going to protest and actively stand up against societies wrongs. This attitude of voiced protest spread to comedy and this provided alternative comedians like Ben Elton, who were not afraid of giving their opinions on society. Even the Queen of fashion Vivian Westwood was a punk. This punk culture was refusing to be silenced and was relentless in its pursuit of equality.

Today we are in a worse situation than in the punk era, society is seriously flawed and yet the people with a public voice are seemingly silent. I can’t think of a single punk band that has emerged since 2008, the year that we all found out how ineptly our country had been run. Now over 3 million people not in employment, a series of welfare benefits cut from people who rely on them and not a single protest song? How? Oh and not to mention students having to pay £9,000 a year tuition fees, and at the same time millionaires being given a £40,000 tax relief. If that isn’t enough to cause a rebirth of the punks I don’t know what will! I am starting to think that there is some sort of block on punk music by the powers that be. Instead of hearing music that has a message we are saturated with mindless manufactured music that has no benefit in society. Music can be the trend setter, the influence on people to make a difference.

People have stood up for what they believe, across the country there has been protests outside major high street shops that don’t pay their taxes. In London and eventually other parts of the country last year there was riots. These riots were dismissed as criminality pure and simple by David Cameron. Yet he was responsible for the closure of all the youth centres in that area. One of the major contributing factors of the riots, another huge factor is mass unemployment in the area of the riots. I am in no way in favour of rioting but I am in favour of protest. Which is why I think we need the punk spirit back to protest again our corrupt and selfish society?