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Subversion #2
A lot less essays than the first issue but these were some bigger topics than what I tackled initially.
Proposition 187
This is by far the most controversial essay in the history of Subversion. At the time California was (and still is) in desperate shape on education and healthcare spending, consistently ranking among the lowest/worst in the nation. So they passed an anti-illegal immigrant bill to combat the use of resources like county hospitals and public schools by illegal aliens. Obviously this was a political firestorm but much more so outside of California, invariably criticized by people who did not live here and did not know the situation. This essay just tried to outline the reasoning behind the bill but naturally I was skewered for it in the zine world.
Who's To Blame
This is about the never ending cycle of blame laid on music and television for our violent society. This essay seeks to focus that blame on the actual culprits: politicians. By creating a dual class society of the haves and have-nots, we’ve created a portion of society with little hope for the future with easy access to decision impairing drugs and life ending firearms. It’s a bad combination and shifting the blame elsewhere just lets the suburb dwelling soccer moms keep their heads in the sand a while longer.
jesus christ Superstar
This is another very controversial one. The town I grew up in has a lot of bums. A lot of these bums thought they were the son of god. My simple little theory was that jesus was just another one of these schizophrenic people, hearing voices, seeing visions and interpreting this as god himself. It seems like a radical notion but it makes sense if you think about it.
The Myth Of Anarchy
Anarchy is a constant theme surrounding much of the punk scene. The only problem is that people tend to romanticize the best parts, no one telling you what to do, the freedom from the slave/master labor system etc. But in reality there have always been rules. From the smallest tribe to the largest nation, there is a code of behavior enforced by some power structure (elders, police etc.) for the good of all members. If you could just go out and kill, rape etc. with no fear of punishment we’d be back in the Dark Ages where life was, like the famous quote says, “nasty, brutish and short”. So while the myth of anarchy sounds attractive the reality would be far from ideal.
Punk Ads
This is making fun of the uniformity of punk advertising. Although punks pride themselves on being different it’s amazing how strict the rules are, from clothing to music to the ads themselves. So in reality, just by looking at the by product of the culture, their advertising, you can see just how conformist it really is.
What Drug War?
This is my theory that the government is complicit if not outright aiding drug manufacturers in an effort to keep certain segments of the population from rebelling. This has been confirmed numerous times, from stories of the government creating crack to the Air America Vietnam practice of shipping opium to help pay for the war. So this essay basically the assumption that if there truly was a war on drugs they would be no where near as prevalent, so much so that any high school kid in any town has easy access to them.
Third Party
This is about the obvious need for another political party, if not more. With the wealth of choices, lifestyles, attitudes etc it’s insane to believe that all Americans fit into two different political camps. Obviously there are a lot of different parties but none are politically viable beyond a local level although since the time of this writing the Green Party has made major strides. Let’s just hope one day this essay will just be a relic of a by-gone political era.
