There’s elections galore coming up this year and if you’re eligible to vote, you might be asking yourself- will my vote make a difference? Let’s see what some punks think….
“If voting changed anything, they’d make it illegal”- Emma Goldman
If you really want to change the world, what is the best way to do it? What is the best way to effect change? To be more specific, can engaging with existing political systems make ENOUGH change to be the primary way we exact it? Or is it a panacea, trapping people in a cycle of accepting such incremental change, we forget what real change is. The sacrifices that have to be made to accept ‘good enough/lesser of two evils’ at the ballot box, the mental gymnastics a progressive/left wing voter will often have to do to ‘hold their nose’ and put an X next to someone that may just be less shit than an alternative- for what? If you’re in the UK or US right now- an election year for both countries- then you know exactly what I’m talking about.
It would be easy to assume that punk is all about smashing the system, including the electoral system. That’s it’s all about anarchy and all that but you would be wrong! Punk has various different approaches and considerations relating to the golden question- to vote or not to vote? Revolution or evolution?
When I read articles entitled ‘why voting matters’ it is mainly a top 5 list of rather vague platitudes that are supposed to entice you to exercise this most basic of democratic rights- people fought for these rights; they are the only legitimate way of exacting change; voter apathy is a bigger threat to democracy than anything else; that you can’t complain about politics if you are not actively taking part in the process to make changes. There’s little analysis of exactly how effective voting is, especially considering most populations have layers of elected representatives above them- does voting result in reps that have a mandate that is endorsed by the constituents and are they able to be held accountable outside of re-elections (which in some cases is 5 years. 5 years someone gets to be ineffective, incompetent or downright corrupt before anything can be done).
And it is also not just about whether you can actually get a candidate in office that reflects the genuine majority of their district or jurisdiction, we know constituencies can flip. But is it worth it if you do? This post is not a history of voting- each country, each region and each political office will have its own evolutionary tale of rights hard fought for, reforms implemented and the cultural significance of how they engage their citizens. Instead, when talking about the commonly understood liberal democracy, what have punk musicians had to say about where to put your ‘X’ or….whether you should find other ways to make a difference in your community.
Bedtime For Democracy….I.E Should You Just Stay In Bed on Election Day?
Plenty of punks have expressed their disdain for the traditional electoral system, and for a variety of reasons. Most however, focus on two main failings with the standard route- a) that your vote doesn’t make a difference and/or b) none of the candidates will be worth voting for even if it did.
Canada’s foremost political punk band- Propagandhi- are not short of commentary on the state of politics, cut from the same cloth as bands like Crass, known for their overt and radical political leanings. And they’re less than optimistic about our prospects in their 1993 song ‘Stick the Fucking Flag Up Your Goddamn Ass, You Sonofabitch’:
“Did you actually say freedom? Well, if you’re dumb enough to vote/You’re fucking dumb enough to believe ‘em.”
Pic by Mia Swerbs, via Unsplash.
Politicians promising one thing and delivering another? Surely not. And no one could accuse Propagandhi of being apathetic or civically lazy- their position on voting- as expressed in that song at least- came from a place of wanting genuine change to a series of systems that they were in opposition to (capitalism, colonialism, patriarchy etc). Perhaps it is folly to think these systems can be dismantled via the ballot box, as street punk band Anti Heroes agree that the act of voting is more or less performative in their track ‘Election Day’:
“I’m not the only one who knows that politics are just a pose”.
Et tu, The Damned on 2001 track ‘Democracy?’:
“Cause revolution changes nothing/And voting changes even less”.
In the case of The Damned, either end of the spectrum is clearly full of empty promises. The lyrics to the above reference the most famous of European Revolutions- la Revolution Française- and observes that for all that guillotining, perhaps not much really changed.
You’re probably not going to be shocked to hear about anarcho-punk collective Crass’ stance on this which is that however you get a government and however you form that structure, the very existence of a government is the opposite of freedom and therefore not something to be celebrated, as expressed in their track ‘Bloody Revolutions’ :
“So don’t think you can fool me with your political tricks/ Political right, political left, you can keep your politics/ Government is government and all government is force/ Left or right, right or left, it takes the same old course”
The Adolescents seemed to agree in their track ‘Democracy’, commenting on the fact that no matter the party, once in power decisions are made without regard to the electorate or to principles such as justice, equality and humanity and perhaps by voting, we become complicit:
“They’re leading us into World War Three/And this what you call democracy?/It’s a cry for no government, a cry to be free/And I don’t see freedom in democracy.
Democrat, Republican, Libertarian/Do you give a crap what party you’re in? Yeah, look what it’s done to you and me/Democracy is not for me”.
Because of punk’s reputation it would be easy for people to assume that punk is anti-authoritarian for the sake of it, hurling out empty platitudes about not voting for ‘the man’ and making vague calls to smash systems for no real reason other than the catharsis of destruction itself, but that is an unfair accusation. Yeah I’m sure there’s an element of that across pockets of punk, but the criticisms levelled at the political status quo and challenging the prevailing narrative that liberal democracy is the superior, or in fact only way of establishing fairness and engagement, are much more nuanced. We should all be constantly asking ourselves the purpose of voting, demanding higher levels of representation and standards in public office, more meaningful links between the will of the electorate and the actions of political institutions. To question your vote- and where it goes and what it enables- is as much engaging politically as anything else.
Rage Whilst Participating In The Machine
But that’s only one side of the coin- punks aren’t all about burning down the machinations of the state- many recognise that to withdraw from the political process is to surrender it to negative forces. Instead, you can change the system from within, get involved and make tangible change for your community and perhaps raise standards whilst you’re at it. Be the change you want to see and all that.
Jello Biafra is a rather politically aware fellow, the Dead Kennedy’s back catalogue being a tour through various aspects of US politics across their four studio albums in the 1980s. Biafra is not opposed to using the state apparatus to further a more progressive agenda- and cautions people to consider their own behaviour and values as being one layer of change for good.
‘Stars and Stripes of Corruption’ – from their 1985 album ‘Frankenchrist’- contains a lot of lyrics to unpack, talking about the resident of the White House being responsible for peddling to lobbyists and keeping an electorate divided, angry and scared whilst the real power is exchanged behind closed doors. But a nihilistic ‘scorched earth’ approach, is not how this will be tackled:
We don’t destroy society in a day/Until we change ourselves first/From the inside out
We can start by not lying so much/And treating other people like dirt
So this is where it happens/The power games and bribes/All lobbying for a piece of ass”
It’s a plea for a return to standards. Value yourself and you will be motivated to value your community and your country. To use a Henry Rollins quote, “if you hate your parents, the man or the establishment, don’t show them up by getting wasted and wrapping your car around a tree. If you really want to rebel against your parents, out-learn them, outlive them, and know more than they do.” Disengaging from the system is exactly what the worst people in the world WANT you to do. Don’t give them the satisfaction- hold them accountable and face them in the system they created and use it against them.
Biafra of course did put his money where his mouth is and ran for Mayor of San Francisco 1979 on a varied platform of policies including legalising squatting and requiring police officers to be elected by their communities, he once said “I’m no more a joke candidate than any other candidate”. And he’s not the only punk to put themselves up for election- Justin Brannan from hardcore band Indecision is now a serving Council member in New York and Joey ‘Shithead’ Keithley from DOA is a City Councillor in Burnaby, Canada, to give just 2 examples.
One of the biggest refrains from those who want to emphasise the importance of voting, even if it is to turn up and spoil your ballot, is that politics affects every area of life and therefore if you want to have any say in your life at all, you need to engage from the very top of the process. 90s punks Suicide Machines laid this out in their song ‘Your Silence’ taken from their 2003 album ‘A Match and Some Gasoline’:
First to go you’re 23/So when you’re in Iraq
Staring into the eyes of the man who’s the enemy
With scud missiles streaming over your head remember
When you said “Politics don’t concern me”
You may not care about politics, but politics cares about you. Or rather, how it can exploit you. Send you to war, dictate where you can live, put your safety at risk by engaging in conflict. Why be a passive observer to this phenomenon?
And there’s some optimism that you can make a change this way. Newtown Neurotics have a track ‘Kick Out The Tories’ which was originally released back in the 1980s but has circled back to be incredibly relevant to the stance many have taken for this UK election, wanting the incumbent government out as fast as possible. And as they say in this track, not voting shouldn’t be an option for the right minded because:
“Evil Will Triumph if good men say nothing”
Another endorsement of the John Stuart Mills (sometimes misattributed to Edmund Burke) idea of passivity letting evil in through the back door. The right wingers and the bigots have got no compunction about electing their preferred candidates.
But ultimately, as The Tuts said in their 2016 song ‘Give Us Something Worth Voting For’, coordinated action and mass mobilisation can have effective change, but politicians need to do their bit to inspire hope:
“People power/Knock down corporate towers/Give us something worth voting for”
Fat Mike and assorted punk rock friends agree with the collective action of voting to rid the highest offices of undesirables- so much so that in 2003 he launched punkvoter.com with hundreds of other musicians endorsement including Pennywise and Greenday to register young people to vote in the Presidential election with the hope of using those votes to oust President George W Bush. And the site grew beyond that to provide information and resources to keep people aware of and engaged with, various other aspects of civil engagement.
There were bands including Wonk Unit in the UK who were proactively encouraging their fans to ensure they were registered to vote in the mid 2010s when we had a referendum and election- they weren’t telling people who to vote for, rather ensuring that people have the option to utilise their right.
Caring In the Community
Political action goes way beyond voting of course- and if you expand your definition of what political engagement really means, then yes, democracy is alive and well AND having some crucial results- pressure on companies, direct action protests, boycotts, strikes etc (all of these will be covered in separate posts) have an influence, and often tangible results and are an alternative way of communicating the electorate’s views. And it is a good job voting is not the only way to do it because turnout is an ongoing concern. In the 2019 general election, it was 67.3%, the second highest turnout since 1997 general election (71.4% which in itself was a post war low). 72.2% voted in Brexit referendum of 2016. The University of Essex and the University of Montreal published a study that suggests globally, voter turnout is down 10% since the 1960s (the global average going from 77% to 67%).
The US is boasting some high(er) turnout elections but the overall figure is still low. Pew Research Centre: The elections of 2018, 2020 and 2022 were three of the highest-turnout U.S. elections of their respective types in decades. About two-thirds (66%) of the voting-eligible population turned out for the 2020 presidential election – the highest rate for any national election since 1900. The 2018 election (49% turnout) had the highest rate for a midterm since 1914. Even the 2022 election’s turnout, with a slightly lower rate of 46%, exceeded that of all midterm elections since 1970.
It is difficult to quantify whether people are generally more apathetic about politics or whether they have identified other ways to support their community that feels more effective. Political activism is certainly abundant- maybe that’s where people feel more inclined to get involved. Or maybe most people are trying to do a bit of both- make sure their vote is counted (even if they go and spoil their ballot) as well as get involved in specific campaigns and actions on an issue-by-issue basis.
Whatever position our favourite punk musicians have taken, the overall majority certainly seem to have favoured giving a shit about what’s going on around you and remaining analytical, compassionate and ready to roll up your sleeves and get stuck in, in a way that gets the results you want to see. They just may not agree about the best way to go about it, but that’s up to you.
Now where did I put my poll card?