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Punk Rock Earnestness
Overthrowing the system with kindness?
I belong to Gen X. I grew up on a steady media diet of sarcasm and snark.
We were the punk rock generation — anti-establishment, non-conformist, and indifferent. Of course, generational labels are ridiculous. While my age cohort has a lot of cultural things in common, each of us is shaped by our own experiences. We, like every other generation, are not monolithic.
In many ways, I fit the stereotype. Snark and sarcasm are my first language. I always have to do things my own way, and I have an initial, visceral, distrust of authority figures. I loved punk music in my teens, and I still love the DIY, fuck-the-gatekeepers punk ethos. But, I am not indifferent.
We live in a messy world that often feels like it’s teetering on the knife’s edge. We have a lot of problems to solve, and often, our leaders are the ones standing in the way, preventing the real change that needs to happen. Our systems are cruel, capricious, and unjust.
I’m not blind or indifferent to that.
But I’m choosing to fight a different way.
I’ve never been interested in being cool, which is good because I’ve never been cool.
I’m a nerd.
