Sorry it's been so long since I last posted on this blog. I do intend to start posting on here more often in the future though!
If you haven't heard about the #GreenSurge then let me tell you all about it. Last October-ish the BBC along with ITV and Channel 4 announced that they had no intentions of inviting the Green Party to the leaders debates, yet they would invite UKIP. The Green Party published an e-petition on Change.Org calling to be included on the live TV leaders debates, which gained over quarter of a million signatures in just 2 or 3 months. A couple of months later Ofcom announced that the Green Party would be classed as a minor party, while UKIP would be classed as a major party, despite the Greens having elected an MP for 4 years before UKIP received defected MPs from the Tories. This gave the TV broadcasters even more reason to exclude the Greens from the debates. This caused an outcry amongst left-leaning voters who oppose the politics of UKIP. Tens of thousands of people joined the party. Membership now sits around the 55,000 mark, which is above both UKIP and the Lib-Dems which makes us the 4th largest party in the country. In Scotland, the Scottish Greens got a massive surge in members following the independence referendum and more than doubled their membership in something like 2 weeks. They went from around 2,000 members before the referendum to over 7,000 members now. This means that the majority of Green Party members were not Green Party members at the last Green Party conference. In opinion polls the Green Party has been getting between 6-10% and frequently beating the Lib-Dems which is an improvement from the 2-5% we were getting about a year ago. In this post I want to talk about how I'm feeling about this surge in members and the potential futures of the party.
Now Until the General Election:
I predict just one thing until the day of the general election, and that is small further growth and steady media coverage. We are at about 55,000 members and I see that rising to 65,0000-70,000 members perhaps, maybe even just 60,000 members. We will be on 2 of the 3 leaders debates and I predict that the public will have mixed responses to it, but we will overall gain more supporters than we would had we not been on the debates. The party intends to stand in every seat in the general election and as a result we will receive a heck of a lot of extra media attention that we did not receive at the last general election. The party is realistically targeting to win in 3 seats (Brighton Pavilion, Norwich South and Bristol West) and has several lesser target seats spread throughout the country. The party is likely to stand in a record number of local election seats as well. What will happen on and after polling day is yet to be seen. For arguments sake, for the following predictions I am assuming that all that our possible number of MPs will do is as Caroline Lucas has been doing over the last 5 years, supporting or opposing issues on a case by case basis and refusing to enter any coalition government. Remember, this is all just my opinion and mostly speculation. Anything could happen in reality.
Possible scenario no.1: Greens do very well:
In this outcome, the Greens receive 5 or more seats as some members are predicting at the general election. The party keeps deposits in over 50% of seats. National share of the vote could be as high as 10%. The surge continues and we could potentially reach 100,000 members by the end of the year including members of different parties including Labour, the Lib-Dems, and other parties to the left of the Tories. Now, the more members who join, especially in a sudden surge as opposed to gradual growth, the more diverse views and opinions will be within the party. There will be calls for changes to the party as new members will be likely to expect the party to challenge to run local councils and by 2020 to be in a position to be in the next government, even if that is a minority party in a coalition. I'm already hearing calls from new members for the party to get rid of our more radical policies in order to be more presentable to the electorate. If we get another surge in members this call may only increase. Over the next 5 years the party gains seats all over the country and has a less radical vision than it has had. Members on the left of the party leave and potentially join other parties such as Left Unity, who in turn have their own small surge and become more of a force in British politics.
If this happens, the party will change its rules to become a less democratic party, or at least a less directly democratic party and a more elected representatively democratic party starting with introducing delegate conferences where your local party has to elect you as a delegate before you can come and vote at conferences. More and more power within the party will become centralised with the leaders, executive, paid staff and other committees making more decisions without first consulting the wider membership. I can already see this happening with Natalie Bennett setting the agenda for the party by choosing what she talks about in interviews. Essentially the party heads towards the general direction that the Lib-Dems were in perhaps 10 years ago, compromising on more radical left-wing policies, centralising power & influence within the party and appealing to a broad range of disaffected left-learning middle class Guardian reading voters. I think the likelihood of this outcome will be moderately low, I don't think we will receive as many as 5 seats in the general election.
Possible scenario no.2: Greens receive 3 seats:
So in this scenario the Greens gain 2 extra seats in the general election and therefore triple their seats in the commons. The surge continues but not as quickly as has happened. Many people feel that the Greens are not so likely to make a major breakthrough in British politics . Membership reaches over 100,000 within a year or two or perhaps a little longer. The party has less influence in Parliament than scenario 1 and has more freedom to be radical. As a result the Green Party keeps more members on the left of the party and starts to be taken more seriously by those on the left outside of the Green Party. As with scenario 1, the new members call for many changes to the party but these changes are less of a shift towards the centre. In general this scenario is the middle ground between scenario 1 where we lose our radical focus too quickly and the next scenario which will involve continuing our slow-ish gradual gain in seats and influence on British politics but no major surge. This scenario will still involve many members calling for compromises in order to become more electable but this will be slowed down by a higher percentage of the membership favouring the more radical left-wing policies. There will be internal struggles between polarised sections of the membership, with some members eventually leaving the party on both the left and the right of the party. I see this scenario as a compromise between the gradual, slow, but radical influence on British politics and the quick growth and shedding of our radical roots by too much compromise.
Until a few months ago when the surge began I felt this was an incredibly unlikely scenario, but given that we have had a big surge in members, we are going to be in the leaders debates and get a much increased media presence and we have had a significant rise in the polls, these 3 seats in Brighton, Norwich and Bristol could well be ours. I'm still not entirely convinced that we will get all three, but it could happen.
Possible scenario no.3: Caroline gets re-elected:
In this scenario Caroline Lucas gets re-elected but we don't gain any new MPs. I see this as the most likely outcome. With this scenario, we gain a few members, we lose a few members who felt we would gain seats, but in general we carry on slow growth that we had before the surge. This scenario makes me the most excited (perhaps along with scenario 2) because I feel this will give us the time needed to develop and mature into a sustainable major party. While surges are great, they aren't without their problems. The larger the party becomes the more difficult it is to have an open and direct democracy and having a slower growth will allow us the time to shape and test our democracy with a larger membership base. This scenario would allow us to remain as radical as we have been and will involve a lot less compromise than the first 2 scenarios. It will also be a period in which we really convince many members to remain with us for the foreseeable future. What I mean by this is that the members who stay in the party and work within the party are more likely to stay in the party for the long run. They are less likely to leave because we have compromised too much or because we have lost seats. As a result our candidates become more experienced and cemented in Green Party 'ideology' (for want of a better word). I'm really excited about this possibility.
Possible scenario no.4: No Green MPs:
We lose our only MP and we don't gain any new MPs. Members gradually leave until we're at roughly where we were before the surge (roughly 20,000 members), or perhaps a bit higher, maybe 30,000 members. Our influence in politics declines a little, we start receiving less media coverage and we have less resources than before. This isn't actually the end of the world for the party, it is still a much better position than we were in before the 2010 general election. We will still have more members and more elected representatives than we have had in recent years. This scenario could go two ways - we could build the party and still become a significant force in politics, just a lot slower than the other scenarios - or we could fall apart, members leave and join other parties who see a mini-surge and we gradually decline until we're no longer electable as has happened with far right parties like the BNP and National Front who have never recovered from the great plunge. I think it is a reasonably realistic outcome that we could end up with no seats, but I am more convinced that we will have at least 1 MP. However, this requires work. We need to work hard between now and the general election to give the Greens the best possible chance of gaining seats.
Well, those are my thoughts about potential outcomes. Really exciting but also really daunting as we're entering unknown territory. Let me know about what you think is most likely to happen in the party.
Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts
Wednesday, 18 February 2015
Wednesday, 18 December 2013
European candidate urges people to vote Green next May to protect animals
Last week I became a candidate for the Green Party for the European Parliament for the North West of England region. Elections will be held next May along side local elections, for which I will also be a Green Party candidate in the Manchester City Council elections, for the Chorlton ward. As a vegan and an animal rights activist I urge all who care passionately about animals to vote for the Green Party in the European elections, and I will explain to you why this is one of the best things we can do to help animals.
From a purely animal rights point of view there really are not many political parties in the UK worth bothering with. There's only really the Green Party and the Animal Welfare Party (AWP) who are active and have even semi-decent animal rights policies. You can take a look at the Green Party's animal rights policies here: http://policy.greenparty.org.uk/ar . Both the AWP and the Green Party are standing in the European Parliament elections next May hoping to gain seats. The AWP (under their former name Animals Count) only stood in the Eastern region in the 2009 European election and received 13,201 votes (around 0.8% of the vote). This time round they are committed to standing in the London region, but will not stand in other regions unless they can get hold of enough funding/donations. They say they need 140,000 votes in London to get an MEP elected claiming that there are around 500,000 vegetarians/vegans in London and therefore they only need a small percentage of their votes. It is very unrealistic that they will achieve that quota given that the Green Party only managed to achieve 190,589 votes at the last European election and UKIP only managed 188,440 votes at the last election. The AWP does not have the national, regional or local presence and has not built it's name up enough to achieve that level of success. They need improve their vote by more than 10 times the amount they received in 2009, yet their profile has not significantly grown at all since 2009 and they still no not have a single person elected at any level.
The Green Party's MEPs (Member of European Parliament) have an excellent record when it comes to animals. Every few months the Green MEPs publish a newsletter on the work that they and the Green group in the parliament have been doing to improve things for animals (latest issue can be read here: http://www.keithtaylormep.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Final-Making-Tracks-Compressed.pdf ). Keith Taylor, MEP for the South East for example worked hard to keep the EU wide ban on the sale of cosmetics that have been tested on animals to 2013 when the industry was putting on pressure to delay the ban. Green MEPs worked hard to ensure the ban on battery hens was achieved. The Green group has worked hard to tighten up regulations on fishing so that fishing trawlers do not destroy our oceans. These achievements wouldn't be possible without Green MEPs. Voting for the AWP in London could prevent the Green Party's animal spokesperson Caroline Allen from being elected as she is second on the Green Party list. Being very generous, if the AWP get around 30,000 votes that could be the difference that the Green Party need to getting Caroline Allen elected. In many parts of the country the Greens were just less than 2% away from getting someone elected. In the North West where I am a candidate they were 0.3% away from defeating Nick Griffin.
If more animal advocates voted for the Greens next May it might be that extra amount we need to get a handful of extra MEPs. Since the last Euro elections in 2009 the Greens have grown tremendously, in 2010 Caroline Lucas was elected as the first ever Green MP. In 2011 Brighton & Hove City Council became the first Green-led council ever, which has led to vegan options becoming available in council owned canteens and other places where the council has influence. This year Jenny Jones became the first Green Party politician to be appointed to the House of Lords. We have never had such a great opportunity to make so many gains nationally. Good results in the European elections will do wonders for our chances in the General Election in 2015 when Caroline Lucas is up for re-election as an MP. Caroline Lucas does a lot of great things for animals in parliament. She has fought against the badger cull and has fought for the ban of wild animals being used in circuses amongst other things. If she did not get re-elected it would be a great loss for British politics at a time when people have very little faith in politicians. Well the Greens are something different. We care about the common good. We care about creating a society that benefits the planet and all beings living here, including animals.The very realistic alternative if people don't vote Green is that we will get more UKIP and Labour MEPs and they will not champion animal issues.
Further reading on Green Party animal rights campaigns, especially regarding the European parliament:
From a purely animal rights point of view there really are not many political parties in the UK worth bothering with. There's only really the Green Party and the Animal Welfare Party (AWP) who are active and have even semi-decent animal rights policies. You can take a look at the Green Party's animal rights policies here: http://policy.greenparty.org.uk/ar . Both the AWP and the Green Party are standing in the European Parliament elections next May hoping to gain seats. The AWP (under their former name Animals Count) only stood in the Eastern region in the 2009 European election and received 13,201 votes (around 0.8% of the vote). This time round they are committed to standing in the London region, but will not stand in other regions unless they can get hold of enough funding/donations. They say they need 140,000 votes in London to get an MEP elected claiming that there are around 500,000 vegetarians/vegans in London and therefore they only need a small percentage of their votes. It is very unrealistic that they will achieve that quota given that the Green Party only managed to achieve 190,589 votes at the last European election and UKIP only managed 188,440 votes at the last election. The AWP does not have the national, regional or local presence and has not built it's name up enough to achieve that level of success. They need improve their vote by more than 10 times the amount they received in 2009, yet their profile has not significantly grown at all since 2009 and they still no not have a single person elected at any level.
The Green Party's MEPs (Member of European Parliament) have an excellent record when it comes to animals. Every few months the Green MEPs publish a newsletter on the work that they and the Green group in the parliament have been doing to improve things for animals (latest issue can be read here: http://www.keithtaylormep.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Final-Making-Tracks-Compressed.pdf ). Keith Taylor, MEP for the South East for example worked hard to keep the EU wide ban on the sale of cosmetics that have been tested on animals to 2013 when the industry was putting on pressure to delay the ban. Green MEPs worked hard to ensure the ban on battery hens was achieved. The Green group has worked hard to tighten up regulations on fishing so that fishing trawlers do not destroy our oceans. These achievements wouldn't be possible without Green MEPs. Voting for the AWP in London could prevent the Green Party's animal spokesperson Caroline Allen from being elected as she is second on the Green Party list. Being very generous, if the AWP get around 30,000 votes that could be the difference that the Green Party need to getting Caroline Allen elected. In many parts of the country the Greens were just less than 2% away from getting someone elected. In the North West where I am a candidate they were 0.3% away from defeating Nick Griffin.
If more animal advocates voted for the Greens next May it might be that extra amount we need to get a handful of extra MEPs. Since the last Euro elections in 2009 the Greens have grown tremendously, in 2010 Caroline Lucas was elected as the first ever Green MP. In 2011 Brighton & Hove City Council became the first Green-led council ever, which has led to vegan options becoming available in council owned canteens and other places where the council has influence. This year Jenny Jones became the first Green Party politician to be appointed to the House of Lords. We have never had such a great opportunity to make so many gains nationally. Good results in the European elections will do wonders for our chances in the General Election in 2015 when Caroline Lucas is up for re-election as an MP. Caroline Lucas does a lot of great things for animals in parliament. She has fought against the badger cull and has fought for the ban of wild animals being used in circuses amongst other things. If she did not get re-elected it would be a great loss for British politics at a time when people have very little faith in politicians. Well the Greens are something different. We care about the common good. We care about creating a society that benefits the planet and all beings living here, including animals.The very realistic alternative if people don't vote Green is that we will get more UKIP and Labour MEPs and they will not champion animal issues.
Further reading on Green Party animal rights campaigns, especially regarding the European parliament:
- Caroline Allen - Green Party animals spokesperson and 2nd on London European election list: carolineallengreenlondon.blogspot.co.uk
- Greens for Animal Protection: https://www.facebook.com/GreensForAnimalProtection
- Making Tracks - the Green MEPs animal welfare publication Autumn 2013 edition: http://www.keithtaylormep.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Final-Making-Tracks-Compressed.pdf
- Jean Lambert MEP animal protection page: http://www.jeanlambertmep.org.uk/issue_detail.php?id=2
- Keith Taylor (Green MEP for South East) animal rights page: http://www.keithtaylormep.org.uk/category/animal-rights/
- Keith Taylor celebrating the EU-wide ban on sale of cosmetic products tested on animals: http://www.greens-efa.eu/stopping-experiments-on-animals-for-cosmetics-9492.html
- The Greens/EFA (the Green group in the European Parliament) animal welfare campaigns: http://www.greens-efa.eu/animal-welfare-44.html
Friday, 30 August 2013
Politics of the punk scene
The other weekend was the annual Rebellion Punk Festival in Blackpool which features a lot of world famous punk bands. I've been going for about 7 years now, the last few years of which I've been getting in for free by helping set up the punk art stall. On the first day of the festival, the Thursday there was only one band I was really excited about seeing and that was Leftöver Crack. I've seen this band twice before at Rebellion Festival. The singer Stza Crack (as he is known solo) said something that really got me thinking. He said that a lot of bands, even at that festival talk about unity but they don't mean it and that there is no place in the punk scene for homophobia, racism or sexism. Something that I had noticed over the years in the general punk scene is they have tended to reject homophobia, racism and sexism more and more over the years, yet here Stza was claiming that at least at that festival some of the bands playing promote or at least do not reject those ideas. Over the weekend I saw the proof that he was telling the truth. I heard about some "macho-man style" sexism on the very first day, saw someone wearing a Skrewdriver (famous for forming the Rock Against Communist group in the 80s which promoted far-right views) t-shirt on the second day and I even saw someone with a false "Viking" helmet which had a sticker on the front with the union jack and the words "march or die" and on the back had a sticker saying "anti-racist is a code word for anti-white". Previous years at the festival I have witnessed people wearing fascist shirts with slogans like "White Power" and record stalls selling CDs from neo-Nazi punk bands. I did not realise there was still this vast wide range of political opinion within the punk scene.
To understand why punk attracts people from so many different political backgrounds let's start with asking what is punk? Well everyone seems to have their own definition of what punk is. To me punk is just a music genre (or a group of music genres) with sub-genres which happens to attract a subculture defined by clothes and hair fashion as well as an attraction to certain political ideologies. To others punk is a way of life, to look like a punk, listen to little but punk, to have punk tattoos and to have most of your friends as well as social life also into the punk way of life. To some it's a political movement where bands express their political views through music and literature given out at punk gigs. Some of those people say to be a punk band you don't even have to play punk music. The truth of the matter is no-one has a right or wrong idea about what punk is. Punk is whatever it means to you.
Politics has been at the heart of punk since it's very conception. From the very early days there's always been pretty much every form of politics within punk - capitalism, conservatism, liberalism, communism, anarchism, fascism, apolitical, etc. If you can name a political ideology there's probably punks somewhere singing and talking about it. There's also been a lot of punks who don't bother with politics and prefer their lyrics to be comical or romantic. The Lancashire town I grew up in, Poulton-le-Fylde, was home to one of the most famous political bands of all-time, Skrewdriver. Skrewdriver were more famous for their politics than their music, despite the original line-up not being political at all. Their singer Ian Stuart Donaldson who remained the only founding member of the band throughout it's existence became a leading spokesperson for the National Front and the National Front's North West organiser. He later went on to form Rock Against Communism, a network of bands promoting fascist and neo-Nazi ideals. I think it's fair to say that Ian Stuart and the later Skrewdriver line-ups have been perhaps the most famous and influential far-right punk band. Ian Stuart was killed in a car crash in 1993 and MDC (who support far-left politics) wrote the song "Nazis Shouldn't Drive" about him. Along with Skrewdriver there was a whole host of far-right punk bands in the 1980s, but that side of punk seems to have died down, along with the wider far-right political movement which gets a revival every time there's a recession.
However, there has always been a strong anti-fascist and anti-racist trend within punk. During the 80s, partly as a reaction to rise of neo-Nazi Oi! & skinhead punk bands the SHARP movement was formed. This stood for Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice. At it's height, far more punks and bands were associated to SHARP than far-right punk movements. Throughout the 80s punk and two-tone ska had many crossovers which helped the punk movement be more accepting of non-whites as many prominent ska bands (such as The Specials, The Beat and The Selecter) had black members.
Around the same time as the far-right punk bands were forming, another massively influential branch of political punk was also forming, anarcho-punk. Possibly the most famous and earliest anarcho-punk band was Crass who inspired a sub-genre of punk and a culture behind it which is still flourishing today. Here you had a punk movement that was involved in animal rights, environmental direct actions, squatting, DIY ethics, protests and promoting anarchism. Now there is two ways to look at anarcho-punk. The first is as an actual sub-genre of punk with a specific sound different to and more aggressive than classical punk, along with an accompanying subculture. Anarcho-punks (sometimes called crusty punks) often have dreadlocks or unwashed hair, wear denim jackets, covered in sewed on patches, black tattoos and facial piercings. The other way to look at anarcho-punk is purely as a political movement, and this is how most people involved in anarcho-punk see it. To those involved in the anarcho-punk scene, all you have to do to also be involved in anarcho-punk is to follow anarchist politics. This was most obvious when Chumbawumba were performing at anarcho-punk shows and being heavily involved in the scene, despite not playing any typical genre of punk, and who later became famous for the world famous pop single Tubthumping (aka I Get Knocked Down) and playing their later career as a folk band.
Of course a punk band doesn't have to be political at all, and many of my favourite punk bands have never been political. However, I think a band is missing a huge opportunity to influence the world for the better if their lyrics aren't political. With so many things wrong in the world I struggle to see how non-political topics could ever be more important. A lot of punk bands have influenced me and changed me for the better forever. If it wasn't for Goldfinger (particularly their singer John Feldman) I wouldn't have become aware of all the animal cruelty and exploitation in the world and turned vegan at the age of 17. Anti-Flag taught me to oppose imperialistic wars and war criminal heads of state. NOFX taught me to be critical of the state. Leftöver Crack, Star Fucking Hipsters and The Filaments taught me that the police protect the state, corporations and the rich rather than the people and are violent towards anyone who goes against the rich. Ghost Mice taught me about anarchist lifestyles such as skipping (aka dumpster diving). ONSIND taught me that you can be male and involved in the feminist movement. The Autonomads taught me that shoplifting from major supermarkets only harms the pockets of the ultra-rich supermarket bosses. Defiance, Ohio taught me that bicycles are an environmentally friendly way to travel, cars are not (yes, even Toyota Prius cars are not good for the environment). Citizen Fish taught me that televisions are stopping people from thinking, and making them dumber and more apathetic. If it wasn't for punk bands talking about these issues I would either still be ignorant to them, or would have discovered them as a later point in my life. I still think there's a long way to go, and some of the methods of spreading good political messages and ridding the world of bad political messages need massive improvement. However, the world is politically a better place with punk in it.
Here's my favourite song about politics in the punk scene, Up The Punks by Ghost Mice:
To understand why punk attracts people from so many different political backgrounds let's start with asking what is punk? Well everyone seems to have their own definition of what punk is. To me punk is just a music genre (or a group of music genres) with sub-genres which happens to attract a subculture defined by clothes and hair fashion as well as an attraction to certain political ideologies. To others punk is a way of life, to look like a punk, listen to little but punk, to have punk tattoos and to have most of your friends as well as social life also into the punk way of life. To some it's a political movement where bands express their political views through music and literature given out at punk gigs. Some of those people say to be a punk band you don't even have to play punk music. The truth of the matter is no-one has a right or wrong idea about what punk is. Punk is whatever it means to you.
Politics has been at the heart of punk since it's very conception. From the very early days there's always been pretty much every form of politics within punk - capitalism, conservatism, liberalism, communism, anarchism, fascism, apolitical, etc. If you can name a political ideology there's probably punks somewhere singing and talking about it. There's also been a lot of punks who don't bother with politics and prefer their lyrics to be comical or romantic. The Lancashire town I grew up in, Poulton-le-Fylde, was home to one of the most famous political bands of all-time, Skrewdriver. Skrewdriver were more famous for their politics than their music, despite the original line-up not being political at all. Their singer Ian Stuart Donaldson who remained the only founding member of the band throughout it's existence became a leading spokesperson for the National Front and the National Front's North West organiser. He later went on to form Rock Against Communism, a network of bands promoting fascist and neo-Nazi ideals. I think it's fair to say that Ian Stuart and the later Skrewdriver line-ups have been perhaps the most famous and influential far-right punk band. Ian Stuart was killed in a car crash in 1993 and MDC (who support far-left politics) wrote the song "Nazis Shouldn't Drive" about him. Along with Skrewdriver there was a whole host of far-right punk bands in the 1980s, but that side of punk seems to have died down, along with the wider far-right political movement which gets a revival every time there's a recession.
However, there has always been a strong anti-fascist and anti-racist trend within punk. During the 80s, partly as a reaction to rise of neo-Nazi Oi! & skinhead punk bands the SHARP movement was formed. This stood for Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice. At it's height, far more punks and bands were associated to SHARP than far-right punk movements. Throughout the 80s punk and two-tone ska had many crossovers which helped the punk movement be more accepting of non-whites as many prominent ska bands (such as The Specials, The Beat and The Selecter) had black members.
Around the same time as the far-right punk bands were forming, another massively influential branch of political punk was also forming, anarcho-punk. Possibly the most famous and earliest anarcho-punk band was Crass who inspired a sub-genre of punk and a culture behind it which is still flourishing today. Here you had a punk movement that was involved in animal rights, environmental direct actions, squatting, DIY ethics, protests and promoting anarchism. Now there is two ways to look at anarcho-punk. The first is as an actual sub-genre of punk with a specific sound different to and more aggressive than classical punk, along with an accompanying subculture. Anarcho-punks (sometimes called crusty punks) often have dreadlocks or unwashed hair, wear denim jackets, covered in sewed on patches, black tattoos and facial piercings. The other way to look at anarcho-punk is purely as a political movement, and this is how most people involved in anarcho-punk see it. To those involved in the anarcho-punk scene, all you have to do to also be involved in anarcho-punk is to follow anarchist politics. This was most obvious when Chumbawumba were performing at anarcho-punk shows and being heavily involved in the scene, despite not playing any typical genre of punk, and who later became famous for the world famous pop single Tubthumping (aka I Get Knocked Down) and playing their later career as a folk band.
Of course a punk band doesn't have to be political at all, and many of my favourite punk bands have never been political. However, I think a band is missing a huge opportunity to influence the world for the better if their lyrics aren't political. With so many things wrong in the world I struggle to see how non-political topics could ever be more important. A lot of punk bands have influenced me and changed me for the better forever. If it wasn't for Goldfinger (particularly their singer John Feldman) I wouldn't have become aware of all the animal cruelty and exploitation in the world and turned vegan at the age of 17. Anti-Flag taught me to oppose imperialistic wars and war criminal heads of state. NOFX taught me to be critical of the state. Leftöver Crack, Star Fucking Hipsters and The Filaments taught me that the police protect the state, corporations and the rich rather than the people and are violent towards anyone who goes against the rich. Ghost Mice taught me about anarchist lifestyles such as skipping (aka dumpster diving). ONSIND taught me that you can be male and involved in the feminist movement. The Autonomads taught me that shoplifting from major supermarkets only harms the pockets of the ultra-rich supermarket bosses. Defiance, Ohio taught me that bicycles are an environmentally friendly way to travel, cars are not (yes, even Toyota Prius cars are not good for the environment). Citizen Fish taught me that televisions are stopping people from thinking, and making them dumber and more apathetic. If it wasn't for punk bands talking about these issues I would either still be ignorant to them, or would have discovered them as a later point in my life. I still think there's a long way to go, and some of the methods of spreading good political messages and ridding the world of bad political messages need massive improvement. However, the world is politically a better place with punk in it.
Here's my favourite song about politics in the punk scene, Up The Punks by Ghost Mice:
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