(I posted this last night over at dKos, but I wanted to share it with the crowd here)
It happened to each of us here today. At some point in our lives, the switch was thrown, we became aware, we became Democrats, liberals, progressives, etc.
It may have been our parents and family – a long line of intellectuals who understood the world and how it worked. It may have been our schooling – that one teacher who reached out and opened our eyes to the realities of society. It may be in our nature, to be compassionate and think about the greater good above the self.
Something happened to us, something made us different than those who favor corporate kickbacks and greased lobbyist palms.
My story begins below the fold.
I was raised in a middle class – maybe lower middle class – household in New Jersey. Our dinner conversations didn’t revolve around the day’s political news, or even any of the day’s news for that matter. My parents are both Republicans, supporting Reagan, Bush and Bush.
We didn’t follow the news of Iran-Contra and the other machinations of the republican machine of the 1980s. As an adolescent growing up in this house, I didn’t think much about what was being done in our names, I trusted our government just like I was taught to.
That is, until something unexpected happened.
My brother, five years older than I, came home one afternoon with a record in his jacket, one he claimed would change my world. Considering the music of the day and what we were in to, he was very right. We made our way to his bedroom in the basement, the record concealed from possible prying parental eyes.
When we got down there, he took out the disc and placed it on the turntable, handing the jacket to me. I was a bit unsure of what to expect when I looked over the sleeve.
One side featured a sixties era business man looking at paper work in a forlorn manner, with the words “Life Sentence” across the border. The name of the band is what really caught my attention – Dead Kennedys. It was clear just from the graphics that this was not The Who or Van Halen or the Rolling Stones. This was something more, something daring.
We listened through the tune Life Sentence, stunned by the aggression of the track, finding it very much to my liking. Then we put on the other side…
The track was called Bleed For Me, and the lyrics shocked me…in a very good way…
Bleed For Me
by Dead Kennedys
You’ve been hanging ’round
With an enemy of the state
Come with me to the building
That no one stops to watch
[Chorus:]
C’mon bleed
C’mon bleed
C’mon bleed
Bleed for me
We’ll strap you to a pipe
Electrodes on your balls
C’mon scream
C’mon writhe
Face down in a pool of piss
[Chorus]
America wants fuel
To get it, it needs puppets
So what’s ten million dead?
If it’s keeping out the Russians
We’re well trained by the CIA
With Yankee tax money in Ft. Bragg
The Peace Corps builds us labor camps
When they think they’re building schools
Hah
When cowboy Ronnie comes to town
Forks out his tongue at Human rights
Sit down enjoy our ethnic meal
Dine on some charbroiled nuns
Try a medal on…
Smile at the mirror as the cameras click
And make big business happy
Anytime
Anywhere
Maybe you’ll just disappear
The cynicism, sarcasm and outright outrage of these words struck a chord with me.
From that day forward, I sought out other artists with the guts to say what needed to be said. I was 13 years old. I am now 32 and have learned a thing or two in my life, but the lesson that those words taught me – that it is necessary to question in order to learn – has stuck with me and guided much of my mindset.
Recently, a friend asked me if I would prefer to be one of the masses, not concerned with politics and corruption, worrying only about sports and tv and whatnot. I answered quickly, that I would rather know and be distraught by our country than to go through life being manipulated and unaware. That one song laid the groundwork for this mindset
So, that is my story, how a song caused me to think, to question, which lead me to being the liberal I am today.
Now I ask you, what was your moment, your guide to the good side?
What about your brother’s politics? Was he similarly impacted?
Your story reflects so many of the stories of people who were pre-post-adolescents in the early 60s and became politically radicalized (compared to the prevailing Eisenhower-ites or, as later labeled, Silent Majority) in the mid-late-60s thru the mid-70s. The era known as The Sixties.
What do you think is the big-label, not indy or small label, music/band(s) that is/are producing a similar impact today?
My brother went into a more paranoid, tin foil hat political mindset, as opposed to a rationally skeptical approach.
Over years of drug and alcohol abuse, he has become one of the uninformed masses, which is sad.
As to what label or artist is having this type of impact today, I would think Fugazi and the Dischord bands would qualify. I am not personally aware of many others…
of course, if I had read your comment more carefully, I would have noticed that you indicate big label artist, which I would defer to someone with more experience in that area…
I’d say that Eminem’s Mosh was a huge wake up call to a lot of people. There aren’t a whole lot of bigger labels out there.
o/t, I loved your diary over on dKos about rBGH. I’ll never drink non-organic milk again. I think you should cross post it here, if you get a chance. Looking forward to the next installment on high fructose corn syrup (which I stopped consuming about two years ago).
I’d be interested in reading that diary, wtp. Please do cross-post if you get a chance.
will do…I’ll put it up later this evening.
Nice diary. We have always used organic milk whenever possible, and never even thought twice about the dollar cost. More people need to know what they’re consuming!
… to your kos diary, wtp. Thanks for providing that info. I still think you should post the diary here so that others get a chance to read it and offer comments.
Here’s the link to it on dKos.
Oh. My. God. I used to (until about 3 seconds ago)love milk and drink 2 or 3 glasses a day. I am definitely looking into organic milk, even if it’s twice the price.
It’s a double bonus for me. Not only am I now not consuming all that bacteria, but before I was never able to get through any quantity of milk before some of it would go bad (I am not a family, and I only use it for cereal).
Last night I went out and bought a half gallon of organic milk. It’s expiration date is January 25 2006, compared to the non-organic expiration dates which are all about 12 days from now.
That’s pretty scary stuff. Pus-y milk. Blegghh.
The unfortunate thing about Mosh was that it was released too late to have the impact it was really capable of…
I am working on the hfcs diary, but got sidetracked over the last few days. I hope to have something to post by next weekend.
I know of a few, but thought I’d take this opportunity to share lyrics from Trivium‘s Declaration:
I’m a few years older than you, but the Dead Kennedy’s also played an role in my life. I was a wannabe hippie, so I had already moved far to the left politically. But, then I got into the punk scene and that helped give me an outlet for the anger I was feeling. I saw the Dead Kennedys at CBGB’s in NYC and even danced with Jello Biafra and stage-dived into the mosh pit. What a riot! The DK’s were an awesome band with some very powerful messages.
my mother was a staunch Wisconsin Dem. Raised in South Texas, which in those days was Democratic, so it was easy to be a Democrat.
But it didn’t really get real for me — I didn’t become a liberal — until the 80’s: I was a Jesuit, working with the poor in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, and got to see first-hand that liberal policies make huge differences in the lives of people, and that evil Reaganite policies hurt actual living, breathing people. None of it was abstract anymore; it was all real: public policy carried moral weight.
Both of my brothers have turned into Republicans, and I find it hard to talk to them. I don’t respect them anymore, because of the moral issue. And I’ve long since stopped being a believer (religion-wise), but the moral weight that these decisions carry is stronger in me than ever.