Punks on Politics
Despite the less than perfect vocals, punk legends NOFX actually have a very keen awareness of social issues. The lyrics are often very pointed, critical, and above all funny… probably because it’s true.
Check out the 4th verse in bold at timecode (1:55) so that I can relate this post to democracy. The melody also changes during that verse for a really nice ska-influenced bridge, probably to emphasize those lyrics. Anyways, as far as punk goes, NOFX is my hands down favorite. Their lyrics are everything. FAT MIKE FOR PRESIDENT!
There’s no point for democracy when ignorance is celebrated
Political scientists get the same one vote as some Arkansas inbred
Majority rule, don’t work in mental institutions
Sometimes the smallest softest voice carries the grand biggest solutions
The Idiots are Taking Over – NOFX
It’s not the right time to be sober
Now the idiots have taken over
Spreading like a social cancer, is there an answer?
Mensa membership conceding
Tell me why and how are all the stupid people breeding
Watson, it’s really elementary
The industrial revolution
Has flipped the bitch on evolution
The benevolent and wise are being thwarted, ostracized, what a bummer
The world keeps getting dumber
Insensitivity is standard and faith is being fancied over reason
Darwin’s rolling over in his coffin
The fittest are surviving much less often
Now everything seems to be reversing, and it’s worsening
Someone flopped a steamer in the gene pool
Now angry mob mentality’s no longer the exception, it’s the rule
And I’m starting to feel a lot like Charlton Heston
Stranded on a primate planet
Apes and orangutans that ran it to the ground
With generals and the armies that obeyed them
Followers following fables
Philosophies that enable them to rule without regard
There’s no point for democracy when ignorance is celebrated
Political scientists get the same one vote as some Arkansas inbred
Majority rule, don’t work in mental institutions
Sometimes the smallest softest voice carries the grand biggest solutions
What are we left with?
A nation of god-fearing pregnant nationalists
Who feel it’s their duty to populate the homeland
Pass on traditions
How to get ahead religions
And prosperity via simpleton culture
April 9th, 2012 at 1:25 pm
Haha these lyrics are good!
It’s interesting because Aristotle/Plato/Socrates were so disparaging about democracy… we associate democracy with ancient Greece but often fail to reflect upon the fact that some of the most revered ancient Greeks saw democracy as an ineffective tyranny of the majority system. Plato suggests that democracy is just one step before tyranny… by empowering the masses and ridding ourselves of a strong, political structure predicated on virtue and values, it is just a matter of time before a democracy dissolves into tyranny. Statistics suggest that this isn’t true – we know that it is less likely for a democracy to become an autocracy than for an autocracy to become a democracy. However, I think the basic point is very relevant: we live in a democratic society based upon moral relativism: we don’t tell people what is right or how to live, and we accept that morality is largely contextual. This seems to us to be the most ethical way to live, because it allows each person to live what they see as the best life. However, what does this do to society? Plato suggests that the best society is a well-ordered society, one based upon virtue, where every person knows his or her role and place, and we are ruled by a wise and benevolent philosopher king. For Plato, it is of utmost importance for individuals and society to be virtuous. Today, we have no concept of virtue, because we believe that no one is in a position to determine what is virtuous and what is not. However, what happens when we take “virtue” our of society? Food for thought.