February 15, 2019 · 0 Comments
By Anthony Carnovale
I must say — my son has killer taste in music. In six short years, he’s gone from dancing to Sesame Street’s ‘Manamna’ to rocking out to Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds’ ‘Jubilee Street’.
Last week, on our way to indoor soccer, The Clash’s Atom Tan was rocking in the car. Milo had gone quiet, like he usually does when he’s really into a song. He started to ask questions about The Clash, who they were, what their songs were about. I told him that they were a punk band, that they sang protest songs, songs about the rich versus the poor, the strong versus the weak. In turn, I asked him why he thought The Clash sang these types of songs. His response: ‘He’s singing to make people aware, right?’ My little punk was bang on.
The origins of punk rock are somewhat hazy, but by 1976 it emerged as a genre of loud, fast, rebellious music, with style and attitude to match. Bands like The Sex Pistols, Buzzcocks and the Ramones shredded three chords and struck a chord with disenfranchised youth; personalities like Richard Hell, Patti Smith and Steve Leckie tried to shock and rock the public out of its complacency. Closer to home, bands like the Viletones and Teenage Head turned ‘Toronto the Good’ into “Toronto the Rad’.
At its core, punk was a youth movement; it was a reaction against hippie culture, commercialism, reactionary politics and austere fiscal management. There was a feeling that young people were being lied to, taken advantage of and that they were headed towards a life of drudgery in menial work. John Savage, author of England’s Dreaming: The Sex Pistols and Punk Rock, says: “Punk was for the marginal and the brave. Punk is best summed up by the Sex Pistols’ ‘God Save the Queen.’ The lyric ‘There is no future in England’s dreaming’ means, if you want a better future, you have to make it on your own.’ It’s looking more and more like young people today should be taking Johnny Rotten’s lyrics to heart.
We’re all familiar with the anecdotes by now: young people today are living with their parents longer; young people are putting off things like marriage and buying a house and having children longer than previous generations; young people are subjected to a constant barrage of insults and accusations: your degree is useless; you spend money on trivial things; young people can’t work without specific instructions and guidance; young people today can’t think critically; young people today eat too much avocado and toast. Beyond anecdotes, the facts are alarming; Salaries have stagnated and entire job sectors have collapsed. The future of work can only be described as tenuous; there is no such thing as full-time employment.
Today’s young workers will have to work longer before they can retire. At the same time, the cost of every prerequisite of a comfortable life – education, housing – has exploded. From job security to the social safety net, all the structures that insulate humans from atrophy are eroding. And the opportunities leading to a middle-class life – the ones that fell into boomers’ laps – are way out of their reach. Add it all up and it’s no surprise that this generation is the first in modern history to end up poorer than their parents. The boomers have ploughed the snowflakes.
It has been a frustrating few months for young people here in Ontario, struggling to get their voices heard in a political system that seems designed to alienate them. There is a sense that their future is being ravaged by an electorate too old to live out the consequences of their choices. What’s surprising is how cold and calculated it all is. Young people have a target on their backs. Take for example many of the decisions Doug Ford and his PC government have made: they rolled back the sex-ed curriculum to a time that existed before cellphones; they’ve reduced the cost of tuition, but made it more difficult for those who need to borrow money to pay it back. The Conservatives axed the Ontario Child Advocate, whose role it was to serve as an independent watchdog to investigate ill treatment of children in the child welfare system and to review government policy and practice around services to children; they cut school budgets for specialized programs that targeted at-risk youth; they’re contemplating increasing class sizes in schools; can’t commit to full-day kindergarten; they froze the minimum wage at $14 an hour, calling it a ‘job killer’ despite evidence that suggested otherwise; they scrapped the carbon tax, which experts agree are necessary in the fight against climate change. The Progressive Conservatives have taken the saying ‘like stealing candy from a baby’ to a whole new level.
Perhaps the worst thing about many Conser-vatives isn’t their policies – though I do disagree with them – it’s their cruelty. Along with limited government, they deeply believe that the disadvantaged should be made to suffer. In the end, the people who voted for Doug Ford and his party made a choice; in the end, Doug Ford and his party have made a choice. They’ve decided to make a move against some of the most vulnerable people in this province. We’ve seen this game before – see Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan, Mike Harris.
Of course, Ontario PC party members will try to convey an altogether different image. Take a look at local MPP Sylvia Jones’ Twitter feed. Recently, she baked muffins for an event that involved local youth. She posted a photo of the muffins and included a caption that read: That should keep the kids happy for a bit. Really? Muffins? For a bit? Ms. Jones, kids only eat muffins when there are no cupcakes. Our kids deserve more.
Boomers, you are not doing yourselves any favors. Today’s millennial is tomorrow’s punk. They’ll be cleaning your teeth at the dentist’s office; taking your x-ray at the hospital; emptying your bedpan and changing your adult diaper in the nursing home. The Sex Pistol’s ‘God Save the Queen’ is so much more than a punk song – it’s a dire warning: “When there’s no future/ How can there be sin/We’re the flowers in the dustbin/We’re the poison in your human machine/We’re the future, your future.”
The punks are coming. God save us all.