Henry Rollins say we’re are not fucked, and that all of us – especially lefties who are just too jaded and woke to vote – need to get out there and vote anyway. Because we are in a fight now, a fight we can, must, and will win.
I’ve followed Rollins’ career since he was in Black Flag. To me, he has always represented the best of what punk is about. Read the whole essay, it’s brilliant.
Update: Rollins didn’t write it. Will Stenberg did, using a photo of Rollins which led to much confusion. It’s still a great piece, read it!
You know, since everyone loves the Nazi comparisons, there were people during the HEYDAY of the Third Reich who NEVER said, “We’re fucked.” They said, “We’re in a fight.” And you know what’s interesting? Nazi Germany went from the worst regime in the world to a liberal democracy within a lifetime.
Countries slide into fascism for long periods. It happens. Countries also have short-term extremist right-wing governments. Happens in Europe all the time. They get voted out. The threat remains. The threat of fascism will remain in America in a way it never has before. It’s a real movement. But we’re not fucked. Not even close. We can get off the ropes in the mid-terms and knock them out in 2020. But only if we stop saying that we’re fucked, and start seeing this as a fight.
Our best bet – better, even, than all of our protests and actions – is actually voting.
It’s so square. It’s so old-fashioned. Many of us involved with the hard-left or anarchist scene have been trained to disregard it.
Fucking don’t. NOT NOW, guys. It is the best tool at our disposal.