About Me

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New York, NY, United States
Formed Reagan Youth and House of God during the 80s with the late great Dave Insurgent. I rock out with my muse Madame St. Beatrice. I've got the urge to record one last Reagan Youth album about the life and times of Stig Rotsky. My blog is where I rant, it's like a diary, an account of my trials and tribulations that occur with my band's past, it's present and a future that I presume will be fun and interesting as well.

Monday, January 14, 2008

Is Reagan Youth a socialist band?




Dave Insurgent was an anarchist so Reagan Youth is an anarchist hardcore punk band like Crass, but it was peace punk band too. Not the type of anarchist that carries around a molotov cocktail with black kerchief around our faces. I personally love that communism, gives the little guy, the worker bee, a say in running the country, but it means a little more to me when "they" were on the front lines fighting fascism with molotov cocktail in their hands. So Reagan Youth is an anarchist band that plays commie "red" metal. And digs socialism, especially their medical plan.


12 comments:

JCNYHC said...

hey guys. it was my impression that an anarchist hated government and government control. a communist on the other hand wants full government control which is supposed to be relaxed following abolition of capitalism and the family unit. Would u really trust a government full of corrupt politicians to surrender power. Yeah right they'll always keep you as slaces. this full government control is itself fascism. fascism is not far right as we all think. fascism is a complete government control accompanied by zealous nationalism. Government is not the answer to our problems. me, you, our punk family, our skinhead brothers working hard and doing what is right is the answer. tell me your thoughts.

Paul "Cripple" Bakija said...

Hey, JCNYHC, well, here is my thought. It's true anarchists hate government control. But on the other hand I believe that a communist, in the true sense, wants the workers of the world to unite and run things not as a government but as a free society. What need would there be for a government if the entire work force of the planet was working together for the common good of this entire planet. Communism does not want rich people running things and the government of the U.S is all about rich people and the corporations they control telling everyone else what to do. You are right about the government not being the answer to our problems and I really wish unity would come to our punk rock families, skinhead brotherhood and you and I so we all could truly live to the best of our ability, without trampling on another human being. I hope you understand that we preached anarchism, but unfortunately neither Dave nor I nor anyone else in this band ever truly lived it. What Russia had when it dominated Eastern Europe was totalitarianism and not communism. I do like the fact that they stopped the nazi war machine that was rolling over Europe, like a machine. Sorry if I'm rambling.

JCNYHC said...

Ramble on brother, i love dissent. But u did not address the main thrust of my argument. For communism to work, a government of some kind must get control. Their control must be absolute to end the old "capitalistic" way of thinking. There MUST be no divergence for this to work. What makes you think that those in power would surrender it?? It seems an awful lot to trust. Giving away all the power to be free from power???? I find it impossible. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Read the "Communist Manifesto" It calls for an organized effort to dissipate the old guard. This can only be done through complete seizure of property and religion. The U.S.S.R. and China are examples of what happens with absolute power untempered by moral value.

Paul "Cripple" Bakija said...

Yes, absolute power corrupts absolutely, you are right, but I believe Marx and Engels were proposing a socialist government come into power and then give way to communism, in the true sense, where no form of government is needed. China in the 20th century was pretty messed up but I'm a lot happier that Mao won the battle against Chiang Kai-shek and his opium/herion dealers. Can you imagine the mafia sending their sons to West Point and the heads of the five families telling the president what to do? Big Eared Du, Pocked Mark Huang and the rest of the Green Gang were a lot more scarier than Al Capone ever was and when they gave Generalissimo Cash My Check an order, he complied because he wasn't in charge, a bunch of addicted criminals were. Would China be better off now if Mao and the communists hadn't won the battle? Definitely not. And you seem to disregard the fact that a battle was raging and if you had to choose sides. It's no contest, Communism gets the nod in both cases of China and the USSR. Was Lenin a stand up guy? Sure. Stalin? Fuck no. But after the great war, when Woodrow Wilson wanted everyone in Europe to vote as to which country they wanted to reside in, Lloyd George and Clemenceau shot down that idea fast because that would mean the Irish would vote for leaving Great Britain for an independent Ireland and Austians would have joined Germany, making France even more vulnerable to getting their asses whupped again. But the true beauty of communism or me is the fact that the workers of the world actually have a say in running things. What can I say, I worked for a living and wasn't born with a trusrt fund to feed me.

Paul "Cripple" Bakija said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
JCNYHC said...

Again you have still not explained how this is to happen. There will be dissenters like me. There will be institutions. U speak of socialism as a path to communism. Socialism is basically government control of all facets of life. Again the people in power are those in government. It seems to me like every single senator and representative gains more and more influence over our life and i hate them. So again. You would trust these people with this power and assume that they would just relinquish it when the time is right? bullshit 90% of them are corrupt and they are in the pockets of big business anyway. Fuck socialism man. Fuck the government. The key is less government control period. Communism is brought about through full government control only. It can never come about in any other way. U have to realize that government is not the solution. It is the problem. If you think the masses of punks and skins will ever have power to start this revolution you can keep dreaming. It'll never happen. If anything punk and hardcore is fairly dead right now speaking in terms of numbers. There is nothing wrong with that don't get me wrong. It keeps the true punks in and keeps the true spirit alive. But come on. The solution is less government period. For that reason i'll vote against big government anytime. Don't u understand that this free medical care shit is a hustle. It can't work. I see everyday what free healthcare does cuz i'm a paramedic. It actually ends up cutting resources and making healthcare providers more likely to make a mistake because of all the "bullshit" (by that i mean people who are too stupid to realize the difference between an infection and a heart attack) emergencies that they have to deal with on a regular basis. 90% of my patients have medicaid. They call 911 because they don't want to wait online for triage in an ER or because they don't want to pay money for a cab. The vast majority of my calls are non-emergencies. People in Britain have to go on waiting lists for physicals cuz the system is overloaded. It's simple get a job that offers healthcare or pay for it. I don't want to pay for someone else's healthcare. Someone making 2 billion dollars a year doesn't need free healthcare. Y do i have to paay for them???

Paul "Cripple" Bakija said...

It will happen on May first. All the workers of the world will unite to kill the rich. Maids have been ordered to poison the heiresses the work for when they serve them their morning tea. Maintenance workers will use their brooms to sweep out the rich and the useless and set forth the revoution, which will not be televised. Carpenters will use their hammers to crack open rich people's skulls and the farmers will use their sickles to decapitate them. The the governemt will fall because the rich will be gone. Just please don't tell anyone about May First because then the rich will be ready.....
But seriously, you are right. Communism does not take into account peoples emotions. Communisn could work if the world was populated with robots but humans have a habit of letting their heart dictate something other than what the mind knows is right. But I'll always have a sweet spot in my heart for communism simply because the USSR had in it's realm Kazakhstan, land of Borat. Imagine a bunch of Borats having to choose either fascism, democracy or communism... some 50 years ago. The best choice, and I believe you'd have to agree with me on this one, is for the Borats to embrace communism against the other two. Can you imagine a capitalist borat, a fascist one, if not, go see the movie. Anarchy is the goal, the less government, the better (isn't that libertarism by the way?). But I do have an extremely catchy tune called "Jesus was a Communist" that I love so I have to give communism some props, eh? And as for the socialism bit concerning healthcare, I wrote that trying to be facetious. Give me medicaid or give me something else!

And remember, mums the word for May day, hokay? Cool.

Anonymous said...

What workers are going to run your commie utopia.....the drugged out losers like you that are on welfare??? Which commie country are you going to model your new nation after.....russia, north korea, china, cuba?????

Paul "Cripple" Bakija said...

What workers, how about some Slovenes, Croats and Serbs with some Bosnians and Macedonians thrown in for good measure. Most definitely not a drugged out loser like me. I don't work, I just play guitar.

And it would be modeled after Yugoslavia, because they could kick anyone's ass, at anything.

LONG LIVE TITO!!!!!!

JCNYHC said...

the man conceded defeat to my argument. his job is being a fulltime punk rocker. who sed he's taking handouts. mind your manners u psychopath. he's prolly some emo-haired moron. how dare he assault a legend

Paul "Cripple" Bakija said...

Thank you J.C.
We should hang out sometime, so next time I play a gig (blender theater May 22nd), I'll put you on the guest list....plus one of course.

U da MAN JC!

JCNYHC said...

hey paully just know that Reagan was the GREATEST president we've had since Calvin Coolidge. In fact he's the ONLY good president we've had since Calvin Coolidge. Just slowing down the ever-growing government set to swell worse than ever post Bushs' and Obama. I'm simply a REAGAN youth breakin thru them Berlin Walls.