Good afternoon, Friyay. It's the freakin' weekend. Yow. My chill game leaves much to be desired of late.
So last night I was thinking about why I have always been drawn to subcultures. At various times in my young life, I found the need to align with certain groups (as one does) and for me, whether it was the Deadheads or the art school punk kids, I immersed myself and celebrated a less mainstream mystique. I've never been much of a milquetoast mundane. Ever. At various times in my life it messed with me (why can't I be normal?) but as I get older I've come to love this part of myself. And it's true- I'm not a dumpster diving anarchist. I can thrive in environments where the flock tends to feel a bit same same. But living in a place like New York has always given me the license to think, look, and be different, and ya can't take that away from me. I march to my own beat and all the rest of the cliches. And I'm so cool with that.
So it's with pause that I now wonder- what's happened to counterculture in modern times? Where is everyone who strays from the flock and why does everything feel so same same? Sure sure- there's outliers. Trailblazers. Bonafide risk takers. Protesters. But when something like Burning Man (blech) becomes a place to concept with a whiteboard sponsored by Microsoft, no. That's not going to work for me. At all.
Think about it- to me there hasn't been a great counterculture moment since the 90s when rave culture and club kids danced to happy house with pacifiers in their mouths. It's not surprising that's the last moment I remember, because truly- that's the last time I was very young.
And the whole millennial hipster thing does not feel counterculti to me at all. Nor does the vast microcosm of rose swilling, sunglass donning, fancy bag toting BS on Instagram does not quite say "revolution" to me. And now that Brooklyn is a brand and yoga and meditation have reached "namaste all day" status, I don't even know what's left. Unfortunately, I've drawn the conclusion that either I'm too old to really understand what's trending on the underground, or worse. That what it means to be counterculture is far more insipid. Because I think the counterculture is now the alt right or whatever they're calling themselves these days.
Think about it. (Or don't).
Trump is the antithesis of what it means to be Prez of the USA. In almost a punk rock, fuck you kind of way. Just not as cool. And more tyrannical. And his minions who swill and shill his unique brand of non PC Twitter rants and pow pow politics? Yea, they're definitely not mainstream. They seem positively fringe in every way to me. But now they too are becoming mainstream or have they always been mainstream and I was too busy being "other"? Now I'm confused. What does it all mean? And where is the true rage against this machine when it comes to joining a real revolution? I guess when you're living in the upside down full time, none of the usual rules apply.
And truthfully, I've become less of a joiner as I've matured. I don't want to be part of any group that would accept me as a member. Yea, that's Groucho. He was a revolutionary, too. I guess we'll have to wait and see who comes around the bend. I think with the accelerated 24/7 news cycle, it's pretty hard to stay underground and indie and that's that. I guess I just miss real weirdos. Or at least, the kind I like.
Cause that's what's up this going underground kind of Friday in the 212. Yours, in running counter, today and always.Like the picture at the top of the post says. XO