The first mistake with art is to assume that it's serious.

Tuesday, 14 July 2015

PUNK IS DEAD ...but 2015 is the year of the resurrection.

EVERYBODY, LISTEN UP: No matter how socially inclusive the Tories present themselves as being, they are increasing tuition fees and getting rid of maintenance grants for students from low income households because they want education to only be available to the rich.

Why would David Cameron - our clean cut, well spoken, fresh faced prime minister - who apparently wants to improve the country for 'all' us, possibly want further education to be less and less accessible to the poor? Well, consider this; when the poor are educated to a point where they're made aware of the injustice of barbaric conservative policies which exclusively affect the poor, disabled, ethnic minorities, travelers, teachers, laborers, trade unions, single mothers, health care workers, students, pensioners, mentally ill, immigrants and basically anyone who isn't rich, white, and male, that's when these students typically start identifying as left wing and probably being extremely vocal about it too. Unsurprisingly this pisses Tories off; students who adopt a socialist - and often non conformist - mindset, comes with the eagerness to recruit others to the left of the political spectrum by participating in protests and riots in an attempt to highlight the well known fact - though one that the majority of the public would obviously currently prefer to ignore - that every Tory policy is carefully crafted to reinforce the class system by making the rich richer at the expense of the most vulnerable people in our society.

Children of the elite, however, massively outnumber those from lower income families who go on to study at university. Unsurprisingly though, it is mostly these students who eventually thoroughly appreciate the Tory party ethos and, in the interest of only themselves, will be more than willing to support, advocate and perpetuate the social pecking order to firmly keep their position in the ruling class. Not too many years ago it would have been unheard of for young people to vote Tory but now it seems those days are over; we are now living in a generation made up of second wave of yuppies - a direct product of having parents who’ve repeated the damaging phrase “There’s no such thing as society!”. It’s 2015 and the majority of the population voted for the outdated, reactionary, irrational, austerity-heavy, cold hearted conservative party… what the fuck, man? I refuse to believe that British youth have unanimously chosen money over morality, at this point I can only imagine that young people are not fully aware of how the conservatives show total disregard for the youth, despite how status driven the conservatives present themselves. Young Tory voters need to understand the consequences the most vulnerable people in this society have to suffer as a result of their actions. As a result of David Cameron’s policies, 4.7 million children in the UK are expected to be living in poverty by 2020. This is the man who can watch a defenseless animal be torn to shreds by a pack of dogs and call it 'sport', a man who campaigned for the execution of Nelson Mandela in the 1980s, a man who repeatedly refuses to investigate mass tax evasion by big businesses like HSBC, Google, Starbucks, Tesco etc etc - the real criminals whose paid taxes could make a genuine difference to the living standards of the average people, a man who demonises immigrants and benefit claimants in order to cover up his lack of interest in persecuting tax avoiders, a man who himself is guilty of having offshore bank accounts to avoid paying inheritance tax to the very country he is running.... But more bizarrely, the man that YOU voted for to be our prime minister.

What's worse is that this has been a tactic used by the party since their formation, so why are so many people still being so complacent and not educating themselves on things that affect them so directly? If you don't want to take on the debt that university entails then teach yourselves the ways of the world; in this day and age all the information you need is right at your fingertips - read up on austerity, tax fraud, the war in Iraq, LGBT rights, racism, fascism but ultimately make sure you are completely aware of the underlying inhumanity that is the driving force behind parties like The Conservatives, UKIP and the BNP. Wise up. Educate yourselves, it is what the powers that be are most afraid of - a generation of educated revolutionaries who've grown up immersed in the injustice of conservatism thus having the passion and knowledge to demand - dare I say it! - reform!

The aftermath of punk and it's ethos was officially pronounced dead in 1997 when Tony Blair, our apparent saviour from over a decade of Tory hell - 10 of those years being brutally governed by Thatcher, the epitome of tyranny. It's impact on not only music but on culture too is indisputable; punk was the beacon of hope that reminded the world that each and everyone of us has a voice that can be used to make a difference. We can fight corruption and we can fight austerity. Punk was rendered obsolete in 1997 but it's needed now more than ever. The tories might have had their talons firmly gripped in the 2015 election but come 2020, I will not be prepared for another Tory prime minister to be elected. So fasten your seatbelts folks because we've got a bumpy ride ahead of us for the next five years but have hope, change is on the horizon.

So, it's time. In years to come when your grandchildren ask you what part you played in reforming social inequalities and fighting the war against austerity, what is your answer going to be? Are you ready to join the movement or are you going to continue being complacent and ignoring the unjust nature of a conservative rule?

Introducing operation: wise up!

P.S. Vote Jeremy Corbyn for Labour party leader.

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