razorcake issue #16

PROTECT PACthe first logical step is making sure that the kids,literally and figuratively, don’t get fuckedKids get fucked. I think we can all agreeon this. Look up, look down, look underground.Almost no one is looking out forthe kids. Here in San Francisco, the lastvenue for kids to see punk shows on a regularbasis, Mission Records, has ceased toexist as a place for young folks to meet,mosh and god forbid, drink a forty. GeorgeW. thinks if he shows up at a nursery schooland plops his pampered ass down on thefloor with a bunch of pre-schoolers whilethe cameras are looking that we’ll forgetabout all that promised aid for publicschools that never arrived. If a nine-year-oldwants to go on his class field trip to theaquarium so he can see an alligator, he hasto sell candy bars on the street (sometimescompeting for shop space with crack dealersor worse).ARTICLE BY TREY BUNDYartwork by art fuenteshired by another musician friend to work ascounselors at a summer camp for severelyemotionally disturbed kids who had beenremoved from their families because ofabuse or neglect. The experience resonatedand we returned the following seven summers,eventually taking jobs in variousgroup homes and residential treatment programs.I’m not here to get all OprahWinfrey and tell you how rewarding it wasbecause it wasn’t. But the anger generatedfrom constant exposure to what these kidshad been through was always enough tokeep me coming back. And anger is a twosided coin. It can be destructive or it can beproductive. When it comes to channelinganger effectively, nothing beats sitting upall night trying to comfort a screaming kidwho suffers from night terrors exceptthese bands are out there slammin’ out theirmusic, screaming for change, and rallyingthe audience. However, most of these peopledon’t know what they can do to changewhat they’re pissed about. They drink, falldown, and wake up the next day still pissedabout whatever it is in the world that pissesthem off. Myself included. I was pissedabout all kinds of stuff. I still am. And so, itseems, are most people you find at shows.God bless’em. It’s not easy to turn angerinto action and those who manage to usuallyfind themselves in small numbers, lackingany real power. As a group or a scene or asociety, we aren’t focused on changing anyone thing. Crime. Abortion. Famine. Theozone. Racism. Drug addiction. Save thewhales. How the fuck is anyone supposed toget anything done?FUCKED UP PEOPLE DON’T GO TO HELL.I shit you not, gang. I’m about ready tothrow my vote at Arnold Schwarzenegger –that’s right, The Governator – solely on thebasis of his success in blasting an afterschool program initiative through theCalifornia legislature. Even an overpaidRepublican bodybuilder from Austriaknows it. Kids get fucked. And when theydo, we all take it in the ass with’em.These problems that kids face are commonknowledge and most people have cometo accept them. Now, let’s take off ourgloves and talk about how kids really getfucked. More than thirty-five U.S. stateshave laws on the books which state, to varyingdegrees, the following: an adult malewho has sex with a child has committed thecrime of rape and can be sentenced to twentyyears in prison. However, if the adultmale and the child are related by blood thenhe has committed the crime of incest. He iseligible for probation. I didn’t type it wrongand you read it just fine. Sexual predatorsare being rewarded for not inconveniencingtheir neighbors whenever the mood strikesthem to rape a child. This is called an incestexception loophole. We’ll come back to it.About eleven years ago,60 my band mates and I weremaybe restraining that kid physically to preventher from committing suicide. Thismakes you angry. Angry at those who hurther and made her this way. Angry at thesystem that promised to help her and thenfailed to participate in her healing. Andbecause it’s all right there in front of you,you’re compelled by a sense of urgency andyour natural response is to suck it up andfocus solely on the needs of your client,much like the guys they send when you call911. Properly directed, anger can be amiraculous source of fuel. And it’s recyclablebecause just when just when youthink you’ve run out of gas you realize thatbecause your client has no lawyer, somejudge has decided to grant the biologicalfather (read: rapist) unsupervised visitationevery other week effectively sending the kidright back to the origin of her misery on abi-weekly basis. This makes you REALLYangry. At the end of each week, it helped alot to be in a punk rock band.All this time, we kept playing shows,making records, drinking tons, and trying toremain welcome company in the punkscene. We played, watched, and read abouthundreds of shows. Gradually, it hit me likea ton of bricks falling in slow motion. AllMeanwhile, back at work, the kids I’mattempting to help are a mess. A mess thatis not their fault. And the bricks keepfalling. Our world is raising generation aftergeneration of people so damaged and lackingin empathy that they’ll never be able togive two shits about any of the things thatare endangering our species, much lesschange them. Who’s in charge of cleaningup this junkyard and bailin’ our asses out ofthis mess anyway? Republicans?Democrats? I’m not exactly brimming overwith confidence. Sure, on both sides as wellas outside and in between, you can find lotsof people who are compassionate, committed,determined and focused, but not nearlyenough of them. And they all have theirown particular issues that are chappin’ theirhides.The problem here is that no matter whocontrols Congress, you need to be able tofork over a significant block of votes if youwant any politician to give a rat’s ballsabout your issue. That’s why gun enthusiasts,retired people, and big, fat corporationsusually get what they want. They arefocused and they move in large packs. Thisscares the snot out of politicians and makesthem very easy to push around. How