for my webquest : 'Straight Edge'

What is straight edge?

Straight edge is what people who choose not to consume alcohol, use tabacco or any drugs call themselves. A non-premiscious sex life is also favoured by most straight edge people. Straight edge ethics are a choice made on a personal level, for instance some people choose a vegan life style aswell, some choose to not ingest caffeine, some abstain from as many legal medicalized drugs as possible, ie, Asprin. Another choice many straight edge people in turn opt for is that of environmental awareness, which in effect could be, involving yourself in recycling in your neighbourhood, awareness of power usage in their homes, involvement in environmental organizations like Green Peace, primarily any kind of environmental aid. Straight edge is in effect a non-violent movment, usually built on self preservation or self abstinence. It is for some a dicipline, and for others a simple choice with no interest from the products in question. This really depends on why you become straight edge.
Why straight edge? The reasons behind people choosing a straight edge lifestyle, can be traced to many different reasions. Becasue being straight edge is a personal choice it is hard to say why poeple go straight edge in an over all way, but here are a handfull of reasions.
* Growing up with alcoholic's in the family and being scared that the same will occur in your life, also alcohol induced agression, the two can go hand in hand. Its also possible that people have seen the affects of drugs on family members or freinds, and have learnt from others mistakes.
* To further their own personal health, well being and productivity. Basicly to acomplish what they wish, to be everything they can and want.
* They want to be an individual, taking the path less traveled down, not wanting to follow peer presure. More often then not these people never have an interest in self destructive drugs, and have a drug free life. They probably dont even know about the straight edge movment until later in their lives.
Overall most people choose to go straight edge to promote their own personal health, or that has a percentage of the final reasion for their choice. Becasue of this there are alot of vegans straight edge people around. In effect the vegan lifestyle doesnt have a lot to do with being straight edge, there are masses of straight edge people around that have nothing to do with veganism. But becasue the straight edge of society usually have alot more thought for their personal and environmental futures, veganism seems a apropriate affiliation to the overal ethic.

The History, Future and The Roots In Existence of Straight Edge
Lets go back to the early years of punk. Noone knows who exactly start punk but everyone knows it will die. And then came 80s, a time of punk rock and its death from the public eye. In North America punk moved underground. The early punk scene was filled with kids who felt betrayed by society. Naturally there was a sense of nihilism that came with such a scene. Among some of the punks this nihilistic view seemed like pantomime. Punk music was not only a new sound but it was new lifestyle for youth that was tired of following the actions mainstream society had forced upon them. As rebellion grew in the punk community alcohol and drugs were commonplace. Artists like Sid Vicious [Bassist of Sex Pistols], famous for his fatal use of drugs and alcohol, getting drunk and self-destruction sounded very cool that time. Ian MacKaye and Jeff Nelson were two of the guys in the punk scene. They felt that the punk scene was getting so destructive and they really wanted to see the changing of punk from stupid rocknroll jerks into thinking rebels.They were in a band named Minor Threat, based out of Washington D.C. One day while making a flyer for a show their band was to play, Jeff made a comparison between the lifestyle they lived and the ruler or "straight edge" they were using to make the flyer. A movement was born.
They started making a song titled Out of Step (With The World) in which in the song, they represented their lifestyle in lyric “ I don’t drink (I) don’t smoke. (I) don’t fuck. At least I can fucking think”. Ian and the band just wanted to promote their personal lifestyle, but later the number of punkers of this lifestyle got bigger, and they called theirselves Straight edge (with the basic principles stated by Minor Threat) referring to another song by Minor Threat which now becomes the anthem of any straightedge bands, no matter what kind of music they play. Actually, despite considerable research into other possible origins of the straight edge subculture, no alternative explanations for its inception were found. In the meantime, Ian MacKaye, Minor Threat's songwriter, has been lifted to celebrity status within the punk-rock community. MacKaye's house is commonly visited by straight edge youth who, according to MacKaye's mother, arrive as "a little flood of them, maybe five or six . . . during school vacation" (Weiss, 2001, p.21).
Although straight edge started on the east coast of the United States in Washington D.C. and New York, it quickly spread through the US and Canada.[7] By the 1980s, bands on the west coast of the United States, such as America's Hardcore (A.H.C.), Stalag 13, Justice League and Uniform Choice, were gaining popularity. In the early stages of this subculture’s history, concerts often consisted of non-straight edge punk bands along with straight edge bands. However, circumstances soon changed and the old school era would eventually be viewed as the time "before the two scenes separated".
During the youth crew era, which started in the mid 1980s, the influence of music on the straight edge scene seemed to be at an all-time high. The new branches of straight edge that came about during this era seemed to originate from ideas presented in songs.
Starting in the mid-1980s, the band Youth of Today became associated with the straight edge movement, and their song "Youth Crew" expressed a desire to unite the scene into a movement. The most identifiable theme that arose during the youth crew era was an association of straight edge with vegetarianism. In 1988, Youth of Today released the song "No More", which initiated this new theme within the subculture. Lead singer Ray Cappo displayed his vegan views in the lyrics: "Meat-eating, flesh-eating, think about it. So callous this crime we commit".
By the end of the 1980s, straight edge bands all over the United States and Canada sang about animal cruelty. During the late 1980s, not all people who claimed to be straight edge identified with animal rights issues, although bands such as Earth Crisis had continued the animal rights trend. By the early 1990s, militant straight edge was a well-known presence in the scene, and the term militant described someone who was dedicated and outspoken, but who was also believed to be narrow-minded, judgmental, and potentially violent.[10] The militant straight edger was characterized by the following: less tolerance for non-straight edge people, more outward pride in being straight edge, more outspokenness, and the belief that violence was a necessary method to promote clean living. In the mid-1990s, a number of bands advocating social justice, animal liberation, veganism, and straight edge practices displayed a stronger metal influence.
Nowadays, straight edge becomes a worlwide-spread lifestyle. Straight-edge today, while nothing like the "halcyon" days "back in '88," still offers a viable and positive lifestyle. Bands such as Strife, Mouthpiece, Earth Crisiscontinue to proliferate and bear the standard. While its detractors often claim that straight-edge(rs) are no more than suburbanite, cliquish, fashion victims, few can argue that the philosophy is still valid. The drug-free lifestyle has left its positive impact on more than one wayward youth. Perhaps the ideals and ideas are more pertinent today than ever as the focus begins to reach beyond affecting merely oneself to altering and improving one's society and environment.
With its own system of beliefs and its own symbols, straight edge's status as a legitimate subculture is solidified in its ability to "win space for the young" and to "mark out and appropriate 'territory' within the localities" (Clarke et el., 1997, p.103)But this doesn’t always mean a good thing. At the moment with the kissing cousins of hardcore in the spotlight it is somewhat a trend to call yourself Straight Edge. So obviously when the media's eye turns to something else many kids will drop off and jump on the next trend. This will alienate many of the true believers of Straight Edge making the older ones more jades to the new comers and detour a lot younger kids from claiming. Straight world ends. Edge as with all counter-cultures will go back in forth in this fashion until it is either forgotten or the


Vegan/Vegetarian Straight edge
Because so many kids who claimed Straight Edge were also vegetarians and vegans it became inevitably linked to Straight Edge. The link between the two was so "obvious" to others that they would herald that if you weren't vegetarian or vegan then you weren't Straight Edge. Of course a lot of these self proclaimed, "Know it alls" were not even Straight Edge to begin with. This spread a lot of confusion that still rings in our ears today well more than a decade after the two became connected.
Usually when a straightedge kid becomes involved in veganism she/he will intern become involved in animal rights issues in some way, to further their beliefs in their principles. In all intergrity veganism is in a sense boycotting the use of animal produce to an extent. Alought this really depends on how far the individual takes the veganism process in their lives. Many vegans will take veganism to a far extent if they intend to take the ethic to a serious level, as most do. This usually involves the absaination of all animal products and products which are tested on animals, from the vegans life, including clothes, footwear, cosmetics, everything. In effect this is actualy alot easier then it sounds, The main reasion vegans will tend to push the boundries of veganism if they are serious is becasue it becomes hypicritical to stop eating meat, but still use cosmetics which are tested on animals. This is especially relevant to vegans which turn vegan primarily for animal rights focused principles. The environmental issues of the vegan ethic, lie in the under tones of the overall straight edge ethic. Self presevation; which is the ethical relationship between the two lifestyles in my opioion, and also another of the reasions the two ethics work together.
One of the worst drugs that many straight edge people do not recognise as a drug and therefore dont abstain from it in their daily lives, is caffine. You may be thinking whats so bad about coffee or Coke?. It has an addictive affect, it also has a load of other bad side effects; here a just a few.
* Caffine helps to aid the loss of sodium, potassium, calcium and other essential vitamin's from your body including vitamin B, this intern increases your bodies need for vitamins from other sources, such as supplements.
* Caffine greatly increases your risks of gaining bladder cancer, especially in women.
* There are high risks that large daily consumtion of caffine (7 cups + per day) in pregnant women can increase the risks of miscarriages, still births or fetal deaths.
* These are just a hand full of the unhealthy sides of caffine. For more information reguarding these findings and other on caffine consumption side affects please refer to vegan-straight-edge.org.uk

Hardline
Hard-line is an extreme form of veganism, which includes beliefs in use of sex as a means of procreation only, they are anti-porn and anti-masturbation. They are environmentalists and naturalists. They are not all Straight Edge though many are.
On 9 Jun 1997 Andy Dempz <adempz@umich!edu> wrote: "Hardline is a very specific political eco-defense movement that believes they have the one truth of natural living, including abstinence from drugs, veganism, and pro-life beliefs. They also claim to believe in direct action, but it remains to be seen if they'll do anything."
From the Hardline Creed: "The time has come for an ideology and for a movement, that is both physically and morally strong enough, to do battle against the forces of evil that are destroying the earth (and all life upon it). ...
"That ideology, that movement, is Hardline. A belief system, and a way of life that lives by one ethos - that all innocent life is sacred, and must have the right to live out it's natural state of existance in peace, without interference. ... Any action that does interfere with such rights shall not be considered a "right" in itself, and therefore shall not be tolerated. Those who hurt or destroy life around them, or create a situation in which that life or the quality of it is threatened shall from then on no longer be considered innocent life, and in turn will no longer have rights.
"Adherents to the hardline will abide by these proncilpes in daily life. They shall live at one with the laws of nature, and shall not forsake them for the desire of pleasure - from deviant sexual acts and/or abortion, to drug use of any kind (and all other cases where one harms all life around them under the pretext that they are just harming themselves). And, in following with the belief that one shall not infringe on an innocent's life - no animal product shall be consumed (be it flesh, milk or egg). Along with this purity of everyday life, the true hardliner must strive to liberate the rest of the world from it's chains - saving lives in some cases, and in others, dealing out justice to those guilty of destoying it." [10]
Ever since its creation there are many people who like the hardline ethics, but do not like its violent/illegal attitude. Therefore it is time for a new ethic discouraging violence and promoting non-violent direct action. I am not trying to oppose hardline or 'traditional straight-edge' in this article, but to formulate a new ethic, based on both ethics, but also philosophies (Buddhism, Christianity, etc.), lyrics by bands, and in general many opinions (including my own). In the rest of this article I will be referring to this ethic by the name "softline".

What is softline?
Basically softline combines the straight-edge ethics with some hard-line ethics with one major difference: softline is all about non-violent direct action. This means softliners do not smoke, drink alcohol, use drugs or have casual sex. Besides that softliners believe in equality of race and gender, animal rights (meaning softliners are vegetarian or vegan) and complete abstainance from violence.The mediaDespite hardline's good intention it got really bad media coverage, which in some extend also harmed straight-edge. Their opponents (like the meat industry) used hardline's violent attitude to blacken their reputation. Softline has a much stronger weapon, named non-violence, making it a lot more difficult to destroy its reputation. Non-violent actions result in positive media attention, which in turn results in awareness of society.Forms of non-violent action
* Spread pamphlets. * Educate other people about certain issues (only if they are interested!). * Stop buying products that might harm animals/the environment/etc. * Wear clothes spreading an important message. There are allot of abbreviations and other ways of saying straight edge then actually writing straight edge, here is a list of the most common.

What's With The X?
* sXe - this is common on the internet, also on straight edge cd compilations, etc.
* XXX - this is a favourite of t-shirts and other clothing.
* X-X - the - becomes what ever word that is desired i.e. XcultureX.
* X - on the back of someone's hands, usually at a concert to show your straight edgeness
The letter "X" is the most prevalent symbol of straight edge. Commonly it is worn as a marking, symbol or tattoo on the back of one or both hands, though it can be displayed on other body parts as well. Some followers of straight edge have also incorporated the symbol into clothing and pins. According to a series of interviews by journalist Michael Azerrad, the straight edge "X" can be traced to the Teen Idles' brief U.S. West Coast tour in 1980.[2] The Teen Idles were scheduled to play at San Francisco's Mabuhay Gardens, but when the band arrived, club management discovered that the entire band was under the legal drinking age and therefore should be denied entry to the club. As a compromise, management marked each of the Idles' hands with a large black "X" as a warning to the club's staff not to serve alcohol to the band. Upon returning to Washington, D.C., the band suggested this same system to local clubs as a means to allow teenagers in to see musical performances without being served alcohol. While the practice was never widely adopted by D.C.-area music venues,[2] the mark soon became associated with the straight edge lifestyle. Recently, however, after a slow pickup, more and more music venues have been employing this system.
Sometimes the number 24 is used to represent straight edge, because X is the twenty-fourth letter of the alphabet. A variation involving a trio of Xs (xXx) originated in artwork created by Minor Threat's drummer, Jeff Nelson, in which he replaced the three stars in the band's hometown Washington, DC flag with Xs.[3] The term is sometimes abbreviated by including an X with the abbreviation of the term "straight edge" to give "sXe". By analogy, hardcore punk is sometimes abbreviated to "hXc".

Sources : straightedge.net straightedge.com straightedge.couk wikipedia.com etc.

our broken promises

So each post under this label is actually a treasure box of memories, unsent love letters and a declaration of love. A love that died too soon, like a withering red-rose in a garden of blissful colors.

"Hide the petals underneath the bedroom floor, and they will wither without fail or succes"

That was my favourite line of a song. You laughed at me for beng obsessed with that song. The fact was, you laughed at me all the time...the kind of laughters i'd never see in others. And somehow t made me warm, Ciel. Yes, from now on your name is Ciel...let's make it deal because i'm just too afraid to call your real name. I still remember the thing you told me decades ago-that we actually realize each time someone calls our name. The Universe works in a strange way, you said. We don't only communicate in words, our minds also sends information to others. Ah, maybe it's like a story in "History of Love". Alma gave a string to her lover when she was about to fly over the ocean-so that they could communicate without being listened by others. maybe the string is still our hand, we just failed to feel it. If it's right, i'm afraid that you realize that i think about you all the time.

I don't know, i never understood about it. To be honest, i never really understood about many things you told me. They were all interesting, indeed. But i thought somehow there's a gap between our minds-or our intelligence that i could never cover. But i kept listening to you-i just liked the way you told stories. Your eyes would stare at a place far away that only you who could see-and you would be lost in your words. Unlike that cold smart & tough face you always showes-you would look like someone else each time you spoke about something deep inside your mind. And i heart you for being like that.

"Our love story was the most romantic tragedy ever...do you remember"

There were laughters, dreams, and the unspoken promises between a sad girl who was just growing u and a guy with thousands thoughts in mind. We used to walk under the stars-no hand in hand, just side by side. You told me the name of the stars-and i would be bubbling about the stories behind them. You would smile all the time-i knew you have heard all the stories, maybe long time before i realized that the sky's beautiful. And without words, we would promise each other that we would be under the same cloud-the next Thursday.

And then came the the time when we both forgot to come and save our Thursdays (or my Thursdays. I came and saw no you...than i left and never came back. You came and knew that i wouldn't come, but you kept standing there-only that time not with me, you would call someone else to walk beside you. Now, i'm words...words away from you. Too many broken promises between us that we couldn't make it better again. I still love you-and i know you still feel it too. But the world is just........

"But how could a promise be broken if it's never being spoken?"

the vegan straightedge kid

so last night i went to a cafe-the casual one i usually hang out in. i brought a friend-another casual friend. i never enjoyed the place (sure i dont drink coffee, just orange juice!) nor the conversation, but there were always times where being with someone (whoever he was) was even better than talking to yourself.


it was another cafe where the sheeps usually made a crowd- yes, emos, mellowdick punks, mallcore kids and all those bubble gummy teenagers. And then i saw that guy, the one in black shirt, dark jeans and vans, something on the back of his shirt made me open my eyes wider than usually. "VEGAN STRAIGHT EDGE YOUTH" And i was like shouting "Holy shit! That's lame!" Thanks God that place was crowded and so noisy, otherwise i would have caused myself another trouble.

No. It wasnt because he looked like everyone else there, neither because his friends were all guys with diagonal bangs and black tight jeans. But i always had that sorta feeling each time i saw someone promoted his idealist scene. I just doubted that guy, the label he wore on his shirt was sooo heavy, it was something big, something really big that could be a boomerang to himself, and the scene hes struggling for.


I don't smoke, i don't consume liquors, i don't do the promiscuous sex, i don't eat meat and i do involve in local earth-saving organization. Oh, i listen to Minor Threat and Gorilla Biscuits too if that counts. But i don't label myself as straight edge-never. I don't hate people who label their selves, though personally i hate self-labelling, i think that labelling is necessary in certain situations. And it's good to stimulate the condition of 'lifetime commitment'. But somehow, it's a feeling i can't resist that wearing a shirt showing your glorious lifestyle isn't really wise- it doesn't bring that great pride feeling, but even more shame. It's just like i want to come to that guy and say "How sXe you think you are that you deserve to put that label on your shirt?"

Okay, maybe not all of the kids who wear sXe shirts and marks on the back of their hands are like what i think about........but the problem is, i know the straight edge scene too well (especially here, in my beloved sweet heartbreaking hometown in Indonesia) to 'judge' most of them :)