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When punk delved more into nihilism, gothic went in a separate direction and became more hedonistic, sexual and religious oriented. Contextually, gothic and what it means to be goth has changed over the years that many people only subconsciously realize that what they are doing is an act of rebellion.
We are rebels.
We are social rebels, misfits, a society within a society, ignored to some extent but still there, thriving and becoming more popular than ever. In theory we could even become so popular that we end up dominating society, in which goth would actually become a social norm. And then it would be the squares (such an 80s term) which would actually be considered freaks instead of the basics of normalcy.And if that day should ever come, our individuality will have to evolve with it, but at least by then we will have dramatically altered our world to the point that we have become something more than a freakshow for the people on the subway. We will become a new social group that cannot be ignored any longer and our ethics and morals, many of which are deeply philosophical and have truth imbedded in them, will become a new cornerstone for an ever evolving society.
And so I say, Cheers to the future of Neo-Gothicism! Cheers to an art style that has been around since Francesco Goya in the early Romanticist Period! Cheers to the people, the designers, the writers and the artists who stand up and make a difference! Vive le resistance!
GOTH IS ABOUT REBELLING AGAINST SOCIAL NORMS, AND DEFYING OLD FASHIONED SEXUALITY & REPRESSIVE GOVERNMENT AND RELIGION. DO NOT EVER FORGET IT.
And now the comparison:
Strange how goth seems to be the dark 21st century version of the 60's hippies, isnt it? its like the sun and the moon. Sun was noticed first, connotated with light, warmth, and exuberant joy as the hippies were, then rejected. And as the ideology of it all resurfaces, the sun is replaced by the moon, associated with darkness, cold, and calm sorrow, as the goths are. But the ideology - Rebellion and Defiance against Structure, Societal Norms, Organized Religion, Tradition, Intolerance, Judgement, and the constraints of the Mind, Absolute Freedom, And Civil/Social Acceptance, and Self-Expression. Day becomes Night, Sun becomes Moon, Hippie becomes Goth. Maybe this time we wont go down in history as failures (which neither group is) as was the fate of the poor Hippies.
I AM A HIPPIGOTH. I HAVE ELIMINATED THE NEED FOR WAR BETWEEN THE TWO LABELS. WE SHOULD EMBRACE EACHOTHER, FOR HIPPIES AND GOTH ARE KINDRED SPIRITS. WHY NOT ERADICATE THE DISTICTION BETWEEN THE TWO? THE ONLY REAL DIFFERENCE IS YOUR STYLE OF EXPRESSION. BRIDGE THE GAP, END THE FEUD. EMBRACE THE HIPPIGOTH IN YOU.
I DECLARE WAR (on the war against drugs)
How can we win? The first thing we need to do is start using a little different language when it comes to our fight with the current governmental status of "drugs."
The use of the word "drugs" is pretty loaded. Let's face it, the public has been effectively (although patchy and somewhat faltering) brainwashed that drugs are "evil, wicked, mean and nasty." We need to use different terms. Like when I am discussing the entheogens that we use for spiritual reasons I call them "sacraments." In a population where 90% believe in a Deity and 80% that considers themselves to be religious and 70% that pray at least occasionally, who would be opposed to someone taking the sacraments? Tell the Catholics they can't have their wine and wafers and see what war that would begin.
This is a little harder to do with things like cocaine, speeds, heroin, and the other various chemicals that definitely not only have stigmas surrounding them but definite medical and social problems surrounding them as well. While it would not really hurt my feelings if these were not re-legalized the simple fact is prohibition does not work and the fact they have been criminalized is currently leading to horrific crime and the underground that goes along with the black-market.
Why not refer to these as OTC medications? All of them do have a legitimate usage -- speeds do help those with allergies, asthma, ADHD/ADD and people driving to vacation spots, heroin helps those in chronic pain where morphine tolerance it too high as with cancer patients (the government is actually using it some now) and the other chemicals do have medical uses-- but the key with these is the same key to OTC medications: they are for use not abuse. As a general rule OTC medications are not abused. The same would be true if all the non-entheogenic chemicals were re-legalized -- at least abuse would drop but there are always people who will abuse things. I hear of people taking way to many vitamins and laxatives which is abuse and causes just as much damage as the criminalized non-entheogenic chemicals (OTC medications). The second thing is that "drugs" have been legal for thousands of years. It has only been the last 90 years that cocaine, heroin (& opium) and 35 that the others have been made illegal to secure political power against the movements in the 60's.
This needs to be brought out very clearly. We need everything re-legalized, not decriminalized or legalized -- we want them re-legalized. It might not seem like a big difference when reading this, but psychologically it makes a huge impact in the thinking models people use. It also demonstrates that they were legal until the recent past and reminds people that all their illegality has done is take away our freedom and create the current situation.
Forgive me for this little rant, but I truly believe that much of what is causing our "side" problems with our movement is the language we are using. If "they" define the language they will always win. Language is the heart of communication and thought. If we re-define everything with language that suits "our" side of this war then we will have won one of the hardest battles. From that point on, we will begin dominating the thought/thinking and communication that surrounds the subject. We will also be free of the limitations that the brainwashing of the past 35 (to 90) years has instilled -- people are against drugs, not sacraments or OTC medications. People are against crime and the black-market, which surrounds drugs, not medications and sacraments which needs to be something that is brought up constantly -- without drugs there is much less of a black-market. If anything, money, power and privilege are drugs and I agree that we should all "just say no" and make the actual drugs illegal.
