Punk Ideologies - Criticism of Punk Ideologies

Criticism of Punk Ideologies

Punk ideologies have been criticized from outside and within. The Clash occasionally accused other contemporary punk acts of selling out, such as in their songs "(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais" and "Death or Glory". Crass's song "White Punks on Hope" criticized the late-1970s British punk scene in general and, among other things, accused Joe Strummer of selling out and betraying his earlier socialist principles. Their song "Punk is Dead" attacked corporate co-option of the punk subculture. Dead Kennedys frontman Jello Biafra wrote many songs criticizing aspects of the punk subculture, and he once accused the punk magazine Maximum RocknRoll of "punk fundamentalism" when they refused to advertise Alternative Tentacles records because they said the records "weren't punk".

The Misfits' Michale Graves, a right-libertarian who cofounded the Conservative Punk website, argued that punks have become "hippies with mohawks".

Author Jim Goad has been very critical of punk ideologies in many of his writings. In his essay "The Underground is A Lie!", Goad argued that many punks are hypocrites, and he claimed that many punks act poor while hiding the fact they come from middle to upper class backgrounds. In Farts from Underground, Goad claimed that the DIY ethic never produces anything original, and it allows poor quality work to be championed.

In their book The Rebel Sell, Joseph Heath and Andrew Potter argued that counterculture politics have failed, and that the punk understanding of society is flawed. They also argued that alternative and mainstream lifestyles ultimately have the same values.