Kids who listen to punk rock are often seen as troubled youth with rebellious tendencies. In American punk, this may be true, but America is not the only country with a punk scene. Punk music can be found in many parts of the world. Canada, Brazil, and Indonesia are three countries that contain this phenomenon called punk music. It is quite similar to punk in America musically, but the inspiration for it could not be more different. Punk in America was founded by middle class suburban kids who were frustrated with their daily lives. In Brazil and Indonesia, the kids are certainly frustrated, but it goes much deeper than being angry at ones mediocre and boring life. These kids that are living in the majority world use punk music as an outlet for their anger and frustration that they have towards their lives in extreme poverty.
The documentary, The Punks are Alright, illustrates a life that most Americans do not know. It shows kids that work several hours a day at jobs that take several hours of commuting to get to, to make less than three dollars a day; but they are so honored just to have work. Most American’s don’t know, but this is how the majority of the world lives. In the majority world, this type of life is normal. Most children in America have no idea what Dolly, the young Indonesian man’s life is like, and likewise, these kids in other countries have no idea what childhood could be like for them. This movie, for me, opened my eyes to how hard life can be for youth of other cultures.
It is hard for me to say that I can relate with these kids. I have no idea what it is to even really have a job, let alone have to depend on having one to live. I have a mother and father who provide for me, it is not the other way around. I have only ever really had to work hard to get into college, which most of the kids in the majority world will never know. I can relate with them on one thing and that is feeling hopeless. As an American, going to another culture, and seeing the majority world, all you want to do is ‘fix’ it. There is no fixing this life style. I can relate with the defeat that one feels thinking that nothing can be done.
Although it is hard for me to relate with kids of other cultures, there is one thing that makes the intersection of our lives inevitable, and that is music. I do not personally listen to punk music, but that is beside the point. No matter what type of music you listen to, it is still music, and you listen to it for the same reasons anyone else listens to music. Music is used to achieve something for all people, but what it achieves is different for every person.
The youth in other cultures use music to demonstrate their anger towards the system. Many of the kids hate the idea of globalization and capitalism. In, America, kids are taught to love capitalism, some stray from that idea, but some stick with it. I personally believe capitalism, with morals, is the best system, but how can I blame someone who is on the losing end of capitalism for hating it? These kids hate capitalism, because they feel enslaved by it. In Indonesia, their primary source of income is based on western tourism. That is how most people make their livings. Globalization comes along with that. Americans will most likely not travel to a place that has not been westernized. The kids use punk music, similar to how adults in their culture use religion, to express their rage towards a system in which they have come out as the failures.
Music can be used to serve many purposes. It can be used to express a full spectrum of emotion. For many people music makes them happy, and for some, it helps them cope with their sadness. For others, music is a release of anger and hate that has been pent up inside of them that they are otherwise unable to get out. Music can be more than that; music can be the hobby that saves a person’s life. Music is the one thing that connects us all as human beings, no matter what your personal need for music is.
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