revolution/evolution

Children in every decade have looked for a way to be different, a way to define themselves as their own youth culture. They make gangs, colour their hair, create a fashion statement and get piercings, as a way of expressing who they are and what they stand for. There were the hippies of the 60’s, men who grew their hair long, women who could taken the pill, which meant sexual freedom and drugs became a sign of the times. In the 70’s punks, rockers and skinheads were taking their place as a dominant youth culture. These youth cultures stream from a need to create something new and rebel against the laws enforced by their parent’s generation. I would claim it to be a type of evolution, necessary to keep the world moving and to keep ideas and beliefs out in the open, free to be expressed.

Some would disagree, such as David Kupelian an American Judeo-Christian who is the vice president of World Net Daily, check out his piece “Why today’s youth culture has gone insane” http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=36599
David Kupelian holds the extreme belief that the only way to regain our lost youth from the devil like practises of the world (tattoos, piercings) is to create your own sub-culture, because those are the ones that sneak up and rise to succeed. The best way to do this, he claims:
“is to homeschool your children, and network with other like-minded parents in your area…. You can literally pick and choose the "culture" in which your children grow up, and can actively participate in its creation. I believe homeschooling today represents the single most important and promising avenue for the true rebirth of American Judeo-Christian culture. In families where children are raised with real understanding and insight, and protected from the insanity of the popular culture until they're big enough and strong enough in their convictions to go out in the world and kick butt in the name of righteousness – the real America is now being reborn. May it grow.”
He believes if you want to save your child you must shelter them from the real world. This notion is ridiculous, a person with wide knowledge is much stronger then one without. To restrict a child from the real world is inhumane; if you don’t want your child to rebel the best way to do it is to not be an authoritarian parent. A child needs to experience the world and be exposed to its dangers to become the individual they were meant to be, not who their parents want them to. Placing rules on a child and holding them back from the world can be more destructive and hurtful in the long run then letting them get their nose pierced! Does David Kupelian honestly believe that the expression of oneself is not what god would want? I find his arguments, typically Christian and very much outdated. Without youth culture and its affects in society, I believe change and revolution will cease.

jammer's ey?

Advertising, am i immune to it? Well i'd like to think yes, but when i hear an ad on the radio that ends in "the burgers are better at hungry jacks" i say outloud "yes, yes they are" im agreeing to an ad for heavens sake, i must be influenced by it somehow. Advertising truly is unescapable, which is bloody annoying, i was on the train the other day and every 3 seconds another billboard flew past the window, it was so refreshing to see a stretch of land for a minute as i got further from the city. Everyday our visual space is being bombarded by advertisements and what is our defense? Its here we welcome the powers of culture jammers! everyday folk who are standing up and altering ads to better our world (cue theme music :D). Culture jammers main goals are to make us stop and think about the ads we so passively consume. check out some of their creative ways: http://www.adbusters.org/home/

Although they are clever and artistic are they effective? Some of us look at advertisements but do we take them in? Are we seeing the culture jammers work but not actively reading it? all important points but all answerable only by the individual. I find the small acts of jamming like the stickers on posters in the train and graffiti over ads just annoying, an advertisement is someones art, is defacing it to get ur message out the right idea? a temporary billboard alteration i can appreciate more, it will be noticed, a point will be made and the original ad remains intact. I'd like to see less advertisements on the street and on our public transport, but i dont mind ads in magazines. I would rather look to find an ad then just see it all around. Culture jammers are effective in making us stop and think about what the company is actually selling us but is it going to stop me from buying it....NO. If i want a burger that has been made from foreign import, then heck i'll have my burger! Not many like myself are happy to alter their way of thought or purchasing because of a culture jammers point. Like most passer-bys we will stop, notice the jamming act, perhaps smile at its cleverness and keep on walking. Culture jamming effective? to make you stop and think then yes, to make you stop and not shop, no.