08.11.2012 12:00 AM

In Sunday’s Sun: Putin’s afraid of grrrls

Pussy Riot?

Admittedly, it’s a bit of a controversial name.
But in the global punk scene — which has produced countless bands with unseemly handles like the Sex Pistols, Dead Kennedys, Bad Religion and The Circle Jerks — having a shocking name is standard fare. So, too, offensive lyrics, offensive messages and offensive behaviour.

Punks are generally young, and usually angry. They’re angry about the government, about society, about war, about racism, about the state of the environment, about their parents or teachers or whatever.

Being young and angry is central to the punk rock ethos. (I should know, I’ve been involved in the punk scene in Canada since I was 15 years old.)

Punk, in the main, is all about stirring up s—. Punks believe that, when you wake people up from their torpor — with a shocking song, or performance — you have a better shot at motivating them. You have a chance to mobilize people and make the planet a better place.

Punks, while mostly on the Left, also distrust governments and other big institutions. They don’t seek government or corporate handouts, and the central tenet of the punk faith is DIY — Do It Yourself. Don’t wait for someone else to do it for you.

Vladimir Putin doesn’t get, or doesn’t care, about any of that. He oversees Russia like a czar, after all. He’s a big man, with lots of power. He’s also a smirking, pompous, corrupt, kickboxing thug who runs his country like Tony Soprano runs a racket. And he doesn’t mind beating up on girls.

Pussy Riot is a Russian all-girl punk band. They, like most sensible people inside and outside Russia, think Putin is an anti-democratic gangster. When Putin announced he was running for yet another term as Russian president, Pussy Riot were pissed off.

5 Comments

  1. Al says:

    The Russian people like Putin and would happily see Pussy Riot jailed. The anti-Putin sentiment is largely a Western creation.

  2. dave says:

    Good to see later in the article a mention of the Russian Orthodox Church in this. It’s sometimes tough to discern compassion and forgiveness sometimes in institutions, when they take almost paranoid steps to protect their dignity. I have read a bit by Jewish, Mennonite and other minority communities in Tsarist Russia when the Church had the powers to direct state wrath against non orthodox traditions.

    Seems to me we have some criminal code clauses relating to protecting places of worship, and worship services. If places of worship try to stay open to anyone who needs such a place, I guess you want to differentiate between what uses various people or groups might make of the place of worship.

    The state and church reaction to what these youngies did seems a tad stiff necked, though. Teh church, especially, has missed a great opportunity here.

  3. Derek Pearce says:

    Oops, “never know” yeah yeah typo…

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