As pioneered by Ian MacKaye: abstention from alcohol, drugs, sex; self-reliance; healthy mind and healthy body; vegetarianism, etc.

Not Crap in a "be responsible" way, but Crap in a preachy way. I may as well have The Man pointing his plastic finger at me.

As a dear friend of mine once said, "Stright edge until you're 21, then it's stright to the edge of the bar!"

I've never been edge, but as a 24 year old, this statement has been 99 percent true with people I know that were edge as we enter our mid 20s.

And for that, untimately straight edge is crap.

I was a teetotaler until I turned 18 and picked up all of my vices, but I've never had a problem with those "nailed to the X" unless they spouted the same brand of self-righteous bullshit that I lump in with militant vegans and republicans.

Bonus points go to the 'edgers that have sXeXy tatoos, but have changed their minds and now hoist beers. Way to think it through, hombre.

No sex? Fuck that.

Crap with a waffle factor of X.

Faiz

kerble wrote:I was a teetotaler until I turned 18 and picked up all of my vices, but I've never had a problem with those "nailed to the X" unless they spouted the same brand of self-righteous bullshit that I lump in with militant vegans and republicans.

My friends were in a Bold tribute band called "XNailedToTheAwesomeX".

Thats the kind of stuff you come up with when your brain's on drugs!

patrick md:

And for that, untimately straight edge is crap

Yep. There has to be some waffle factor here: there's some important message about integrity in the straight edge message, but the preachiness goes to the root of stright edge: if there's a crap side to MacKaye, it's the fact the the finger wagging preacher was there from the very beginning with his ideas about straight edge, together with the be like this, so you're not a loser pothead. And there's some vaguely fascist modes of thought lurking inside a lot of the straight edge movement.

NOT CRAP because anything and I mean anything is way cooler than goth.

ive always wanted to know what mr. mckaye thinks about how straight edge is now.

something particularly stands out from the instrument dvd:
"you do not beat up people period"

in atlanta, (at least a year or two ago, i dont know about now as much)you'd get the shit kicked out of you by a gang of skinny white kids if you expressed even the slightest dissent publicly. i had a friend of mine actually get death threats for talking shit about 'the edge' at a show, to one of his friends. not anyone in general, just the concept of 'straight edge' and this fucker wanted to kill him.

i have an extraordinary amount of disdain for straight edge, and i cant wait for the day when i can go to a show and not run the risk of getting kicked in the head, jumped on by a scronny, naked 18 year old with a bad attitude, or have to wait for the bathroom because there was a line to use the mirror.

i dont see any distinction between these people and people that blow up abortion clinics.

i know a couple of kids that gave me a new hope in straightedge, and everyone should have held them in high regard as an example, but they're drunks now, so it doesnt matter.

crap with a miniscule waffle.

yeah and ive yet to hear a 'straight edge' band since minor threat that wasnt a piece of dysentery-grade shit.

straight edge is just a bullshit social crutch for little kiddies to fit in with. linguistic games, that's all.

I respect Ian's original idea, but all the people who followed in his path have turned straight-edge into uber-crap. People should follow their own path rather than going with a group mentality.

Don't some of those guys go around smacking cigarettes and meat out of people's hands?