I don’t have enough hair left for a mohawk, and I’ve had a corporate job of some sort for over a decade. My punk rock bona fides are solidly in the past. I mean I’ll still scream and yell for a loud rock show, but I will admit that my taste in music drifts a bit more electronic these days. (Often it sounds like Wulfband or Caustic, so I didn't fall that far out of the fold.)

My tastes exploded out from Punk, encompassing everything from Jazz to Post-Rock. While I love Bad Religion, it was following someone like Ian MacKaye who seemed to run away from every box and label that someone put around him. He practically invented hardcore, then threw it aside for angular smart music taking just as much from Television or latter-day Wire as the Cramps and Ramones. Later, after that became one of the biggest indie bands in the world, he tosses that aside for quiet folk music, albeit no less angular than Fugazi.

I love a lot of bands who stick to the formula, but you have to admire the artistic bravery of burning the bridge as you cross it. It doesn’t work out for everyone; the aforementioned Bad Religion somewhat famously fell flat on their faces more than once. They are not nearly as same sounding every record as the tons of pop-punk bands in their wake destined to fill samplers given away free with skate shoes.

We should all strive to be who we truly are. This isn’t some massively profound lesson. Hell, it’s hard to be your authentic self. Unless yourself is an asshole, then people seem pretty able to express that freely. I doubt most of them are being true to themselves in reality. An armored bullshit factory, churning out confrontation for the sake of avoidance.

There are quite a few people that think that’s punk rock. Shit, when I was twenty years old, I sure did. But being another fake asshole in this culture is about as rebellious as joining a convent in Ireland. We have so much performative bullshit on display, and it’s not hard to see why people mistook politics for a reality show. The internet was supposed to make us all punk rock, creating DIY communities that helped each other out.

Whatever it is now, that isn’t it. Be more Joe Strummer and less Sid Vicious. Being an asshole is just normal now. If you can be real with people, and be a little vulnerable, you’re doing something right.