photograph by Jason Rosewell
Great Responsibility
There is magnificent power in youth, but our capitalist world (and lately, fascist America) stifles that power and our creativity. We are taught (by our parents and in our schools) to repress our natural-born curiosity, our desires, and our pain. We are taught not to question, only to obey blindly. Rarely are we taught how to manage or master these things that make us human. One of the worse things a parent can say to their child is “Because I told you to” when instructing a child to perform a task. Doing this teaches them to obey adults or anyone of authority without understanding the reason for the task. This is why children end up abused and abducted by not only strangers, but family members as well. If knowledge is power, as they say, then calmly explaining to your child the reason certain actions or places are forbidden. It strengthens and prepares them for their life journey.
Children are naturally curious about the world, but adults (for one reason or another) refuse to entertain their thirst for knowledge. A professor once told me that the worst thing you can tell a child is “no”, and astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson once said:
“Kids are born curious about the world. What adults primarily do in the presence of kids is unwittingly thwart the curiosity of children.”
Neither Neil nor I are saying that all parents are shitty parents, nor are we saying that parenting is easy. What we are saying is that more thought needs to be put into how we raise our children before they are born. Having said that, it’s not totally the parents’ fault. In a capitalist society, many things occupy our lives, which can be stressful and distracting for many of us. Our thoughts are occupied with our jobs, rent, car notes, food, clothing, shelter, and so forth. Children are the most important element to human life, but child rearing has to compete with the aforementioned concerns.
None of this is a mistake, however. When my intelligence is lauded by friends or acquaintances, I always respond that I’m not intelligent because of my schooling, but despite it. We are taught only enough to become another cog in the wheel of the capitalist machine, and nothing more. In our society, the needs of the state are given greater importance than those of the people. The life of an insurance company’s CEO is valued more than the life of a child lying in a hospital bed with tubes and life-saving equipment attached to their frail bodies while they gasp for oxygen. This scenario may not apply to you, young reader, but it is indicative of what your life is worth to the capitalist minders of our society. If your health and life are considered nothing more than a commodity necessary to grease the gears of the capitalist machine, what chance does your art have of not becoming disposable the moment you fail to appease the machine?
Of the musicians who have been interviewed in Neuerotica, only one (to the best of my knowledge) has become what society typically considers “successful”, having gone platinum for their songwriting. Most musicians don’t seek that kind of fame, what they want is for their audience to listen to and appreciate their music, and for it to be shared with others who may appreciate it as well. In their minds, that is what fame is. These are the kinds of artists I had in mind when I conceived Neuerotica—the unheard and the under-appreciated. If you’re confused about our e-mag’s socialist-centric partisanship, you should know that we recognize your art as more than a simple commodity, the way capitalism does. Your art is your life; it’s an expression of your soul, and it should be treated as such, and not commodified to serve the machinations of capitalist vultures.
art by RangerOfArt
I highly recommend the graphic novel Young Terrorists by Matt Pizzolo. It’s a twisted grimoire of political destruction that Justin Partridge at Newsarama called "incendiary, super-crazy, and razor-sharp... exactly the kind of pissed-off spectacle we deserve right now."
A young heiress discovers her father is part of a tyrannical new world order. She vows to burn down his entire empire.
You can order it here from Black Mask Studios.
background photograph by Merrilee Schultz M
“Mystery schools for the fools, great seats of learning. Business, lawsuits, market forces, no philosophy courses. A bachelor’s degree in loopholes and a Master’s in self-interest. Studies for automatons and syllabus two. A city and guilds in extortion and a Ph.D. in fuck you.”
Smashing
Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.
- Pablo Picasso
When I designed Neuerotica, I had Picasso's quote in mind; I fully intended to break as many rules as legally possible. The artists we feature here are some of the best rule-breakers, and it’s here that they can break them and be applauded for their actions. If I’m to be successful in spreading the gospel of our young creators, I’m willing to do practically anything to make it happen, and consequences be damned.
There’s an old saying that rules were meant to be broken, and it’s true. There are times when they should be broken, for our personal wellbeing and the greater good. The first step in breaking a rule is determining your reason for doing so, is your reason just, or selfish? Next, how will you break them without harming yourself or others? Discerning which rules protect from the rules that repress or harm is essential. The same applies to laws, as history has shown that some laws, while “legal” are immoral. The latter deserves all the smashing. I mean, like “Hulk Smash!” smashing. Breaking rules, however, requires some finesse.
“…another game, rules, rules, rules
not for me, you fuckin' fool”-Overkill
I’d like to step back a little to speak about the kids who are on the other side or the equation; the followers who find themselves chained to toxic beliefs such as racism, homophobia, misogyny, and xenophobia, which are all disorders of the brain, unique to humans alone. They represent the height of human idiocy, as each of those qualities are obstructions to human progress. We should abolish unwritten rules and established laws that dictate how and what citizens can or can’t do with their bodies based upon someone’s opinion or preferences. These opinions, rules, and laws are illogical and indicate ignorance rather than intelligence.
Racism
Let’s start with the artificial construct known as “race”. It’s an undisputed scientific fact that humans are one species. You can’t be of a superior race because there aren’t any, and if you wholeheartedly believe in something that doesn’t exist, you have no business calling yourself “intelligent”. Additionally, human life began in Africa, and that’s another indisputable scientific fact.
Homophobia, transphobia, and xenophobia.
If you don’t know why they’re called “phobias”, let me explain. When humans are faced with a perceived or actual threat, there are two responses that will occur (and I’m sure you’ve heard of this before): fight or flight. People who are racist, xenophobic, or homophobic believe the people from said groups somehow pose a threat to their way of life (or some other absurd reason) by the mere act of existing, and they respond accordingly. Moving to another neighborhood when African-Americans move into yours, or denying those same people service at your establishment, would be the flight response. Beating or murdering someone for being queer or a drag queen is, obviously, the fight response. Threat responses (if you haven’t figured it out yet) are the result of fear, though you may not realize it. Phobias are unreasonable fears manufactured in our minds, causing us to either run or fight when there is no threat. We hate only that which we fear, and people of color and queer individuals are hated in the United States than in any other nation.
Misogyny
Women are often referred to as “the opposite sex” in modern society, but indigenous societies don’t think of the world in binary terms; thus, the sexes and genders are considered “complementary”, rather than opposite.
The words “opposite”, “opposing”, and “opponent” all share the same root word, all of which come from Latin, combining ob- (meaning "against" or "obstruct") and ponere (meaning "to put" or "to place"), essentially meaning "to place against". When you think of women as being the opposite of men, you’re labelling them as your opponent, i.e., someone to compete against (while I am speaking about women here, the same applies to any individual who thinks of others outside of their ethnic or social sphere “opposite”). When we interact with people we consider opposite to ourselves, we tend to treat them differently; we don’t treat them the same way we treat ourselves, or those who look like us. We deny them the same rights, pleasures, and opportunities we ourselves enjoy. When they don’t react in a way we expect them to based on our preconceived notions of them, we retaliate with vitriol, violence, and even murder. This is misogyny.
Don’t be that.
Neuerotica is a space for rule-breakers and iconoclasts; people who realize that many of our arbitrary unwritten rules and established laws are anathema to a strong, healthy society; weaknesses that cripple us. Our superstitions (phobias) and denial of facts (willful ignorance) prevent us from being better. Capitalist society is the ruin of youth. It lies to us, hurts us, and turns us against one another; then it tells us that we should be grateful for the attention.
Taking on the twin issues of disinformation and misdirection being propagated by the transgressors in the White House, are adult issues. Taking action by running through the doors of opportunity we’ve kicked open (only slowing to walk when caution dictates otherwise), is the responsibility of the young. This doesn’t mean that they don’t need us, quite the contrary. It is incumbent upon us to teach our kids not to just tolerate others, but to respect and have empathy for the marginalized, and those less fortunate. We’ve all heard “life is too short” at one time or another, but even as people say it, they don’t really think about it, because they’re invariably saying it to someone else. This is something we all need to think about, because once we realize that hating someone takes an enormous amount of time and energy, we’ll have a moment to reflect on our discomfort about living amongst others of a different skin color, culture, language, or sexuality. Hopefully this introspection will bring forth a wiser and stronger individual. Our biases, prejudices, and hatred for other human beings who have done us no wrong are barriers to our full potential, both as individuals and society.
Give me just one generation of youth, and I'll transform the whole world.
- Vladimir Lenin
I don’t mean to sound ageist (I’m not), or that I’m saying that all parents are horrible (they’re not). However, I do know that far too many parents are concerned with controlling their kids, rather than understanding and guiding them. Elders will tell a child that the world owes them nothing, but they couldn’t be more wrong, in my not-so-humble opinion. We were all literally dragged kicking and screaming into this life that we never asked for. When we enter this world, we deserve to be loved, heard, and respected, and protected. By virtue of our birth, we deserve all that this world has to give. The kids need to learn that letting ignorance, hatred, and bigotry get in their way is lame; these are barriers that old, white, impotent men with their own agendas put in their way to bind and control them. “The less they know, the more we control!” That’s what they say, and that’s what they do. Yet! I am hopeful of Gen Z and Gen Alpha; I’m noticing more empathy and emotional intelligence in their demographic than in mine, and those qualities are good for the kids, good for the environment, and safe for pets.
To answer your unasked question, I’m not saying that we should let kids do whatever they want. What I am saying is that we, as adults, need to know when it’s time to step out of their way; we shouldn’t be the first obstacle in their journey of self-discovery and success.