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About Straight Edge
Topic Started: Jun 30 2010, 10:23 PM (262 Views)
Big Boss
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Obviously, one of the main sticking points about OHM has to do with the Straight Edge concept, even if you wouldn't otherwise consider yourself to be Straight Edge (often abbreviated as "sXe"). The idea of keeping yourself sober and clean goes hand in hand with maintaining a certain quality of life and self respect while ensuring you're ready for anything at the drop of a hat. You just can't do that if you're thrashed or high.

Now, there's actually a few different offshoots of Straight Edge nowadays, some mellow, and some ridiculously extreme. OHM's Straight Edge philosophy takes root in the original sXe concept presented by Ian MacKaye of the punk band Minor Threat in the early 1980s. The concept was at its most simple and most effective back then, introduced in the song titled "Straight Edge".

Back then, Straight Edge meant you adhered to the following:

1) Don't Smoke.

2) Don't Drink.

3) Don't Fuck.

And that was it. Oh, it also made explicit reference to not getting high, but that wasn't as catchy. But I suppose if you don't drink or smoke, you're probably not going to be shooting up heroine behind 7-11, anyways.

"Don't Smoke" is pretty explainitory. Smoking is one of the worst things you can do to your body. Its also stupidly expensive. It also makes you smell bad. All of these things combined make it one of the dumbest things you can do, period. There's no bending this rule.

"Don't Drink" has actually been up to debate since Straight Edge began, though most Edge people maintain that its as strict a rule as "Don't Smoke". Well, first off, there's no goddamned rules. These are suggestions for how you should live. There's no Straight Edge membership cards, and no Straight Edge undercover police monitoring your every movement, waiting to revoke your imaginary card the second you "break edge". You should be Straight Edge because YOU want to be Straight Edge; not because of some asshole trend.

So, it needs to be said that you need to absolutely avoid all alcohol at all costs according to OHM standards. Ian MacKaye himself is known to enjoy a glass of beer on occassion. Over time, the point of "Don't Drink" became lost as stupid trendy kids got ahold of sXe and made this "rule" militant, without really understanding it's original intent. The idea is that alcohol itself isn't inherantly evil- its the idea of moderation of alcohol. A glass of beer every now and then isn't going to make you black out, so I don't see the problem there. The real problem is when people take it out of control and get blind drunk on a regular basis. That's self-abuse.

Straight Edge is simply supposed to be a way to avoid self-abuse.

I myself don't drink. I don't believe that total abstinince makes me any better than someone who has a tall one on occassion. Its not even about "being better than anyone else". It's about being as good as you can be, and I simply feel that, for me, I'm better off without alcohol. Just use your judgement on this one.

On "Don't Fuck", it's much like "Don't Drink". You don't have to be a totally abstinant monk to fall in line with this one. It's not about remaining absolutely chaist forever and ever. Its about not being a disease carrying vector by screwing everything in sight. Its about not objectifying your fellow human beings by constantly lusting over them like some sort of sex toy. Its all about trying to form meaningful relationships if you want to, and not basing it all on a single act.

Sexual conquest is best left to dumbass college kids who are going to drink themselves into the hospital and/or jail anyways. Its empty and hollow, and you'll just end up with the clap. Or Krabbes.

And I'm assuming I don't really need to define "Don't Do Drugs". Stay away from that shit. Period.

Now, over time, people have proven that any good concept can be screwed up if you throw enough people into the mix, so eventually Straight Edge was bastardized when people started trying to one-up each other.

"I don't smoke, do drugs, have casual sex, but I do like to have a beer every now and then."

"Oh yeah? Well I NEVER drink, and neither should you!"

"You're both weak! In addition to being 'pure edge', I'm VEGAN!"

"All of you are fake! I'm a Hardliner, so I have to force my ideaology onto everybody I see, even if it means going into bars with 30 of my homies and beating people down who are drinking. In a bar."

That sequence of events took about 20 years or so to really go down, but that's pretty much it. People warped this idea into their own perfect example, declared it the only "true" form of Straight Edge, and proceeded to mock or beat up anybody who didn't follow their own personal rules, which pretty much proves that these insecure pussies weren't doing it for themselves, but to become popular in a sub culture. Ironic, considering this goes against one of the core principals of original Straight Edge, namely that you do it for yourself, and yourself only.

And that's pretty much where OHM stands on it. You can choose to be Straight Edge or not and still be a part of the overall OHM idea, though if you choose not to I see it as a disadvantage in life. But its not really about how I perceive things so much as how you, the individual, perceives things. You can take my advice as just that; advice. They are not mandates from God. There's no OHM Police waiting for you to fuck up. You're only in this to make yourself a better person, and its as simple as that.

But if you do choose this path, do not use it as an excuse to place yourself above everyone else. That's exactly what we're fighting against- the idea that one ideaology is better than another, and that any assumed inferior ideaology must be destroyed. That's not what our goal is. Our goal is to first better ourselves, and in doing so, set an example for those around us. If we're successful, this sort of positive peer pressure will hopefully spread, and maybe, just maybe, things will get better someday.

That is our mission.
"I do believe...that where there is only a choice between cowardice and violence, I would advise violence."
~Mohandas K Ghandi
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