Our Recent Embracing of Punks The dictionary says a punk is a young troublemaker, a thug, a goon, a ruffian, or a hoodlum. Recently punk behavior has become prevalent. It has also become acceptable. “Not in my book!” you say. Well, maybe not, but look around and observe what is going unattended to and unpunished. We have always had punks and their shenanigans but having political leaders defend them is an incredible development. The excusing of punks, granting them principled motives, is widespread. For three months they have looted, rioted, stopped traffic on interstate highways, and assaulted cops with little if any official resistance. Punks have set up a guillotine outside the mansion of Amazon owner, Jeff Bezos. Strange since Bezos is as left-wing as they are. But Bezos is a capitalist and that’s a problem. Punks have toppled monuments and bashed in storefronts. Whether Antifa goons or Black Lives Matter ruffians, what does it matter? Their modus operandi is destruction, terror, and shaming white Americans for their ancestors’ sins. No, they are not revolutionaries with a noble cause and their goal is not to change our world for the better. They are anarchists and terrorists who are receiving the blessings of mayors, governors, college professors, and the ruling radical wing of the Democrat party. Supposedly urged on by injustice, our punks are making a mockery of justice. Attempting to erase history they hate, they show an amazing ignorance of it. My first hearing of the word “punk” was during boyhood when my father referred to “punk wood.” Punk wood was a rotted portion of the heart of a tree that was becoming soft and dangerous, the result of a fungal infection. Ironically a beautiful tree can withstand punk wood for a long time, but its presence is still the sign of early death. “Punk wood” was also used to refer to cut, stacked wood that has become too dry (“over seasoned” as woodsman Walter Hines, Sr. would put it). It’s partially crumbly, rotting. If it burns at all in the fireplace, it does so inefficiently, releasing more smoke than fire and little if any heat. As with wood or a stately tree, so with civilization itself. Even if the heart of a civilization is infected with citizen apathy, mediocrity, or punk lawlessness, it can live. But who knows for how long? And with how much of its past glory? This past week I looked on as an outstanding professional cut down my neighbor’s tall river birch tree. From the street the tree appeared to be beautiful and whole. Its unique bark stood out amongst the prevailing pines, yet the heart of the tree was decaying. It had become infected. American culture is being infected by punks. Most are black, though some are white. Perhaps they are the ill-taught fatherless who have known little if any restraint. Or the offspring of punk parents who fell for the London-originated punk culture of the 70s with its intentionally offensive musical lyrics, anger, and social alienation. One thing they are not is true social justice warriors. The intellectual and spiritual distance between them and Frederick Douglas and Martin Luther King is incalculable. Their true intention of chaos and disorder is obvious. Even so, many are bowing before them. Corporate heads scramble to identify with the punks. Supportive blue-state governors have lost their minds, seriously defending the “protestors.” Influenced by the punks, Kansas State University’s football team has declared they will boycott the entire season this year unless the university expels students who have posted “racist remarks” on social media. Kansas State administrators are falling all over themselves to comply. Colleges make so much money from football they have to bow to their demanding teenage athletes. Our punks are after a new social order. Come November they could very well get it, thanks in part to establishment conservatives who have pandered to the punks by joining the White-Guilt Cult. Senators Rubio and Braun, Senate Leader McConnell, Ambassador Haley, and General Mattis are but a few. Imagine Republicans labeling looting a “political statement.” Sociologist Charles Murray has warned us that white America is also “coming apart” and can also get angry. Mayors had better allow their police to stop the craziness. It’s time to put some people in jail. Calls for unity are empty unless we first punish lawlessness. Where has destructive lawlessness ever righted any wrongs? Homeowners, you’re next on the punks’ list. Ask the St. Louis couple whose property gate was forced open by “protestors.” I for one admire the couple for standing up to the punks and defending their person and property. Who but a coward would not? Roger Hines July 1, 2020

                          Our Recent Embracing of Punks

               Published in Marietta (GA) Daily Journal, 7/4/20

             The dictionary says a punk is a young troublemaker, a thug, a goon, a ruffian, or a hoodlum.

            Recently punk behavior has become prevalent. It has also become acceptable. “Not in my book!” you say. Well, maybe not, but look around and observe what is going unattended to and unpunished. We have always had punks and their shenanigans but having political leaders defend them is an incredible development. The excusing of punks, granting them principled motives, is widespread. For three months they have looted, rioted, stopped traffic on interstate highways, and assaulted cops with little if any official resistance.

            Punks have set up a guillotine outside the mansion of Amazon owner, Jeff Bezos. Strange since Bezos is as left-wing as they are. But Bezos is a capitalist and that’s a problem. Punks have toppled monuments and bashed in storefronts. Whether Antifa goons or Black Lives Matter ruffians, what does it matter? Their modus operandi is destruction, terror, and shaming white Americans for their ancestors’ sins.

            No, they are not revolutionaries with a noble cause and their goal is not to change our world for the better. They are anarchists and terrorists who are receiving the blessings of mayors, governors, college professors, and the ruling radical wing of the Democrat party. Supposedly urged on by injustice, our punks are making a mockery of justice. Attempting to erase history they hate, they show an amazing ignorance of it.

            My first hearing of the word “punk” was during boyhood when my father referred to “punk wood.”  Punk wood was a rotted portion of the heart of a tree that was becoming soft and dangerous, the result of a fungal infection. Ironically a beautiful tree can withstand punk wood for a long time, but its presence is still the sign of early death. “Punk wood” was also used to refer to cut, stacked wood that has become too dry (“over seasoned” as woodsman Walter Hines, Sr. would put it). It’s partially crumbly, rotting. If it burns at all in the fireplace, it does so inefficiently, releasing more smoke than fire and little if any heat.

            As with wood or a stately tree, so with civilization itself. Even if the heart of a civilization is infected with citizen apathy, mediocrity, or punk lawlessness, it can live. But who knows for how long? And with how much of its past glory?

            This past week I looked on as an outstanding professional cut down my neighbor’s tall river birch tree. From the street the tree appeared to be beautiful and whole. Its unique bark stood out amongst the prevailing pines, yet the heart of the tree was decaying. It had become infected.

            American culture is being infected by punks. Most are black, though some are white.  Perhaps they are the ill-taught fatherless who have known little if any restraint. Or the offspring of punk parents who fell for the London-originated punk culture of the 70s with its intentionally offensive musical lyrics, anger, and social alienation. One thing they are not is true social justice warriors. The intellectual and spiritual distance between them and Frederick Douglas and Martin Luther King is incalculable. Their true intention of chaos and disorder is obvious.

            Even so, many are bowing before them. Corporate heads scramble to identify with the punks. Supportive blue-state governors have lost their minds, seriously defending the “protestors.” Influenced by the punks, Kansas State University’s football team has declared they will boycott the entire season this year unless the university expels students who have posted “racist remarks” on social media. Kansas State administrators are falling all over themselves to comply. Colleges make so much money from football they have to bow to their demanding teenage athletes.

            Our punks are after a new social order. Come November they could very well get it, thanks in part to establishment conservatives who have pandered to the punks by joining the White-Guilt Cult. Senators Rubio and Braun, Senate Leader McConnell, Ambassador Haley, and General Mattis are but a few. Imagine Republicans labeling looting a “political statement.”

            Sociologist Charles Murray has warned us that white America is also “coming apart” and can also get angry. Mayors had better allow their police to   stop the craziness. It’s time to put some people in jail. Calls for unity are empty unless we first punish lawlessness. Where has destructive lawlessness ever righted any wrongs?

            Homeowners, you’re next on the punks’ list. Ask the St. Louis couple whose property gate was forced open by “protestors.” I for one admire the couple for standing up to the punks and defending their person and property. Who but a coward would not?

Roger Hines

July 1, 2020