Cecil Cameron discusses youth, naive disinterest, and punk

Naïve Disinterest & Nihilism
Roles in the development of “punk” youths into adulthood
- by Cecil Cameron


The idea was to leave behind the problems of mainstream society as unnecessary baggage. “If you’ve got a problem, the problem is you!”-Sex Pistols. To the youth, not yet immersed in the world of adult issues, the chance to shrug it all off seems very inviting.

These issues seem “stupid” to the youth, and we often find this to be accurate as we get older. Naïve disinterest and nihilism can be an initially legit response. A “golden rule” approach to situations is allowed to thrive in most cases for the youth, before government coercion and idiotic “adult” issues raise their heads and prevent this approach by the introduction of coercion and conflict. A youth who sees this “adult” world threatening his future will react in a way that allows him the comfort level he requires. This may very well include the disinterest and nihilism that have long been part of real punk (corrupting hippie elements have increasingly invaded much of the punk base, and these elements must be diagnosed and treated as such). This is all tied together with overflowing naivety.

The youth wants a clean slate. And such a youth may be right in many ways, though he does not yet appreciate the extent to which he is – because he has not experienced the full shock of taking on and living within adult mainstream society. He is innocent and naïve, he does not like excessive rules, seeks to be an individual despite the trends and so-called “group identities” he is (perhaps unhappily) bound to, and he may have some undeveloped interest in Anarchy (the absence of government/rulers, though often falsely associated with chaotic violence and suffering). He may actually harbor many strikingly intelligent thoughts that simply need developing.

This naïve youth will ultimately find his life is affected by government coercion in increasing ways as he steps further from the protective shell of youth. Government coercion forces the youth to become involved, effectively eliminating his old strategy as a choice. This amounts to a personal injustice (resulting from greater, more widespread coercive injustice), against the principles of the golden rule. If his pure initial reactions are retained, he will find himself increasingly drawn to the Conservative (in the real, original sense of the word – see Murray Rothbard’s ‘Life and Death of the Old Right’), Libertarian, and perhaps Anarchist bodies of thought. His individualist mindset, dislike for excessive rules, and interest in “Anarchy” are buds from which a complex but elegantly organized rose of a Paleolibertarian or Paleoconservative theorist may bloom…

…Unless, of course, he is distracted and led astray by others with sick, selfish, and ultimately confused motives toward the path where one becomes a (socialist) “liberal”. These intellectual sirens beckon, and many fall prey, but some can eventually “right” their ways… The leftism that has taken over the “punk” movement has turned it into something that real punk is not, but that is a topic for another discussion. By now, it should be clear we are dealing with an individual and his relationship with society. The hope for him and those in a similar predicament lies in creating a world conducive to the promotion of paleolibertarian thought.

And so, naïve disinterest and nihilism are replaced with vigilance, active interest, and wisdom … on The Right!