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Response to the text: "Far-Right Headbanger: The Catastrophic Result of Listening to Music Without Understanding Its Concept"
By Luís Vilhena, WikiBrother
Recently, a text began circulating on websites and internet pages. This text argued, with logically flawed arguments, that a headbanger cannot be conservative or right-wing , whatever you prefer to call each orientation of thought. I honestly wonder if this is a question that deserves an answer or if it's just childish murmuring from idle people. In any case, after reading certain responses, I witnessed the interest of some people in debating the "problem" in good faith. In the course of my mental deliberations, I decided to separate 6 main topics that go far beyond what was written here. The first one already answers the entire controversy formidably; however, the other 5 point out factors that I consider important.
Free Will:
In a serious society, every citizen has their individual rights guaranteed, and any mechanism that contradicts this is rejected. Therefore, however obvious it may seem, everyone has the right to listen to whatever music they want, only having to answer to their own conscience and referring only to the values they themselves uphold. Even if it's an absurd contradiction, like a Jew listening to a Nazi band or a Nazi listening to Jewish music, we don't want to cut off the person's ears or delete their Spotify account. Let each person follow their own path and listen to what they find good for themselves. In short, in popular language: fuck it, I'll listen to whatever I feel like.
Universal History
Rock and Heavy Metal, like all relevant music genres, emerged and developed in historically conservative, Western, and Christian countries. This proves that these nations are not merely a trigger for music that serves as a supposed "cry of the oppressed." Rather, they are the only kind of place good enough to harbor technical and artistic study and innovation. They are also the only kind of country where tastes so different from the majority could survive, be respected, and find varied forms of expression without being heavily repressed (don't compare the prejudice against Rock in the West with what happens in the Middle East, for example). Consider the development of sacred music in European churches up to the music of modern times: what we know as musical art came from the Old World or was heavily inspired by it. Rock and Heavy Metal emerged in these countries that are included in the stereotype of "enemies of the left, oppressors of poor nations, and retrograde conservatives," and even today, this is where the largest number of fans and bands are found. This fact is too glaring to be ignored.
However obvious it may seem, everyone has the right to listen to whatever music they want
Cause and effect
Music lessons, quality instruments, countless pieces of equipment, recording, production, promotion, and sales. These are the elements that make up the process of creating music for mass consumption. These processes consume time, money, effort, and technology. In a left-wing system—that is, a bureaucratic, inflated system with a stifled industry—all of this becomes costly and unprofitable.
A simple summary: to reach a stage where the state owns all the means of production, it implements a policy of progressive regulation and taxation of practically everything that exists. As a result, we have Brazil's economic rankings in terms of development, taxes, and commercial freedom. This is how a socialist country is built, coupled with astronomical government spending and the complete inefficiency of its services. The entire economy contracts over time, and the music industry is no exception to this curse. Our country is living proof of this scenario; almost everything here is expensive, poorly made, and time-consuming. Heavy rock, never having been a widely consumed product, is quickly affected or simply forgotten.
When a band manages to establish itself sufficiently to exist, it faces a similar challenge: reaching an audience. However, if maintaining a band is difficult, attending shows is also difficult. Traveling to another state, buying CDs that scratch quickly, wearing shirts with tacky prints, and leaving a show not knowing if you'll make it home are all challenges.
Mature
Heavy Metal needs to be viewed with a mature perspective. Professionalism and maturity are the essential things that make great bands. What would Iron Maiden be without Rod Smallwood, their famous manager? Behind every successful band there is someone, or rather, several people who have nothing to do with rock but who work hard to make it all happen. Speaking of shows, festivals, and tours, the number only increases. There are thousands of people who may even hate rock, but they work hard together for a single purpose: money. Yes, that's what has always moved the world and will always be so.
Accept it. It doesn't matter if a technician likes Pop or if an executive listens to Gospel every day; Rock bands need them, and they need Rock bands for both to make money and survive. If we know that prejudice doesn't go hand in hand with professionalism, forget that adolescent mentality of "Rock is a cry for freedom." No, Rock is music, and it's made to sell. If it weren't, neither Elvis, nor The Beatles, nor Sabbath would have received attention from producers.
"Rock is music, and it's made to sell."
The opposite is not true
If Heavy Metal doesn't mix with conservatism, it must have an affinity with its opposite. Wrong. If this conclusion doesn't work in theory, in practice it becomes a catastrophe in the purest sense of the word. Rock was born in the United States during the height of the Cold War, and you don't need to be very intelligent to imagine that communist countries tried to block the entry of anything coming from America, which effectively happened. The first Rock concerts only took place in the former USSR after much effort and persistence, even then, without the red bloc hiding its authoritarianism and repression of fans. In these countries, any human gathering is seen as an anti-revolutionary protest, and those who participate in them get an all-expenses-paid vacation (except food) in a political prison. This was the case in Eastern Europe, Russia, and China. It is the case in Cuba and North Korea, where Rock is a "subversive Yankee product," being officially banned to this day.
Even worse is the situation in Middle Eastern countries, since all of them (except Israel) have adopted Sharia law and live under police states. Heroically, some bands have emerged from this violent environment and achieved a certain level of fame. But not without being accused of inciting rebellion and Satanism, just like here in the West. The crucial difference is precisely being under Islamic law. Here, a band like that is at most ignored if they play badly. This is not the case with Ghost, who played at Rock in Rio 2013 for about 80,000 people, or Behemoth, who were defended by a priest after tearing up the Bible at one of their shows. Try talking about Satanism in Iran, about atheism in Syria, try setting foot in Saudi Arabia and singing that religions only cause harm. Just try giving the old "cry of rebellion of the oppressed" in any of these nations and ask yourself if it worked.
Self-criticism
Many headbangers adopt this attitude of constant questioning, but end up falling into the old lobotomy of questioning for the sake of questioning, without trying to stop and think about the answers. More than that, they fight against precepts that they themselves actually benefit from, and without realizing their own discourse, like a blindfolded child with a stick in their hand, they compose the most bizarre songs in favor of a system whose origins they don't know, nor where it will end.
It's very easy to speak ill of capitalism when you're in a capitalist country, of Christianity when you're in a Christian country, of the West when you're in the West. Obviously, only in those countries can you do that without being lynched, arrested, or killed in the street. Unfortunately, many people who weren't hypocritical like some politically correct rock musicians tried to do this and probably paid with their lives.
In conclusion, it's not that a headbanger can't be right-wing or conservative. In fact, Heavy Metal is, ultimately, more of a luxury enjoyed only by those who live in a conservative, right-wing country.
*This text was written by a Wikimate and does not necessarily represent the opinions of the site's authors.
