# Trumpism: the new Punk Rock **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 2, 2017, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumpism-the-new-punk-rock/781228 "2017-03-02T19:40:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumpism-the-new-punk-rock/781228/1 "2017-03-02T19:40:05Z")
I think [this article](http://theweek.com/articles/682416/trumpism-new-punk-rock) from The Week magazine can be enjoyed by those on both side of the political divide, though I may be wrong. It half-seriously compares the Trump phenomenon to the Punk Rock era. > [@](#): > > Wattenberg says Trumpism was “an insurrection against Conservatism Inc.” — a political establishment that had become flabby, complacent, and self-indulgent in the same way that 1970s progressive rock music had grown bombastic, pretentious, and long-winded. Whereas Republicans before Trump had been terrified of deviating from orthodox positions on trade, the desirability of immigration, or the wisdom of the Iraq war, Trump thumbed his nose at this orthodoxy. > > Then there’s Trump’s seeming amateurism — his “inexperience and rawness,” Wattenberg says. Just as punks weren’t trained musicians, Trump is frequently assailed for not playing politics the right way, that is, the professional way. When Wattenberg hears the media establishment pounce on Trump for falsehoods, misstatements, or exaggerations, he hears echoes of musical sophisticates belittling punk rock for its primitivism. Trump may get lost in the details, but he gets the big things attitudinally right. Put another way: He may know only three chords, but Wattenberg says his followers hear the “right three chords.” I see where he’s coming from. There are certain similarities. What do you think? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumpism-the-new-punk-rock/781228/2 "2017-03-02T20:30:00Z")
I think that’s a really fucking stupid comparison. ---
**Author:** ![yanceylebeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yanceylebeef/32/12290_2.png) [@yanceylebeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yanceylebeef)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumpism-the-new-punk-rock/781228/3 "2017-03-02T20:34:22Z")
No. It’s not. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumpism-the-new-punk-rock/781228/4 "2017-03-02T20:39:48Z")
> [@](#): > > Trump may get lost in the details, but he gets the big things attitudinally right. Put another way: He may know only three chords, but Wattenberg says his followers hear the “right three chords.” Trying to do music differently doesn’t ruin a country. ---
**Author:** ![Trancephalic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trancephalic/32/380_2.png) [@Trancephalic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trancephalic)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumpism-the-new-punk-rock/781228/5 "2017-03-02T20:40:40Z")
AH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA _inhales_ HA HA HA HA HA ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumpism-the-new-punk-rock/781228/6 "2017-03-02T20:45:02Z")
Trump ran for and was elected President. He can’t be a rebel against the establishment. He is the establishment. ---
**Author:** ![Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumpism-the-new-punk-rock/781228/7 "2017-03-02T20:45:36Z")
That is a ridiculously horrible comparison. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumpism-the-new-punk-rock/781228/8 "2017-03-02T20:46:11Z")
Punk was profoundly anti-Nazi. To the point that neo-Nazi’s would show up and they’d get into fights with them (which, unfortunately, emboldened the Nazis) They would have championed the whole punching Nazi thing. Punk would not try to get their own safe spaces or whine about being called names. And they didn’t focus on trying to point out hypocrisy in liberals. The only real overlap is that there are some vocal Trump supporters that admit they voted Trump to “screw the system.” But that doesn’t make them anything like Punk. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumpism-the-new-punk-rock/781228/9 "2017-03-02T20:47:16Z")
You know who else was a political amateur who destroyed the conservative establishment? ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumpism-the-new-punk-rock/781228/10 "2017-03-02T20:49:13Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > You know who else was a political amateur who destroyed the conservative establishment? Alexander Hamilton! Did I win? Was I right? ---
**Author:** ![snoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@snoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snoe)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumpism-the-new-punk-rock/781228/11 "2017-03-02T20:55:56Z")
The analogy’s not completely terrible - though it relies on a particular definition of “punk rock.” For a rebuttal, here are the Dead Kennedys (lyrics NSFW): [Dead Kennedys -Nazi Punks Fuck Off (lyrics) - YouTube](https://youtu.be/-MkRuV0aCcI) Ultimately, describing Trumpism, alt-rightism, red-Pillism, etc. as “punk” is pretty much as unspecific as describing them as “American.” You’ve got a decent limited-scope simile (“A is like B in that…”) but not a metaphor (“A is B”). To put it another way: **IT’S SO VAGUE, IT’S NOT EVEN WRONG.** ---
**Author:** ![snoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@snoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snoe)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumpism-the-new-punk-rock/781228/12 "2017-03-02T21:01:57Z")
Addendum: trying to make right-wing views appealingly cool and edgy by pointing out how rebellious they are is an old, old game. And a losing game. There’s a reason more cool people listen to The Clash than Skrewdriver. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumpism-the-new-punk-rock/781228/13 "2017-03-02T22:58:46Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > I think that’s a really fucking stupid comparison. Quite fucking right. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumpism-the-new-punk-rock/781228/14 "2017-03-02T23:13:41Z")
It explains the hair style. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumpism-the-new-punk-rock/781228/15 "2017-03-02T23:26:54Z")
> [@74westy](#): > > It explains the hair style. And the disdain for (the political equivalent of) good musicianship. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumpism-the-new-punk-rock/781228/16 "2017-03-02T23:50:06Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > I think that’s a really fucking stupid comparison. It’s the kind of thing someone who knows nothing about punk rock outside of a few breathless newspaper articles from the late 70s would say. ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2017, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumpism-the-new-punk-rock/781228/17 "2017-03-03T00:07:04Z")
I nominate Rat Scabies for attorney general. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2017, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumpism-the-new-punk-rock/781228/18 "2017-03-03T00:09:42Z")
Maybe Sab Grey could apply for a position. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2017, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumpism-the-new-punk-rock/781228/19 "2017-03-03T00:14:52Z")
Trumpism seems pretty…geriatric for a punk rock analogy. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2017, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumpism-the-new-punk-rock/781228/20 "2017-03-03T03:33:06Z")
> [@Trancephalic](#): > > AH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA _inhales_ HA HA HA HA HA who is flipper? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumpism-the-new-punk-rock/781228.md?page=2)