How a Mushroomhead song gave me a new perspective on the insurrection

(January 13, 2021) Every morning my partner and I spend our first couple of hours having “morning coffee.” We could talk about current events. We could watch cartoons. Most of the time we listen to music, and it could be just about any genre on any given day or hour.

This morning we were listening to metal, which is a genre I knew little about before meeting him, and Mushroomhead’s “Qwerty” popped up. Before it even started I was caught by the title. What writer wouldn’t be? But the lyrics have nothing to do with that… They are much more amazing.

My partner commented, “This song is old, but it could have been written for last Wednesday.”

Yes, yes it could.

And it made me realize that WE are the problem. Generation X. Everyone told us that our generation was lazy and would accomplish nothing. Did we really have to prove them right?

I remember being a teen in the early- to mid-90s, dreaming of a better world. It was in the music we listened to, the movies we watched, the anthem that we shouted. “We are not lazy! We will overcome and make this world a better place!”

But we didn’t. We didn’t take the world by storm. We fell into the roles that were created for us: college, career, family, taxes, and doing what you’re told by the same people who created this framework in the first place. We decided that they were right all along, and we gave up. We stopped voting. We stopped trying to make a difference. We started to toe the line.

What happened to our convictions? Our ideals? Our vision of a better life for our children and grandchildren?

And now, as we are being faced with the consequences of our complacency, we are awakening to discover that we raised our children with our cynicism. The result? We have another generation that isn’t likely to participate in their government. (At least, not as it stands now.) Thankfully, Generation Z and younger Millennials took up the slack in this most recent election.

We need to take this wake up call for what it is. We cannot put the blame on the politicians. We cannot put the blame on citizens who are political radicals, of any party. We far outnumber them. What might have been different if we had stuck to our guns?

And this isn’t the first time that it has happened. Many “hippies” from the 60s grew up to fall in line, just like we did. In the 50s it was the beatniks. Past generations tried to warn us in the 80s and early 90s with literature, art, and movies (such as “Rude Awakening,” one of my favorites and good for a laugh). We were entertained, but we missed the lesson.

I am saddened by these thoughts, which apply to all of us, regardless of our differences. If we are to put a stop to oppression, discrimination, persecution, poverty, and all of the other deplorable aspects of American society that we complain about every day, we must recognize our part in the chaos that is now unfolding.

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” Edmund Burke is quoted often, but, sadly, most people ignore the message.

As a society we must learn from this generational curse, and act swiftly to break it. If we do not, it is to our children’s detriment.