Anti-Flag has established itself as a positive influence on the punk scene throughout the United $tates. The band's anarchist criticisms of the government and the rich echo those of punk rockers throughout history. Their most important contribution has been to remind kids here in the richest country in the world what punk is about. They do this by promoting scene unity and standing up against the system. The insert of this album has an essay entitled, "It's Okay Not to Be a Dick," which basically says that punk doesn't mean being destructive and ruining the punk scene itself. Songs like "Davey Destroyed the Punk Scene" and "Punk by the Book" address these frequent self-destructive tendencies that the punk scene faces.
Anti-Flag criticizes apathetic tendencies in the punk scene as well. In "Rotten Future" they say, "Following society be what they want you to be Drunk and Quiet." In "Drink Drank Punk" they also make it clear that punk is not about getting wasted either. "Rotten Future" tells people, "We need to stand up and fight / bring our future to a start / We can change anything just as long as we take the time." This illustrates the importance of Anti-Flag in encouraging a positive role for the punk scene in our society.
The most popular anthem from this album is "You've Got to Die for the Government." This song talks about the abuse that the United $tates has forced on its own soldiers in wars throughout history. While the band makes a good point, that the United $tates is willing to sacrifice its own people to gain power and money, this song ignores the much more extensive suffering that other nations have faced due to the U.$. military. In fact, the whole album lacks virtually any criticism of U.$. foreign involvement and the extreme suffering in the Third World. One song that does hint at it is "Red White and Brainwashed," "The red stands for the blood of all the people we've slain / The white for this racist, bigoted foundation / The blue for your aryan eyes -- all empty / Empty because you're taught to bow down to the man." The song goes on, "They call that being a patriot / I just call it ignorant / If you don't fight to make things better / Then you're the one betraying this country." While this provides an interesting view of patriotism, the fact remains that racism and more importantly institutionalized national oppression and exploitation of other nations do make things "better" for white people in this country in terms of gaining wealth and power.
With a focus on domestic issues, Anti-Flag has strong criticisms of the pigs in "Police State in the U.S.A." and "Fuck Police Brutality." The first song points out that, "The cops protect the rich and the corporate elite," and that people who try to stand up against the system face strong repression. "Fuck Police Brutality" goes, "They can kill, they can rape, they can do what they want, but the cops can do no wrong. We've got to fight, take back the night; the cops are just like Hitler's Third Reich, do what they want."
The humorous "Your Daddy Was a Rich Man, Your Daddy's Fucking Dead" is a song that shows Anti-Flag's contempt for the rich. The more serious song, "Kill the Rich," talks about how people in this country complacently work for our government to wage war in the interest of profits. Chalking it up to "brainwashed nationalism," Anti-Flag seems to be calling on the Amerikan middle class to kill the rich who use them as tools. MIM doesn't waste too much energy trying to make the Amerikan middle-class act like a proletariat, but rather turns to the Third World proletariat and peasants for perspective in the struggle against imperialism. Anti-Flag ignores this crucial alliance in the struggle. "Kill the Rich" ends, "The time is growing near/ Put the trigger to the man/ Ok, kill 'em!" This is as close as the band gets to a solution to our corrupt system. Anti-Flag encourages people to stand up and kill the man, but don't provide much guidance in terms of practical organizing. While having a positive influence, Anti-Flag would be an even more potent weapon against the system if it picked up a scientific strategy for fighting it.
They have also embraced a more clear strategy towards fighting the government offering fans guidance and resources to join the struggle. The album name, "Underground Network" is explained in the sure-to-be-hit title track as well as in notes on their website Anti-Flag web site). The band has come to recognize the power of modern technology to link the progressive sectors of society in order to share information and organize.
MIM feels the same way as it has watched its readership increase greatly with the growth of our website. In order to further promote networking, Anti-Flag has listed a few dozen alternative and progressive sources of information on the web in the twenty page CD inset. They have also included notes from people such as Howard Zinn and Noam Chomsky, providing a more complete story behind the issues dealt with on this album. This is a sign that they are taking their political message to their fans more seriously. Anti-Flag's internationalism is demonstrated on track five, Vieques, Puerto Rico: Bikini Revisited.
Criticizing the U$ navy's abuse of the island of Vieques as a military testing ground, the band makes a call to those in the belly of the beast to use their privilege to fight such injustices, especially because it's "All done, in your name, by Uncle Sam/ So if we don't fight it - then we're guilty too!" They also say, "As the richest nation in the world, we've got a responsibility." While it is good to call Amerikans out to take responsibility for their government's actions, the latter line is really a bourgeois liberal line used to promote the United $tates as a rich humanitarian benefactor to the rest of the world. Clearly in the case of Vieques the United $tates is committing the crimes, but the song ignores that it is the richest nation in the world because of the way it uses and exploits the Third World. For Amerika to use its wealth to fight injustice in the world would be biting the hand that feeds it, since U$ wealth is a product of capitalist injustice around the world. The song Stars and Stripes, in contrast, describes Amerika as a nation built on the genocide of First Nations in North America, linking it to the international genocide of indigenous people carried out by the United $tates today, mentioning Mexico and Colombia. This song mentions the reasons given for such wars as being "Its National Interest, National Security," but the song The Panama Deception describes the real reasons as being "to further the interest of private corporations to control global economic situations [and] for personal gain (i.e. Bush in Panama)." The Panama Deception talks about how the government feeds the people reasons for military involvement that make no sense, ignoring the bottom line -- money. The song ends asking, "But you're so fucking brainwashed, would it even help to try TO GET THROUGH TO YOU!?!?" If it were only a matter of being brainwashed, then it is our responsibility as revolutionaries to spread the truth to the people. But MIM proposes that the main reason people don't listen to revolutionaries in this country is material interest. The song "Until It Happens to You" says, "You turn your face, you turn your back, you say, 'That can't be true!'/ You stay safe locked in your prefab world, 'cause you're sure it won't happen to you/ You're sure it won't happen to you/Just wait 'til it happens to you!" This is on the right track. Amerikans are correct to feel safe in their prefab worlds, because that is all part of the U$ national interest. When a time comes that the majority of Amerikans are threatened by capitalist oppression then they may begin to change their alliance from imperialism to that of the international proletariat. We make this point not to tell Anti-Flag to give up on its education efforts, but rather as a reality check to prevent burn out from not being able to reach unrealistic expectations. We musn't be surprised when most Amerikans turn their backs on us, yet it is still our most important task at this time to build as much support as we can for the anti-imperialist camp in our efforts to organize within the largest imperialist power.
"Until it Happens to You" does sum up the meaning of freedom of speech in this country quite well, "You could stand on the street, talk 'til you're blue in the face/And they would not make you stop, 'cause you have no power base/ But if Dan Rather got on the Evening News, and said, 'It's time for revolution!'/ The F.B.I. would fuck him up so bad, he'd wish he wasn't living!" It's easy to be a 'free' country internally when you bribe most of your citizens to overlook the oppression of people across the globe.
At first, Daddy Warbux seemed like it could be a song about Amerikans and the U$ government that serves as their Daddy Warbux, paying them off and taking care of them materially. However the lyrics don't seem to make this realization as the chorus calls for "Revolting against the few/ The rich, the bigoted few," clearly referring to the U$ government. MIM would place the white nation as a whole in the category of the rich and bigoted few, in relation to the oppressed masses of the world. Anti-Flag seems to be holding on to the traditional punk ideology of the people against the government, ignoring the economic structure of imperialism which places the whole United $tates in a hegemonic position above the oppressed majority.
One of the most upbeat calls to action on the album is the song Culture Revolution. Though energizing, the message is not clear but falls into the old take to the streets message, with some general criticisms of the current system. What they mean by "Culture" Revolution as opposed to other types of revolution is not clear. MIM recommends that Anti-Flag and their like-minded fans study the methods of revolution further so that they are able to contribute to a successful revolution. A good place to start would be MIM Theory 8: Communism and the Anarchist Ideal available from MIM for $5.
Anti-Flag continues to be at the forefront of promoting revolutionary ideas in the U$ punk scene. They show their leadership in keeping punk revolutionary in the song This Machine Kills Fascists. With the large presence of 'working class' white kids in the scene there is a strong tendency towards white nationalism which comes in opposition to most of what Anti-Flag represent. This is an example of what MIM means about the reactionary nature of settler nation nationalism. Anti-Flag says, "You don't have to be a racist, to be a Nazi fuck/ Your mindless nationalism gives you credentials enough." This is good in that it recognizes that white nationalism is still in opposition to the interests of the masses, even as racist language and behavior has become pass. While MIM differs with their anarchistic tendencies and their lack of understanding of the national question, Anti-Flag has put out another good album with their strongest anti-imperialist lyrics to date.