What is the point?

That there are alternative cultures and/or 'subcultures' is something we take for granted, we don't question their existence, and in fact to anyone who gives it some thought it makes perfect sense that there should be alternatives to mainstream, orthodox values, viewpoints and activities. History attests that few stable societies don't have subcultures or groups that advocate alternative views. Modernity may have given these alternative perspectives a safer and therefore more legitimate opportunity to thrive, but the heresies of the Middle Ages and persecutions of the Roman Empire illustrate that alternatives have always been sought.

My issue is with the word 'alternative' as it is used today, at least in my encounters with it. Despite our culture's misgivings about our political system, most alternative culture appears to be largely apolitical and primarily aesthetic. Alternative has no agenda it is simply a different set of rules and references propagated by various social circles who are associated with or orbit relatively influential establishments. But there is clearly a market for it, people want to be a part of it, or at least experience it. Do they feel more individual for doing so? Is that even their motivation? Or maybe it's just all about acceptance amongst like-minded outcasts.

Perhaps what is most depressing/interesting is that teenage rebellion, so often dismissed as overabundant hormonal activity, is in reality often fuelled by far more conviction and passion than its mature counterparts. After university age 'alternative' seems to become little more than a set of lifestyle accoutrements; condescending attitude towards chart music and blockbuster films, second hand clothes, grotty clubs and bars, a penchant for performance art, acme scowl etc, but little awareness of what this could or should translate into on a more significant scale.

I'm interested in this because I'm part of this alternative perspective and have been since I was a teen, but I'm losing faith in it's motives. Maybe I'm just growing up, but I don't really want to accept that thought. I have no intention of conforming or at least of conforming as little as I can so I want to see if alternative culture is capable of changing too.

Next entry will be my thoughts on the book launch party for DIY: The Rise of Lo Fi Culture at the Horse Hospital, near Russel Square and 17th Century Radicalism. Pretentious, isn't it.