Is Straight Edge Political? A Fanzine on the Political Potential of Straight Edge


A few words before you start reading this fanzine here. First, let me briefly explain how I came up with the idea to address the question: Is Straight Edge political? I myself have been living drug-free for several years and use Straight Edge (or sxe) as the proper name for my life. The subculture often teaches me that the decision to live sober or sxe is a deeply personal one and often comes from a blunt “I’m better than you because I’m sober” and often goes along with the stereotype of the caveman who doesn’t consume but instead lifts weights endlessly and hits on other people at hardcore shows. Often this cliché may be true, and I often wish that this would change, as I see that in addition to self-optimisation, there are often many more layers to which Straight Edge can be applied. I often move in anti-fascist spaces in my spare time, and from a left-wing perspective, this zine is also written – as a kind of straight edge intersectionalism. From this perspective i tried to look on different topics like consumer criticism, sex or animal right.

This zine is made by xstreunerzeckex in april 2025 @xstreunerzeckex

Is Straight Edge Political pdf

Out of Step With the World: Exploring Straight Edge as Anarchist Praxis

A zine that explores an anti-authoritarian overlap between straight edge and anarchism by exploring both the origins of the straight edge movement and the history of intoxication culture.

Out of Step With the World_Exploring Straight Edge as Anarchist Praxis pdf

 

 

The Anarcho-Primitivist case for Straight Edge: Against His-Story, Against Alcoholocaust!

From back cover:

“The foundations of colonial genocide bear the stench of a long and protracted alcohol induced nightmare — nearly every indigenous culture the Europeans encountered was destroyed by European alcohol and disease. The spreading of firewater among indigenous populations of North America went hand-in-hand with the distribution of lethal smallpox-infested blankets. Many of these cultures, without the experience of thousands of years of civilized alcoholism to draw upon, were even more subject than the Europeans to the ravages of “the civilized brew.” Between alcohol, disease, commerce, and guns, most of them were quickly and utterly destroyed. This process was not unique to North America — it was repeated throughout the world in every European colonial endeavor. While the drug of choice varied (sometimes it was opium, for example, as in the “Opium Wars” Great Britain waged to control China), alcohol was judged in many countries to be the most socially-acceptable tool of pacification.”

The Anarcho-Primitivist Case for Straight Edge pdf

Burning the Borders: Total Liberation & Individualist, Nihilist Perspectives Within the Colonized Territory Known as Mexico

This interview between Warzone Distro & Guta – one of the  organizers of EININPAACF or Encuentro Internacional de Practicas Anarquicas y Antiauthoritarias Contra las Fronteras, which in english translates to annual international gathering of anarchist and anti-authoritarian practices against borders – took place a few days before and after the event. This event which took place January 25 – 27 in Tijuana, Mexico, reflects a new emergence of individualist, anarcho-nihilist perspectives influenced not only by the current techno-industrial world in general, but also by the perceived failings of leftism experienced by anarchists living in so-called mexico.

Burning the Borders_Total Liberation & Individualist, Nihilist Perspectives Within the Colonized Territory Known as Mexico pdf

Capitalism Plus Dope Equals Genocide

Essay written by Black Panther Michael Tabor RIP.

Text from the zine:

“Drug addiction in the colonized ghettos of America has constituted a major problem for over 15 years. Its use is so widespread that it can -without fear of exaggeration – be termed a “plague”. It has reached epidemic proportions, and it is still growing. But it has only been within the last few years that the racist US government has considered drug addiction “a matter of grave concern”. It is interesting to note that this growing concern on the part of the government is proportionate to the spread of the plague into the inner sanctums of the White middle and upper-class communities. As long as the plague was confined to the ghetto, the government did not see fit to deem it a problem. But as soon as college professors, demagogic politicians, money-crazed finance capitalists and industrialists discovered that their own sons and daughters had fallen victim to the plague, a virtual “state of national emergency” was declared. This is significant, for it provides us with a clue to the understanding of the plague as it relates to Black people.”

Capitalism Plus Dope Equals Genocide pdf

Confronting a Silent Assassin: Intoxication Culture in Resistance Movements

From back:

“From an anarchist perspective, intoxication remains a source of contention. Many radical anti-capitalist anti-statists remain unaware of the ways intoxicants, stimulants, and depressants have been deployed by ruling classes throughout history as mechanisms for diminishing the self-defense capacities of industrial and agricultural workers, peasants,and slaves. Sadly, many radicals – especially in the USA –see the use of alcohol, tobacco, and illegal drugs as an authentic and valuable aspect of working class (but not necessarily oppositional) culture. From an individualist perspective, the issue is further fraught with contention due to the peer pressure and unspoken assumptions of subcultural conformism that inhere in their consumption. And adding an extra dimension to the conversation is an anti-civ perspective, where we must acknowledge their reliance on industrialized production and distribution.

Confronting A Silent Assassin_Intoxication Culture in Resistance Movements pdf