Do You Vote? Ian MacKaye talks about voting

Ian MacKaye, punk legend from Fugazi, Minor Threat, talks about Voting and Politics.
Check out the book and film that grew from this project, more at USAODD.com.

[@Cloud-og1qo]

*My Name is Ian and I'm from Minor Threat*

[@mickjames5388]

"My name is Ian and I'm *IN* Minor Threat." 🙄

[@Cloud-og1qo]

M Gentry ever so sorry

[@Cloud-og1qo]

Ivory Frost Well were both shit 😂

[@Cloud-og1qo]

Ivory Frost Exactly.

[@jason6645]

and You're Watching, Disney Channel

[@cuwinkel]

I know Ian McKay over 30 years now. Not only as a musician but also as a thinking man. A really thinking man. And he was an is allways 'spot on'. I love this guy... There should be more people like him - people that think before they talk.

[@odinklebs1811]

@Dead Deadman uh is that a dogwhistle or a joke? lmao

[@jeremywalker2586]

I would love a vlog of him and Henry walking around in a day

[@rexbanner7611]

Amazing talent, amazing mind, amazing man. huge respect for him, never a shill never sellout.

[@user-wn1bi9fi3t]

Huge respect🤝

[@HarveyGrass]

i love this guy ! Fugazi or no Fugazi. MacKaye is the man

[@theguitarczar]

Ian is up there with Johnny Cash as far as honest humans. I have respected him since I've known of him. Thanks for enlightening me, Ian.

[@175epi]

As a lifelong member of the Apathetic Party, I must say it's nice to finally get some recognition. Seriously, though: the problem isn't Democrats or Republicans . . . it's Democrats AND Republicans, and the belief among too many that the federal government is the solution (and not the cause) of what ails us. If we want to fix the country, we'll have to fix our communities OURSELVES, and not count on Sam to come swooping in to save us. Politicians are too busy trying to get elected and re-elected to worry themselves about solving problems in our dinky little towns.

[@emanuelbostan5737]

The more you know politics, the more you keep yourself from becoming a politician

[@dantethepunk6932]

You fucking said it

[@martinm.6459]

What a highly intelligent dude Ian MacKaye is !!! Thanks for the video !!! Greetings from Eastern Europe

[@andrewhart6200]

Oh my guy....you don't know how lonely I've felt since Covid started and I realized as an ex military member EXACTLY what you're saying - it's a huge giant business

[@adamfindlay378]

Long live Ian!

[@TXRBL]

I first met everyone at Dischord House in 81. I spent a lot of time on the couch there and practiced weekly in the basement. While I don’t share my old friend Ian’s political beliefs, I would fight to the death for him to exercise them. He’s a good man and truly a loyal friend.

[@markbrad123]

The best vote you got these days is what you choose to consume.

[@tazmon122]

that's not true. best vote is what the community consumes. i'm a college drop out, charter schools aren't relevant to my personal life....however it was important for me to vote against it to keep my mother teaching in public institutions. and keep the children of MA from getting screwed out of an education cuz a charter school got made by someone that couldn't keep it afloat. my vote counted as a measure of what the people around me consume, not specifically me personally consuming.

[@patrickcollin2949]

I realize Im kinda off topic but do anyone know a good site to watch new movies online?

[@tatemarvin7380]

@Patrick Collin I use FlixZone. Just google for it =)

[@xspartan346x]

@@tazmon122 public education is indoctrination

[@tazmon122]

@@xspartan346x generic anime profile pic, baiting comments, hotter take than the sun......i do believe you're the most basic troll i've seen in years. i'd pity you if i continued to consider you.

[@Danosaur101]

:) he is so great

[@CriticsConfession]

“Even Britney Spears?” Oh you sweet summer child...

[@roughestgunark845]

Nothing like the youtube comments section. This one is up there in terms of quality.

[@Ianjcarroll]

great guy !!

[@uncooldispatch5438]

He is awesome

[@richardsain5912]

I totally agree.

[@astroboirap]

now i know why this guy is a legend

[@theMAXILOPEZpsycho]

absolutely right

[@BrotherZygos]

I used to hold Mr. MacKaye's opinion but after 8 years of Obama with Hilary backing him, I realized how much both parties love war they just rationalized it in a calmer voice through that era on the D side. Apparently it is just as easy for a liberal/non-republican to back war when they're preferred news organization, ALL, tells them too. Vote with your dollar, with your goods and services, vote for yourself and those close to you.

[@TheEnergyball]

To your point, both sides of the machine are capable of legitimizing war. He didn’t say he backed the D side. He said he voted to the best of who he believed would not start a war. This current cycle D has supported horrors. Agenda was not hidden prior to elections. -2024

[@We1ntersoxfan]

He never says "one party loves war more than the other".. in fact, the whole pretext to him sharing his opinion is saying that "both parties are effectively the same, and just two ends of the same business".

[@TheSpedds]

To choose not to choose, is to choose

[@hiimnick5]

Voting reinforces complacency. There is no lesser evil, neither party is anti-war. When you vote for them you are giving their authority validity.

[@rocknroll_jezus9233]

I hope people dont actually rely on famous figures like Ian Mackaye to decide to vote or not

[@u.s.citizen9933]

While their input is somewhat valuable (as most opinions are in my opinion), it should not be someone's go to source for decision making because it is just an opinion like everyone else's, and everyone has bias as well.

[@josephstalin7389]

@@u.s.citizen9933 I ll prefer Ian world then a Pragueu world

[@u.s.citizen9933]

@@josephstalin7389 fair enough haha Stalin, but Prager U is just another opinion like Ian's. It's good to hear, but good to make your own too. 😁👍

[@HDitzzDH]

I can imagine that Americans feel limited only having two parties, here in Sweden we have 8 government parties, all with different ideologies and 24 "other" smaller parties.

[@RKTologist]

I've heard Sweden is a good

[@dominicticinovic5663]

Noted political analyst, democratic theorist and self-appointed conscience of the human race Ian Mackaye talks politics. Riveting.

[@stevenhines5550]

I don't find him the least bit sanctimonious

[@RKTologist]

Ggeze I'm thinking of him singing repeater while watching this

[@wovokanarchy]

Who are the individuals in the photograph at 4.44?

[@StevenLynnMusic]

wovokanarchy I believe they are the other three members of Fugazi. The one in the middle is definitely Guy Picciotto.

[@ronaldccgf]

+Steven Lynn And the one on the right looks like Joe Lally.

[@LetThePoorStarve]

all you people saying voting doesn't matter - would we be in iraq right now if Gore had won? that's a few hundred thousand iraqis that would be alive right now. maybe it makes no difference to you in your nice safe country but there are a lot of people that could have been saved. obviously the two parties are very similar but there are enough differences to make a choice

[@springfieldleaf8649]

Genius

[@elephantchilds]

1:47 for the question, asked and answered.

[@1001orpheus]

Ian MacKaye, world citizen...

[@at066000]

Wonder what Ian thinks now?

[@SonOfManMusic]

nice....

[@cheshiremouse]

no one can tell me voting is worth my time, energy, or interest. new boss same as the old. FR

[@bman6065]

He keeps saying "the people". People are the madness. As far as American influence we just so happen to be on top at this brief moment. Let's see how China does it when we pass the torch

[@myessyallyahamericus8405]

I refuse to vote in america when they limit the choices as much as possible so that you have to pick one of their actors or one of their actors. There's no justice in america.

[@chords526]

I'd like to know what he meant by saying "what's happening in Iraq isn't a war, it's a military action, there's no other side". Is it because its not a declared war? Or didn't Iraq forces fight against US military?

[@KevinElliot-ni4lb]

they invaded a country and occupied it by saying it's a war on terror, when what they were doing was just going in and occupying a country

[@Kruegerisgod]

Ha. Preach it Ian!!

[@chuy8356]

Kruegerisgod No sabe de politica Ian.

[@warning3834]

@@chuy8356 por qué decís eso? me gustaría conocer tu punto de vista

[@d.7868]

4:44 Fugazi collage?

[@msgmademefat]

Why isn’t Ian president already?

[@uncooldispatch5438]

🔥🔥🔥😍😍😍

[@sebastianruhland5198]

So funny , this hardcore scene (where Ian MacKaye obviously also originate from ) or this music post hardcore independent music scene with billions of records and concerts and people still believe in the political system and votes. But voting for the candidate who less seems to go to war is good.

[@SatEight]

I don't know anything about american politic system so please tell me is there really only two partys? In any european country you have nationalists, socialists, libertarians, centrists and whole buch of other partys. Do americans really have to choose between respublicans and democrates? What kind of democracy is that?

[@sebastianruhland5198]

As if that would make any diffrence how many parties you can vote for. All political systems are just there to make people think and believe they are free or to keep them believing in the system. Look in the sky , the sun and the moon have the same size , do you think that a random event like a "big bang" can end up with the only objects in the sky we can see with our naked eye having the same size ? It´s not possible. We are lied to on that scale.

[@SatEight]

@@sebastianruhland5198 In scandinavian coutrys socialist partys have very big influnce and you clearly can see that. In Los Angeles a lot of people live in tents on the street. If you ask how they ended up on the street, you will hear many stories like "I had a job, rented a house. But then I got sick and could not go to work. I was fired. I could not pay for the housing and was on the street next month." It is impossible to imagine that this will happen in Sweden, for example.

[@sebastianruhland5198]

@@esstan7720 When did i write that i want to see more than the sun and the moon ?

[@CarlosOrtiz-wi4kf]

Punk skinhead is real live is power love and live free.

[@frankgoldstein9371]

please come to roitzschjora! and sing!!!!"

[@xisotopex]

"war is just diplomacy by other means..."

[@jeffdeist]

Horrible how we've accepted the idea that everything we do is political. Most of the human experience should be outside politics and government.

[@xisotopex]

its always been a bit noteworthy to me, that there sometimes seems to be good people on both sides, repub and dem, but they are NEVER the ones that end up getting any traction.

[@kevinquesnel621]

All those meeting just a yes instead of those well I saw

[@kathleenanner]

[@rawk72]

Or, optimistic people believe that they actually are voting for a system that works, not one that is corrupt to it's core. Apples/Fish

[@ironhead108]

I've long been a huge fan of Fugazi, Embrace, and Minor Threat. I'm a lover of Ian MacKaye's music. As right as his instincts are about the evil of war, I don't think he's been exposed to a better understanding of the nature of the state. Voting only endorses the state itself, including agreeing to accept the winner. You can't stop war and also have a state. Without a state, people who want war have to pay the full cost of it, something they are very unlikely to be able to do, let alone actually do.

[@mateostenberg]

But why make the struggle worse? Why try to dismantle the system within its own terms?

[@diseasedanddisfigured526]

You vote with your dollar as well

[@takepartlive]

People really should vote more!

[@Vingul]

Lmao, as if that would change anything.

[@brandonf2512]

Sitting in a waiting room

[@jasonpeng33]

His commentary is such ah minor threat

[@Stealthmachin3]

Hopefully Mackaye knows about Gary Johnson

[@elvislives-gl4rv]

I am always, always perplexed when I listen to these types of folks. I sense they mean well, but I can't every get my head around whether they are geniuses or self indulgent fools. It depends on where you stand and view I suppose.

[@chicanochrist]

If you focus more on the whole picture and what he's trying to say in this message of his thoughts, you can see a clearer picture of what he's trying to convey. I don't always agree with what he believes in, but I do respect what he believes because as he articulates his thoughts.He has done some research into what he's talking about. He's not just basing it on rhetoric.

[@jasnapetrova9273]

He's just talking, just saying what they believe, how they fit the pieces. Since when is talking self indulgent? I don't understand this 'logic'.

[@BrotherZygos]

It was ten years ago. The rose colored glasses for Obama don't come off easy.

[@thebestofmosdef]

I'm glad he at least votes for the candidate least likely to go to war. I wish Brendan Canty was the same way. I guess Brendan is the Johnny Ramone of Fugazi. The one conservative in the group.

[@dominicticinovic5663]

Everybody is supposed to think the same way for you to be comfortable?

[@thebestofmosdef]

I was friends with him on facebook before he purged all leftists. He was strongly pro-Clinton.

[@thebestofmosdef]

Dominic, who are you even talking to? Nobody said that.

[@Vingul]

@@thebestofmosdef Clinton was a conservative? As McKay says, Democrats and Republicans are essentially the same. Voting does not change anything.

[@boofisgod]

I wait I wait I wait I wait

[@adamfindlay378]

OMG Ian eats chips!!

[@kimberlinbrookshire5297]

They're made of potatoes.

[@joepublic9535]

Love that he keeps his chips in the cupboard with his plates etc. and not in a pantry or on a shelf but right with his dishes etc. I thought I was the only one who stores them this way

[@kevinquesnel621]

Add now? White and black expression.

[@Scott_Raynor]

he broke his mug

[@BimTalch]

are they just at his house? haha what

[@theguitarczar]

Was that the end of the interview? What the fuck was that? Yeah, it's a fucking "small world." But what WAS that?

[@krisk807]

I respect Ian Mackay but his argument for voting for the lesser evil has been proved counter productive so many times. By voting for the party least likely to go to war, which i assume was Obama, we now have a possibility of war with Russia and actively engaging in war in the middle east still. Ian clearly understands the role of governments as corporation enablers so why argue to prop it up. it makes no sense.

[@luftballoondebarbarian1264]

Kris K How is he arguing to prop it up?

[@PierreMarieJean]

He is visibly annoyed by the lesser of two evils question, because he isn't using those terms.

[@blueeyeddevil1]

By stating that he votes. A vote is equivalent to saying you agree with the system. It's quite a simple concept, really. When you vote, you tell the powers that be that you're ok participating in THEIR system, that the system is ok, that you believe it's fair and that it works. Win or lose, you get what you deserve simply because you participated in a corrupt game whose outcome is predecided because, whichever "side" wins, the same puppeteers remain in power, pulling the same strings on the truly meaningful issues.

[@blueeyeddevil1]

His is visibly annoyed because, unlike with lyrics where you have time to think and edit and rewrite, he's an idiot in front of a live mic. Love Fugazi to death and ther ethic and integrity are without equal, but Ian shows his ignorance and gullibility here. The songs belie this, and I'm shocked he is so clueless here.

[@ambroseburnside5764]

Your vote doesn't matter, so you really think the Government would let us pick the President?

[@719Monstar719]

I agree with the "apathetic voter" argument (by abstaining from voting you endorse the worst of the two), BUT I feel that the Vietnam war taught the Government how to marginalize peaceful protests years before I was born. In ADDITION to voting, what do we do to create meaningful debate anymore? Both sides of the mainstream political coin, these days, seem to simply disagree on WHO we go to war with. I believe that our modern apathy is a result of a perceived lack of power.

[@ChesterAsucka]

How is voting for the least likely to go to war not voting for the lesser of two evils? You don't necessarily have to be an evil person to buy into supporting warfare. I think that's why he made a clarification, but war the is the most grand scale evil action we can engage in. So yeah, he's voting for the lesser of two evil actions (not less evil people).

[@kevinquesnel621]

And your second guess

[@user-gx3jo9tv8g]

over 50

[@dreamweaver5869]

Washington is a big corporate mess

[@Vingul]

Says you should vote, also explains why voting is basically useless.

[@CarlosOrtiz-wi4kf]

Real is love punk and free my music is live nice day real kiss my ass is my punk is love pain bad my line live work just punk.

[@blueeyeddevil1]

Love fugazi, but damn, never knew Ian was so naive and gullible. Lyrics belie his ignorance. He votes? WTF? The Ian of today has to be shaking his head at this "ratify the system" interview.

[@davidgilfillan1934]

Explain his gullibility and naivety . Seriously.

[@eancurtis9333]

After the US left Vietnam because Congress stopped funding ..it turned into a living hell for the south Vietnamese as well as Cambodia and Laos 100,000 thousands more dead or imprisoned.. the communist north completely ruined the country .. sad

[@marmooki]

superego what the fuck? You don’t vote?

[@kevinquesnel621]

The Feds not yet buddy

[@blazingbleezy668]

The Intellectual Master speaks to the masses

[@Blackadder153]

So I take it, I'm sure he's a Libertarian now, after Obama?

[@Chrisdougable]

Why on Earth would you think that? American Libertarians are just Republicans. Republicans survive on war.

[@Blackadder153]

Lol. Is that pic of Lennon on your Profile?

[@Chrisdougable]

No. It is Lenin (Vladimir). Not Lennon (John). Lol.

[@Chrisdougable]

Your name looks familiar. Have we talked on here before? Sorry if I don't remember real clear, you know Google/Google Plus has gone through multiple changes.

[@bluestate69]

+Chrisdougable exactly. i don't know where he made that leap.

[@ferrydriver889]

Ian is a conservative republican now

[@ferrydriver889]

@@esstan7720 Trump supporter too.

[@econogate]

Also take note of how it has LATELY BEEN 8 years D 8 years R 8 years D.....wash rinse repeat, they maybe just taking turns, like tag team wrestlers.

[@devinmichaelroberts9954]

I always here confused men like this speak about how "both parties are bad, both parties are just the same thing, and a few sentences later essentially say the democrats though are way better" . You can't have it both ways. What a childish argument.

[@devinmichaelroberts9954]

@@esstan7720 Wow you are trying really hard to come up with an intelligent argument but thats just a ridiculous metaphor. Saying one side of a coin can be better? WTF are you even talking about. Maybe if you had said one side of coin may be "cleaner" but thats not what you said. Yikes! Furthermore if he had said both parties are apart of the same system yet the democrats are better thats one thing but he didnt say that. He literally said they are the same thing and the same corrupt institution and i hear liberals say this all the time only to claim after "but to be fair democrats are better." BS

[@loud_laughter]

@6:01 So you voted for Trump in 2020, Ian?

[@econogate]

Do you really think Gore oil boy would have cared about Iraqis, wth did he do when he was VP and Reno and Albright were on the war path?

[@S.J.L]

The personal is not political. This is major mistake. The separation of powers is essential. The private and the public.

[@AngloSaks666]

I wonder who he decided was least likely to go to war of the Democrat and Republican candidates in 2016. Lots of saying one thing and having supported the opposite on the part of both of them. Maybe he decided it was finally time to go with a third candidate, at least to register an opposition to warlike tendencies.

[@commbir5148]

That's funny, you just made up a thing that doesn't exist. "Register an opposition" isn't one of the outcomes of a vote for president in the United States. Voting for a candidate that has no chance to win isn't a meaningful act, even if you and people who think like you pretend it is.

[@hmasonx]

Ian Mackaye: “You should get people connected to democracy” Also Ian Mackaye: Republicans and Democrats are essentially the same. 🤔

[@spencerhaithcock9086]

...that's the point

[@hmasonx]

@@spencerhaithcock9086 Cool. Throw your vote away for ideology.

[@Vingul]

Exactly.

[@velasericousland2443]

Two party system, ruled by the wealthy, that is barely different isn't really a democracy, it's a plutocratic, duopoly.

[@vivaldireal1741]

America is such dictatorship that it manipulates you into believe that “voting red and blue parties who openly do not care about you” is democracy

[@briannewman532]

Grew up listening to Minor Threat, but I still would have LOVED to have been in the room with him when Trump won lol. All these old school hardcore people are so fucking weak these days.

[@commbir5148]

Weak? What could you possibly mean by that insult? Weak how?

[@Crustt666]

i dont think voting makes much a difference as to who will be president i think its predetermined

[@anthonyourbrother]

Britney Spears really, that's what we're going with really...

[@estebansteverincon7117]

Why does this guy always sound like he has a cold?

[@SONOFABITCH]

I dunno, cuz he's vegan?

[@estebansteverincon7117]

God, I hope that it's not why.

[@SmokeyMagma]

Esteban Rincon Voice is based on vibrations through both mouth and nose. He just has an oddly shaped nasal structure that impacts the way his voice sounds.

[@estebansteverincon7117]

ketzdinio I guess so

[@chuy8356]

Esteban Rincon Cocaine or meth.

[@jackblap]

i don't think its fair to vote for somebody I don't trust so I don't vote

[@cowskater5]

GARY JOHNSON!!!

[@domesticcat1725]

Ew. Fucking trash party. Just because it's not the main 2 parties doesn't mean it's not full of shit

[@slowneutron6163]

Great guy. Smart as they come. And a very important American musician. Love him. But I never forgave his bullshit straight-edge preaching from back in the day. Ian, the little bit of reefer that I smoked, well, turned out it wasn't detrimental to my physical or mental health at all. But I'm glad I made YOU feel better about yourself....because that's what all that straight edge shit really was....self-righteousness disguised as a punk movement. One again, I love ya Ian. I say this with all due respect....but you had it coming. For a long, long time.

[@creamcannon825]

Boy, you showed him

[@MadameChaotica]

Haha, I never held it against him, but you're right. Everyone has their faults.

[@mikenoface]

You missed the point. He said on the fucking record he was not telling anyone else how to live their own life.

[@clovismcpony]

imagine a global vote.

[@boogieheads]

✡️🙉

[@econogate]

Well I voted for neither of the main parties in 2000, 2002, 2004,2006 as well, just thought i'd clarify. It only encourages them to do more, no when they violate my rights I can say I never elected them nor supported or asked them for legal advice and refer them to the Constitution if they want to know if I support any law at all, being libertarian I have more or less given up on the Nationalist parties, they have only their size that makes them a problem and if more of us walk away they shrink

[@econogate]

I voted against Bush and then against Obama. Technically according to my relatives I stopped being counted in 2000 when I first voted for a third party. I voted neither for the two parties and nobody in the main elections in terms of the national parties since 2008. I'm just done with the BS of supporting liars and both presidents are selected based upon their willingness to go to war, which negates the point of voting for them at all.

[@user-gx3jo9tv8g]

Now you ahve the premise that Ian is anti-state , though

[@AghoraNath]

Nice house, do u have a cat? Heart and head integration do not give a fuck about fake politics, compassion is the real situation. I do not vote unless it prevents war. Too, I am like this too, even as a libertarian,

[@mingmorgan]

war..is the most...evil word>'? sorry...iḿ from barcelona...

[@sackdeep]

Based on that logic it sounds like Ian will be voting for Trump - the President who started zero wars.