Do you agree with the article's idea that you have to be in the middle or upper class to really take part in the rave subculture? I admit that my experience in the area is somewhat limited but it never struck me that way. Its main reason is the cost of drugs, which rings false for me. 1: drugs aren't completely necessary to be a part of the sub culture (though I do recognize how tied to the culture drugs are) and 2: Is there any less drug use among people of lower class? Obviously people with more disposable income can more easily buy drugs for raves, but people that want drugs find a way to get drugs. There are thousands upon thousands of addicts out there who will testify to that. Not that I'm lumping ravers in with drug addicts, but you can't comment on the drug heavy raving without at least mentioning drug addiction.
Do you think the ailing economy has affected raving at all?
The article focuses heavily on raving being specific to a certain class, but as we may have touched on in class today, I think that goes for most sub cultures. Are there any subcultures that are completely classless? When something hits the mainstream, like hip-hop did, it was embraced by many different people of all kind so of different classes, but when it first started in its truest form, hip-hop was very poor inner-city centric. Most sub cultures seem to have started in one class before eventually branching out.
I think income does have an effect on participation in subcultures to a certain degree. Raves are known for their purchases of drugs, the asian cute culture is based solely on merchandise, and music based subcultures like punk and heavy metal are known to attend concerts. If you do not have the money for these activities it makes it hard to participate in the subculture. Nonetheless, I feel that if you truly want to be a part of the subculture you will find a way.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I don't see how income could affect the rave subculture. People do what they need to do to get their hands on drugs (and thats very apparent well into todays society) so money has nothing to do with being able to purchase the drugs. Additionally, our economy has/had no affect on the rave subculture. Raves seem to have been dissipating a while before our economy started in a downward spiral. Like most other subculture it came to an end because it grew in popularity and then later become more mainstream and used for marketing by many companies.
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