Straight Edge.

Volt-Zorg Boy:

a glass of red wine has been proven to be good for you, true- but, there are loads of other things you can try to live longer before drinking wine for the sole purpose of that.

I was saying that in response to the comment that all drinking is bad for you.
It wouldn't be for the sole purpose of that. That's just a perk, a rather nice perk. Most people drink wine because if it's taste.

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antioxidants can be found in loads of other things besides wine

Of course they can, just saying that if you're going to drink wine, why not drink wine with antioxidants.

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smoking is rarely just harmful to yourself. Countries have banned smoking in bars and resturants (ireland for example) because waitress and bartenders have developed lung cancers from working in the enviroment

It can be just harmful to you though. It would just mean that you have be careful of where and when you smoke. If I smoked I would never smoke around nonsmokers.
I agree with banning smoking in public places like that.

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if the statistic that 10% of americans have an addiction to alcohol (statistics can be manipulated to say whatever you want them to say) that means that 1 in 10 people have an alcohol addiction

1 in 10 people in America. That's not counting the rest of the world. Alcoholics should get help, but forcing everyone to become strait edge would not solve the problem of addiction, and it would be unfair to everyone else.
It's personal lifestyle choice, and it's different for every person.

Volt-Zorg Boy:

a glass of red wine has been proven to be good for you, true- but, there are loads of other things you can try to live longer before drinking wine for the sole purpose of that.

No one here is saying, "To be healthy and live longer, you must drink red wine!"
The fact that red wine has antioxidants in It was merely pointed in the context of disproving the claim that 'all alcohol is bad for you'.

Instead of directly quoting, I'm lazy, so I'll just address some opinions voiced above:

1."All drinking is bad for you, no matter what."
Actually, drinking wine, especially red wine, has been proven to have powerful antioxidants, reduce blood pressure, and lower cholesterol. It can even slow the appearance of aging, but all in moderation. Obviously, becoming an alcoholic is not healthy either, since alcoholism is a disease.

2. "10% of americans have an addiction to alcohol = 1 out of all 10 americans".
No, that survey means 10% of the americans surveyed. There's no poll on earth that could poll every alcohol drinker in america. Thus, the numbers can always be tipped one way or another. I mean, if you pick up pollers at a church or support group, there's probably less likely to be drinkers. However, if you go searching for an audience to poll at say, local bars, you're probably going to find more alcoholics. Statistics aren't exactly facts.

3. "Smoking bans are good in bars and some restaurants because waitresses were getting lung cancer."
Again, who's fault is it? It's the waitresses' own faults. I mean, this isn't some kid forced to endure his/her mother's secondhand smoke. This is a full-grown adult (or teenager, in the case of restaurants) who can choose to either work in a place that allows smoking or not, or separates smokers and non-smokers. If you don't want the effects of smoke, don't go near it, you know? That's like saying you got hot for working out in the sun. It wasn't the job of the person who employed you to keep you cool. You should have worn sunscreen or found a safer job. And don't say these women probably didn't have a choice. There's always a choice.

4. "Most straightedge people consume caffeine"
True, caffeine is a drug, but many people don't consider it the same, as say, heroin. While it makes you jittery in heavy amounts, it doesn't eventually shut down your liver and kidneys, unlike alcohol. Thus, many straightedge people don't see a problem with it. It's immensely less harmful.

5. "straightedge means no sex or sex only after marriage".
I'm not sure how this got associated with straightedge, because it's never been a part of the SE culture. All the way from the 80's to today, it's never been a mission of the SE members to avoid sex or abstain. The mission of SE-ers is primarily to avoid putting "poisons" in the body. Sometimes vegan / vegetarianism are considered parts of SE culture.

I myself have a question to add to this debate. If you've seen me talk before on these threads, you'll have noticed my fascination with how humans can twist beliefs and morals to their own uses. Getting to my point, I'd like to ask - does anyone besides me find that the emo / hardcore subculture has turned being straightedge into nothing more than an accessory? I believe so; I think it's just a blazon for a lot of teens to use to make themselves cooler in each other's eyes.

source http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&um=1&tab=wn&q=red+wine+healthy&btnG=Search+News

disclaimer: when i said the thing about working in the heat, obviously I do think it's up to the employers to regulate temperature if say, the worker is in a factory or something that should and normally is controlled. However, if the worker has volunteered to work in the sun doing hard manual labor, who's to blame but the worker for choosing an unsafe job?

Eponine:

nevergetmealive:

i agree Eponine, i definatly think that people who arent straight edge should be respected as well...im not straightedge. But if you think about it, in general the idea of everyone being straightedge (not to the extreme) is great because a lot of people do have addictive natures and others see it as a way of escaping reality. Now i know the odd drink here and there doesnt hurt but it is healthier for us not to drink and being sober is always the better option and some problems in society 2day would not be as large as they are now

1. I don't think that many people have addictive natures. Approximately 10% of American have an alcohol addiction. To me that's not that much. Even if everyone was strait edge those with addictive natures would become addicted to something else. Besides the fact that I don't think the whole world would ever all become strait edge, if it was going to happen it would have to be forced, and America already tried prohibition. It didn't work.

2. I think that most people who go out to bars are out having fun with their friends.

3. Actually drinking red wine has been proved to have health benefits. Drinking on glass a day (for women) or two (for men) lowers the risk of heart attacks in middle aged people by 30-50 percent. Red win also contains antioxidants.

4. Besides the obvious of drunk driving,What problems would be solved?
The biggest problems in society (to me) are the economy, global warming, and immigration. I don't think being strait edge will solve any of those.

Not that I don't somewhat agree. Drinking in excessive amounts is bad for you, and addiction to anything is bad, but everyone being strait edge is a bit unrealistic. Who knows though, pretty soon cigarette will probably be illegal, so it could happen.

i think we're saying the same thing here. staight edge and non-striaght edge people should be respected, but its those who take it to the extreme that do the harm, but if the're straight edge theres no chance of this. And of course everyone being straight edge is impossible, i dont want that, im just saying that in the situation that it did happen it would be better. i dont think the government should ban alcohol or really anything, its everyones right to do what they want....and if they want to take drugs or smoke or do anything, its the're porogative.
i think that excessive drinking can cause waymore problems though, its a kind of domino effect. they ould be drunk and mistreat friends or family, which could lead to an accident in a fight or beating or such. or can lead to depression of the person if the're constantly abused, which is not good in any way.
its kind of like a butterfly fluttering its wings on one side of the world and a tornado happening on the otherside of the world happening kind of concept. soz im not sure exactly how it goes, but i think i gave the general gist.
im definatly not saying everyone should quit alcohol, just keep it sensible.

nevergetmealive:

its kind of like a butterfly fluttering its wings on one side of the world and a tornado happening on the otherside of the world happening kind of concept. soz im not sure exactly how it goes, but i think i gave the general gist.
im definatly not saying everyone should quit alcohol, just keep it sensible.

Yeah we pretty much are saying the same thing.
tangent:
I think that's the chaos theory, but I'm not sure.

I'm just gonna put my two cents in. I'm straight edge. I don't drink, and I don't plan on it. I've tried alcohol, and not only did it make me feel like shit, it tasted awful.
I don't smoke, and I don't plan on it. Again, I've tried smoking, and it was just stupid to me.
I'm a virgin and I plan on staying that way until I'm married or in a committed monogamous relationship, for religious reasons, straight-edge, and because I don't want to take that risk (STDs, pregnancy, emotional damages, etc).
I do consume caffiene, and I take prescription medication. I could give up caffiene if I really wanted to, but I don't. And if I stopped my medication, I'd be far more of a threat to myself than I already am, so the medication that I take is definately for the better.

I think straight edge, when not taken too far and not shoved down other people's throats, is a good lifestyle. If you want to protect your body, do so. How, or if, you choose to do that is your choice.

I have a question. Would getting tattoos be considered 'not straightedge' seeing as some tattoo inks contain Carcinogens, Lead, and Mercury? And that would basically be putting harmful substances on/in your body? Now, not ALL tattoo ink contains those things, but straightedge basically states by saying 'no drugs, alcohol, and sometimes no clothes with certain chemicals in them etc.' that your not suppose to put harmful substances in/on your body, so would tattoo's sort of be a no-no to people who are sxe? What if the tattoos don't have those things in them, seeing as we don't exactly know if getting tattoos are harmful or not?

Link: http://www.infozine.com/news/stories/op/storiesView/sid/19124/

Hmm... interesting question. I'd say no, considering at least 90% of edgers I've talked to have tattoos, and those that don't are underage to get them, so...
It is an interesting question though, and definately something to consider before getting a tattoo, whether you're straight-edge or not.

Skottie:

Hmm... interesting question. I'd say no, considering at least 90% of edgers I've talked to have tattoos, and those that don't are underage to get them, so...
It is an interesting question though, and definitely something to consider before getting a tattoo, whether you're straight-edge or not.

Thats what I thought, because a lot of the people I've talked to who are straightedge have/or are planning on getting tattoos. It sort of surprised me when I read this the first time and saw that some inks have these things in them, but you'd think it might be somewhere in sXe, maybe not one of the stressed points of straightedge but at least somewhere in there.
Definitely, before you make such a commitment you should know what your committing to when you get a tattoo.

Well people could always go with the more natural appraoch when it comes to tattoos. I know a lot of vegan tattoo artists use soy based inks with herbs and others natural things to produce colors. There is a pretty famous tattoo shop here in Alabama called Dirty South Tattoos that does this because the owner is vegan.

Oddly enough, straight edge and tattoos go hand in hand alot. I guess the argument would be that they're not ingesting the ink

my notes on straight edge being an accessory-
i suppose some people might use it in that way, but being straight edge is more a promise to yourself, others shouldn't be impressed by it because it is your decision.
unfortunatly, those kids who use it as an accessory are the most likely to break edge

Volt-Zorg Boy:

i suppose some people might use it in that way, but being straight edge is more a promise to yourself, others shouldn't be impressed by it because it is your decision.

At the same time there are those who think the fact that they are strait edge makes them much better than everyone else. They seem to think that it's one extreme or the other, either your strait edge or your life revolves around drugs and alcohol.

As a college student, i see alot of people who's lives revolve around drug and alcohol
there are people who drink who's lives don't become consumed by alcohol
there are people who don't drink and are elitist about it
and finally there are people who don't engage in anything and are completely okay if someone else does

people can be complete assholes on either side of this argument, whether for or against straight edge
there seems to be alot of ignorance in the dare i say "scene"

the assholery of a person no matter what side they're on of this arguement really depends on their personality and beliefs

Volt-Zorg Boy:

As a college student, i see alot of people who's lives revolve around drug and alcohol
there are people who drink who's lives don't become consumed by alcohol
there are people who don't drink and are elitist about it
and finally there are people who don't engage in anything and are completely okay if someone else does

people can be complete assholes on either side of this argument, whether for or against straight edge
there seems to be alot of ignorance in the dare i say "scene"

the assholery of a person no matter what side they're on of this arguement really depends on their personality and beliefs

Well of course, I was just saying that I've seen a lot of people take it to the extreme with judging people. It all comes down to respect. You should respect a person's personal choice no matter what it is. Even if they do drink and do drugs that doesn't make them a complete idiot.

i'm not sure if i came off as a bitch, but i was trying not to
merely elaborating on thepoint you made

Oh, I didn't get that. My bad.

Yes;Indeed;True:

Well people could always go with the more natural appraoch when it comes to tattoos. I know a lot of vegan tattoo artists use soy based inks with herbs and others natural things to produce colors. There is a pretty famous tattoo shop here in Alabama called Dirty South Tattoos that does this because the owner is vegan.

Thats really cool. Hm, I guess it would depend whats in the ink though, I couldn't actually see herbs hurting someone. Thanks for the info.

I have never heard of straightedgers.. but it seems like a healthy and socialy acceptable lifestyle.

I heard the term "straight edge" spawned out of a Minor Threat song does anyone now if that is true?

I think that if people are going to do it, but it doesn't mean that the lifestyle they choose is ok, but that's their decision and someone else doesn't need to rag on them for it.