Straight Edge

Originating as a subculture of hardcore punk, Straight Edge (often represented by the abbreviation sXe) refers to a lifestyle that abstains from hedonistic lifestyle choices. The minimum criteria of a person following this lifestyle involves excluding the consumption of alcohol, smoking of cigarettes and other tobacco products, and usage of recreational drugs, as well as other harmful behaviors such as huffing substances like petrol. By extension, it tends to also include abstaining from promiscuity, caffeine and prescription drugs, and following a vegetarian or vegan diet, the latter of which has largely been seen as a core part of the subculture since the late 1990s.

While initially created as a reaction to the indulgences and excessiveness of the hardcore punk lifestyle often exhibited by its members, Straight Edge as an idea has ascended from being an exclusively punk subculture and has become a way of life for people who understand the harms of intoxicants and the problems they can cause for the individual and his or her relationships, and upon other sentient beings. In philosophical terms, Straight Edge can be seen as more than a lifestyle choice, and more as a way for human beings to experience the positives and high moments of life without needing to resort to harmful hedonistic pleasures since they are not needed for our happiness, and, as a result of Veganism being incorporated into it, a way to advance animal rights and environmentalism at the sacrifice of our own gluttony; Both ideas have since become fundamental attributes of the subculture. Complimenting that, it could be encompassed by an overall idea that collectively, we should not be supporting industries that profit off of harming the very people who buy their products, as well as animals and the environment.

The Paradox of Hedonism

The Paradox of Hedonism states that pursuing happiness directly often does not yield happiness. When a person uses a substance such as cocaine, yes of course, at first they feel incredibly satisfied and happy. However, this feeling doesn't last forever, and will lead to the person being more miserable in the long run. This is due to a variety of reasons, primarily how it affects brain chemistry after a high, but also because it's a pseudo-satisfier. After the high wears off, they will usually feel like crap since they spend their time doing nothing but drugs, so now they need to do MORE drugs to feel better about themselves again. It's a vicious cycle. This isn't even taking into account how much money this chews up, which comes with its own problems.

Our bodies are extremely efficient at building tolerances. Our bodies get used to alcohol, tobacco, and drugs very quickly, and when consumed regularly, the level of happiness received from these substances becomes our baseline for it, and can only be achieved with them, leaving them much less happy on average; the rest of life sucks.

Many people view the Straight-Edge lifestyle as boring and unfulfilling due to the lack of recreational substances, however this is often an incorrect claim. It only seems like it would be boring because non-Straight Edge people have the idea that only drugs and alcohol can provide happiness in this world, which showcases the lack of passion and goals these people have.

Human beings achieve long-term happiness via fulfillment. We achieve happiness by working towards personal goals, making the world a better place, improving ourselves, and being with those we love. The reason why this sort of thing seems lame is because achieving great, fulfilling things isn't only difficult, but it's extremely boring. A really spectacular piece of work, whether it's a movie, an album, a painting, is the result of thousands of incredibly uninteresting steps. Humans with their primate brains are not evolved to want to work on long term things like this, we evolved to want our rewards immediately. If something isn't getting us those endorphins right away, we won't want to do it. But sticking with these boring tasks becomes motivating when one sees the fruits of his or her labor, and these subsequent efforts won't be as boring, and in fact will often be highly motivated from the rush of actually accomplishing things, instead of sitting around smoking pot. Believe us, if you take some time to work towards something in this world that you believe in (something that's actually effective, not just retweeting stuff), you'll be amazed by the results.

Can you do both? Certainly. Many of the best albums ever made were done by people who were high on drugs. But not only does this sort of artistic productivity account for a very tiny fraction of drug-use, but it of course results in long term harms including risk of overdose, and can also lead to some really poor quality work (for every good artist on drugs, there are possibly hundreds of bad artists on drugs).

Now of course, if someone really wants to harm themselves by indulging in these things, that's entirely their business so long as they aren't hurting anyone else. If someone wants to waste their life away doing that, whatever, that isn't necessarily the purpose of the Straight Edge philosophy. It's just that doing such things will not yield happiness.

This by no means saying we should deprive ourselves completely of satisfies that aren't investments in long-term goals. It's still fine, and even important to have entertainment such as video games and movies as a sort of way to rejuvenate ourselves after working. These forms of pleasure are not overtly harmful in the way drugs are, and can be a productive bonding experiences with friends and family. However, we should not do these things without any cause or reward, since that will lead us to the pseudo-satisfier dilemma presented earlier. While still far less harmful than drugs, they can still be addictive vices all the same, prone to the same cycle of psychological rushes (though this is much less likely).

There may be some objections by those who say that, having alcohol or cigarettes every now and again isn't all that harmful in moderation. While this is technically correct, it isn't factoring in the strong possibility of a slippery slope. Many lifelong alcoholics and chain-smokers originally intend on just having one bottle of beer, or one pack of cigarettes, just to try them out.

Veganism and Animal Rights

Many aspects of Veganism, animal rights, and to an extent environmentalism, go hand in hand with the concept of going against hedonism; Giving up personal hedonistic pleasures of taste and gluttony for the benefit of animals and the environment. In the 1990s when the Vegan alternative market was nowhere near as expansive as it is now, eliminating consumption of animal products was a much bigger sacrifice in terms of taste compared to today, but even with the rise of the meat-alternative market, it's still a change in lifestyle that sacrifices personal pleasure.

Avoiding drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes is remarkably easy, especially if you've never done them before; All it requires someone to do is not buy those products, which isn't even an action. Avoiding animal products, in a society where it is the norm and very often encouraged, is a much more significant task, and requires a person to consciously change the foods they buy, which will be different from the ones they've even their whole life, tastes they aren't habituated to.