Happy International Steampunk Day: Tea Party Subgenus or Absinthe Soaked Sots?
June 14th is recognized as International Steampunk day in recognition of H. G. Wells’ birthday. While one might be a little puzzled by the purpose of Steampunk, which on the surface appears to be a sick, God forsaken ‘artistic’ soup of Wild, Wild West; Gnomes and Goblins in World Of Warcraft; and Victorian romantic, industrial magnets – investigations into this world reveal so much more.
There is a nostalgic mist that permeates Steampunk. It is the fog of Victorian aristocrats taking high tea while homeless moppets labor in non-union industrial factories with filthy faces and ragged clothes – a noble vision free of safety regulations. Much like the Tea Party movement, supporters call for freedom to industrialize free of regulation in what some call a ‘distorted nostalgia’. They appear to express this nostalgia in a hand written love letter to capitalism composed by lamplight.
This historical reminiscence of the group is expressed by top hats, corsets, brass gears, helmets of varied construction, rawhide leathers and bustles. The ‘look’ seems to be just as important as the political philosophy for both the steampunk community and the tea party nation.
The Steampunk movement, much like the Tea Party, attempts to correct the commonly accepted histories from liberal education into a more truthful or at least palatable world view that allows one to rise above the yaws of a diseased world with airships over Kansas and mercenary scientists of alchemy.
Sarah Palin is a supporter of steampunk and was recently called out for her ‘Steampunk wink’ when she gave an account of Paul Revere’s ride down the streets of Boston. She explains the tenets of both steampunk and the tea party – to learn from our past so we can look forward.
Some liberals have expressed concern over Steampunks (and Sarah Palin’s) changing of the history to a more romantic or opportunistic distortion.
“The enjoyment of this ‘distorted nostalgia’ for a vision of the world that did not only appear in books and stories, but was also actively used to marginalized and oppress should be something that gives us pause.” – ‘Sarah’, PhD in Sociology Candidate
Divided Alliances
While Steampunk shares many of the same characteristics of the tea party movement, such as a whites only doctrine and an embarrassing affection for hats, troubling differences are also apparent. While the tea party supporters’ interest is with the American revolution, the Steampunk movement focuses on the Industrial revolution and hails an international membership. Foreigners and their ideas are not welcome in the tea party nation; the steampunk nation seems to embrace them.
Women are bound in corsets of whale bone and gartered with scant underclothes. Men wear button trousers with button flies and use condoms made of sheep intestines. Women are helpmates in the steampunk household and are expected to wring the wash and beat the Persian rugs with badminton rackets over clothes lines, if Irish house servants are not procured. This is obviously a diversion from the tea-patriot household where clothing is washed on a rock like they did during the revolutionary war.
Drug use is part of the steampunk culture, with flypapers soaked in water to draw out the arsenic for clear skin and belladonna used to give a dazed and day dreamy look to a woman’s eyes. In the tea party this comes naturally from prayer.
Steam punk also has some odd sexual practices that do not meld with the tea party. Investigations unearthed this ‘Gimp Mask’ which I’m told is used for sadomasochistic sexual encounters that include spankings that leave the thighs and buttocks red and blushing with shame. Tears are collected from these encounters and distilled into Absinthe, which is oddly called ‘the green fairy’ in some circles. The tea party patriots would never stand for spanking, unless it was associated with not knowing the Ten Commandments or refusal to say the pledge of allegiance.
Absinthe, made from the tears from sadomasochistic sexual encounters is also infused with powerful herbal stimulants, creating a psychic tug of war in the mind of the imbiber. Alcohol relaxes inhibitions and invites in new filthy whoring ideas, and the stimulants allow you to logically process the new data into a candlelight memory of your own liking.
Foremost of the stimulants is thujone, the psychoactive chemical at the heart of the herb wormwood, which, along with anisette, gives absinthe its bitter, black liquorish taste. Most consume the liquor with some kind of sugar enhancement. While once thought to instigate similar reactions as THC in marijuana, recent research suggests it modulates the neurotransmitter GABAA, which plays a vital role in cognitive thought. Subsequently, absinthe provides a level of clarity not usually associated with alcoholic drinks. It also has a bug in the bottle, which might be the source of the steampunk supporters’ love for abatement of food and safety regulations.
While Steampunks have some noble qualities, like disdain for government regulation and a nostalgia for history, their sexual and drug habits will not win them favors with the tea party crowd. Even the support of the dear Sarah Palin is unable to draw this fringe group into the light of day, so we must write them off as the passengers on the Titanic.
http://www.steampunk.com/happy-international-steampunk-day-2011/Jounalist = Value of Custom Field
- Sinful
- Suspicious
- Scared
- Sad
- Amused
- Laughing Out Loud
Author: Blanche Beecham
"Blanche Beecham lends a soft, learned hand to the fourth estate with incite-full investigations on diverse topics such as Politics, Love, and Lifestyle. Her many years experience as a wife, mother, ladies book club president and financial auditor make her well suited to ferreting out the truth and giving it a sound shake." - Rev. Jackson Lee Whitebelley, Publisher and Editor of "The Incubator" - Follow me on Twitter! @BLANCHEBEECHAM
8:55 am
I can’t help but think of the early communists and Trotsky when I see this nonsense. So they’re scouring garbage dumps for old machines parts to glue together? Is this what passes for art today? Thanks for writing about such a fascinating subject, Blanche, though it saddens me to see the Sarah Palin connection… Maybe these people lean towards the socialist/anarchist side a bit too much to be associated with Gov. Palin, however. And their drug use is frightening. I doubt I’d let my kids experiment with this immature “scene”. God bless my friend.
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12:48 pm
That bug in the bottle is almost as frightening as the cobbled together histories the steampunkers seem to fantasize about.
I think the steampunk connection may fade once Gov Palin receives the nomination.
Blessings and thanks to you my friend.
Praise be,
BB
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1:41 pm
I don’t understand what’s so wrong about a victorian nostalgia. You have painted steam-punk in a very caricatured manner; I’m assuming this is satire (in that case I found it pretty amusing :p). However the comments seem to suggest it is being taken seriously… Steampunk started as a trend in science fiction literature. Most fans aren’t merely “gluing together trash”, they actually build working machines powered by steam. Many artists have even made submissions into the Smithsonian with pieces that are steampunk-esque. Also, hardly any absinthe contains bugs… that is a gimmick similar to the worm in a “tequila” bottle (actual tequila has never contained worms). Conclusively I must ask why nostalgia in general is being attacked. Of course the perils of those times are glossed over; such is the point of nostalgia. Don’t many conservatives long for the 1950′s? When everything was more “moral”? Yet they seem to forget all of the horrible racism and hatred that abounded during those times. Just a thought.
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1:48 pm
Hi Britt,
Thanks for your comment. The day itself is disturbing because it is a fabrication, a lie of convenience. H.G. Well’s birthday is Sept 21, not June 14, yet this group uses drugs to gain a ‘mental clarity’ that romanticizes falsehoods and cobbles together frightening helmets.
Role playing isn’t a truthful relationship with the self and certainly doesn’t promote the healthy relationship that comes from the truth of spiritual maturity.
Hope this helps!
BB
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9:11 am
Our friends in Israel have it right when they send their young people into the armed forces after their initial education. It prevents deviations like this from occurring due to a sheer lack of boredom and powerful “uppers”. More drug-addled blasphemy painted up like a Babylon whore to resemble romance. Very sad.
Thanks to Blanche for yet another excellent and eye-opening article on how wholesome American youth are be swindled by popular culture into the underbelly of an dangerous and increasingly occultist nation. God bless.
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1:46 pm
I’m a steam-punk Unicorn, and i’d just like to say that stuff about blushing with shame is just not true.
i’d like to see some proof. Maybe a Jpeg or two.
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3:03 pm
These steampunkers have a convention in Atlanta every year called Dragoncon. I find it very disturbing, hordes of youth dressing like super humans and whorelots, fornicating in dark corners…very disturbing.
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3:27 pm
Wow, just wow. I find it hard to believe that you people seriously think a bunch of gamer nerds are drug addled fornicators in corners. Most of these people wouldn’t have a clue what to do with a woman if they found one who was wiling. As to the use of Absinth, I have never seen it here in the states, in fact you can’t buy it here. Gaming conventions are not drug addled escapdes, but instead nerd havens for the people of the world who enjoy comics, and video games. I find it amazing that you people basically think that anyone who doesn’t agree with your narrow, undereducated, world view must be on drugs. You people really have no clue what you are talking about.
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4:00 pm
Making up histories? You need to stop taking drugs and get some education.
“In October 2007 regulations prohibiting the sale of absinthe in the United States changed. New regulations allow absinthe to be manufactured and distributed in the U.S. as well as imported from other countries around the world.”
http://www.thesteampunkempire.com/events/international-steampunk-day
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4:11 pm
My appologies, I understood it was still illegal. Other than that my statement still stands. These people are not drug crazed conspirists with a plan to ruin the world. They are teens and adults who like comics and scifi movies.
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4:52 pm
seen it on bourbon street while I was doing missionary work, and I can assure you the nerds are disgusting social outcasts, the things they pleasure theirselve to in their mastubatoriums are unspeakable.
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4:22 pm
“Absinthe, made from the tears from sadomasochistic sexual encounters is also infused with powerful herbal stimulants, creating a psychic tug of war in the mind of the imbiber.” Again WOW. You think there’s enough tears shed on a daily basis to make the amount of absinthe distributed across the world…they must have and army of S&M people crying into buckets at their manufacturing plants.
Also, Caribou Barbie..i.e. Sarah Palin, has no clue what she’s talking about. Revere didn’t warn the brits. The actual person wasn’t even Paul Revere…his name just sounded batter for the story.
The problem i have with sites like this is the same ones I have with the extreeme liberals too. You all distort the truth to match your agendas. Why don’t you try just the straight truth, instead of something researched by someone else, in some other uber christian fundamentalist group, and do the research yourself. You may find that the people you so revile, are not what think they are.
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4:22 pm
“Absinthe, made from the tears from sadomasochistic sexual encounters is also infused with powerful herbal stimulants, creating a psychic tug of war in the mind of the imbiber.” Again WOW. You think there’s enough tears shed on a daily basis to make the amount of absinthe distributed across the world…they must have and army of S&M people crying into buckets at their manufacturing plants.
Also, Caribou Barbie..i.e. Sarah Palin, has no clue what she’s talking about. Revere didn’t warn the brits. The actual person wasn’t even Paul Revere…his name just sounded batter for the story.
The problem i have with sites like this is the same ones I have with the extreeme liberals too. You all distort the truth to match your agendas. Why don’t you try just the straight truth, instead of something researched by someone else, in some other uber christian fundamentalist group, and do the research yourself. You may find that the people you so revile, are not what think they are.
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4:24 pm
Sorry for double post, stupid internet.
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4:39 pm
You are quite the hypocrite. Wiping away Gov Palin for her historical references and with the same hand praise a group that re-writes history to suit its world view.
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12:13 pm
I think you are totally misunderstanding. Steampunks probably understand real history much better than you do because we are a bunch of nerds that do real research to write FICTION. We aren’t trying to change history or live by deceiving ourselves. We care about real history and we love to use our imaginations. And we know the difference. It’s like letting your kids watch fairy tails… it’s pretend. Maybe some of them drink too much…? Some don’t drink alcohol at all. It’s definitely not the focus. And we don’t celebrate the birth of Christ on His actual Birthday either. I fail to see the relevance there. You really should do some research with the actual people. Interviews, blogs… instead of writing trash talk about something you know nothing about. Gossip is also a sin.
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5:29 pm
Blanche, we missed you last Saturday. Don’t forget it’s your turn to wear the mask.
http://digitalartform.tumblr.com/post/6437714383/just-bought-this-fetish-clown-mask-on-impulse-from
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5:33 pm
Joseph, you rascal! I thought I told you to never to meet me here. Email me or tweet only! You, you, you unknown person that randomly commented.
Kind regards,
BB
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6:08 pm
I mourn your use of the semicolon. It’s okay, though. The internet can help you.
Can you also elucidate on the connection between Sarah Palin (idiot) and a stylized anachronism used as a setting for fiction? From where I’m sitting, it doesn’t seem like Palin purposefully changed history to illustrate her worldview, but rather has very little clue in how to process logical thought.
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9:25 pm
Way to stereotype an entire subculture. Makes me glad I don’t subscribe to the “Church” concept anymore. You highlight the fringe aspects and portray them as solid fact. There is more to Steampunk than altered history and sexist ideas.
Not to mention that corsets aren’t made with whalebone anymore. Unless they are antique, the only boning you will find is plastic and steel.
Also, absinthe can only be sold in the US if it does not contain hallucinogens.
Do your research next time.
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10:27 pm
So I’m just curious, did you actually do research, or did you just look at pictures and make things up according to views and values? Yellow journalism is wrong. People actually believe this stuff and they hide in fear of the world around them. To anyone who reads this stuff and takes it seriously, I feel sorry for you, and my only suggestion is that you should learn about things for yourself, or be doomed to spend your life with your head buried in the sand, so to speak. Your choice.
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5:45 am
I must say that the author did not do a lick of research. Starting with the hat fascination, any steampunk website will point to goggles as the article of obsession, not hats, to the point that some in community reject it. So much for research there.
Next is the junk-raiding assembly accusation. This, more than the rest, points to a lack of research. The heroes of the steampunk ‘maker’ community have crafted works of art with brass and wood and, yes, parts from cast-offs like old typewriters or oil lamps. These devices are, more often than not in the case of non-costume items, fully functional and represent craftsmanship largely lost outside the hobbyists. Jesus was a carpenter; is the author implying he never took a cast off of nature or humanity and recut it to suit a new need?
Finally, the author maligns the core purposes of steampunk, which contrary to the author’s claims, often examines the truth of Victorian history and its origins and then pursues from there the “what ifs”. What if Diesel never made his engine? What if World War I never started? Steampunks treasure the courtesies and manners of Victorian era while rejecting the social prejudices. I find it hard to believe the author managed to visit any of the top ten sites of the community and managed to miss this core ideal. If not the websites, perhaps the author could be bothered to peruse either of the two popular magazines which have examined the topic repeatedly.
It is poorly written, poorly conceived articles like this which have earned us Christians a name as loony-tuns, not our belief in a God unseen (in the literal sense). More people I have spoken to find material like this the reason for not trying to find a relationship with Christ than the concept of faith in a deity they cannot see.
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11:11 am
This is some seriously funny stuff. Don’t know what’s funnier, the satire that is christwire or the idiots that actually buy into this crap. If this was an actual
religious site, they would be hawking the no evil oil and all kinds of worthless crap, but it’s not to be found here, therefore it’s just a good laugh. Seriously, the people behind this are genius. But the idiots who actually respond to this crap, both the butt hurt liberals and the brainless xians, are both hilarious and sad. A great example of just how stupid Americans have become.
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12:19 pm
You do realize that you just put yourself into the “hilarious and sad” category by actually responding to this crap…
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12:48 pm
you do realise at least half the comments are scripted by christ wire to make people respond
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12:53 pm
Funny way to spell ‘realise’ you self ascribed insider. What kind of internet are you on? I see Times New Roman.
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