--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: People ask me: ‘What is punk? How do you…" description: "\"People ask me: ‘What is punk? How do you define punk?' Here's how I define punk: It's a free space. It could be called jazz. It could be called hip-hop..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ad/ian-mackaye-3369_able_people-ask-me-what-is-punk-how-do-you-de_621835.png" --- # People ask me: ‘What is punk? How do you define punk?'… ![“People ask me: ‘What is punk? How do you define punk?' Here's how I define punk: It's a free space. It could be called jazz. It could be called hip-hop. It could be called blues, or rock, or beat. It could be called techno. It's just a new idea. For me, it was punk rock. That was my entrance to…” quote by Ian MacKaye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ad/ian-mackaye-3369_able_people-ask-me-what-is-punk-how-do-you-de_621835.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ad/ian-mackaye-3369_able_people-ask-me-what-is-punk-how-do-you-de_621835.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ad/ian-mackaye-3369_able_people-ask-me-what-is-punk-how-do-you-de_621835.png) > “People ask me: ‘What is punk? How do you define punk?' Here's how I define punk: It's a free space. It could be called jazz. It could be called hip-hop. It could be called blues, or rock, or beat. It could be called techno. It's just a new idea. For me, it was punk rock. That was my entrance to this idea of the new ideas being able to be presented in an environment that wasn't being dictated by a profit motive.” [Ian MacKaye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mackaye/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Punk is a free, genre‑blending space where new ideas emerge without profit‑driven constraints. **In simple terms:** Punk = free, genre‑mixing, idea‑driven space. Key Takeaway Embrace creative freedom beyond profit. Themes creativity subversion genre‑fluidity independence Mood defiant energetic inspirational Type manifesto philosophical cultural When to use this quote - forming a band - starting a label - organizing a community event - producing independent media Key Concepts DIY culture cultural resistance musical hybridity Questions to Reflect On - How can you keep a project independent? - What boundaries define your creative freedom? A Different Perspective May still be co‑opted by mainstream markets, diluting its anti‑commercial edge. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Environment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/environment/) [Hip hop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hip-hop/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Jazz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jazz/) [Motive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/motive/) [New ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new-ideas/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Profit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/profit/) [Profit motive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/profit-motive/) [Punk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/punk/) [Punk rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/punk-rock/) [Rocks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rocks/) [Song](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/song/) [Space](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/space/) [Techno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/techno/) ## Related quotes > [People instinctively know the difference between something done with a profit motive and something done with a love motive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-yancey/people-instinctively-know-the-difference-between-something-done-with/) [Philip Yancey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-yancey/) > [We in America count on the profit motive to get people to do the right thing. That's our basic American notion when it comes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-matthews/we-in-america-count-on-the-profit-motive-to-get-people-to-do-the/) [Chris Matthews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-matthews/) > [Capitalism is not about the profit motive. Capitalism is about free markets. What you do in the market, in your free will, is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-yunus/capitalism-is-not-about-the-profit-motive-capitalism-is-about-free/) [Muhammad Yunus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-yunus/) > [Money is an instrumentality of the profit motive and must be issued and backed only by private enterprisers. Economic and political perversities are inescapable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-c-riegel/money-is-an-instrumentality-of-the-profit-motive-and-must-be-issued/) [E.C. Riegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-c-riegel/) > [The profit motive promotes economic growth by creating better products at cheaper prices.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-skousen/the-profit-motive-promotes-economic-growth-by-creating-better/) [Mark Skousen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-skousen/) > [Personal initiative, competitive selection, the profit motive, corrected by failure and the infinite process of good housekeeping and the personal ingenuity-here constitute the life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/personal-initiative-competitive-selection-the-profit-motive-corrected/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [The profit motive is not only fundamental to our ability to reward shareholders and pay employees; it's fundamental to excellent journalism. Far from corrupting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lachlan-murdoch/the-profit-motive-is-not-only-fundamental-to-our-ability-to-reward/) [Lachlan Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lachlan-murdoch/) > [I'm against the theory of the multinational corporations who say if you are against hunger you must be for GMO. That's wrong, there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-ziegler/i-m-against-the-theory-of-the-multinational-corporations-who-say-if/) [Jean Ziegler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-ziegler/) > [We do a lot of things for reasons besides profit motive. We want to leave the world better than we found it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-cook/we-do-a-lot-of-things-for-reasons-besides-profit-motive-we-want-to/) [Tim Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-cook/) > [“Businesses are uniquely capable of creating social value and solving social problems - they have this wonderful fuel called the profit motive.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hendrith-vanlon-smith-jr-ceo-of-mayflower-plymouth/businesses-are-uniquely-capable-of-creating-social-value-and-solving/) [Hendrith Vanlon Smith Jr, CEO of Mayflower-Plymouth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hendrith-vanlon-smith-jr-ceo-of-mayflower-plymouth/) > [We've done education nonprofit through our history, and maybe the profit motive will be helpful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-patricof/we-ve-done-education-nonprofit-through-our-history-and-maybe-the/) [Alan Patricof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-patricof/) > [ \[There is\] a strange split in thinking common to those on the religious left, who are quick to denounce the profit motive and commercialism.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-sirico/there-is-a-strange-split-in-thinking-common-to-those-on-the-religious/) Robert Sirico > [The profit motive, indecorous though it may seem, may represent the best chance the poor have to reap some of globalization's benefits.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-surowiecki/the-profit-motive-indecorous-though-it-may-seem-may-represent-the/) [James Surowiecki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-surowiecki/) > [I don't see much of a future for this planet. I think it's a cursed planet. The boundaries we've drawn between nations and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-carlin/i-don-t-see-much-of-a-future-for-this-planet-i-think-it-s-a-cursed/) [George Carlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-carlin/) > [“Production is carried on for profit, not for use. 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It makes me proud of them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mackaye/i-m-always-happy-when-i-hear-about-people-selling-records-or-selling/) [Ian MacKaye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mackaye/) > [An unlocked door means that, occasionally, you might get a devil come in, but a locked door means you have thousands of angels just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mackaye/an-unlocked-door-means-that-occasionally-you-might-get-a-devil-come/) [Ian MacKaye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mackaye/) > [I consider the piano my 'main' instrument and have been playing for as long as I can remember. 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