Recently I've been seeing lots of news regarding: club shutdowns, anti-rave legislation, and just plain demonization of the rave culture by authorities in general. A parallel can be drawn between this and the situation during the 60s where many of society's ills were attributed to "those damn hippies." That particular culture responded with their music by preaching peace and respect for everyone. Although today's rave culture may share some of these ideologies, I don't think there is nearly as much activism on the part of the artists. When the media stereotypes people who listen to electronic dance music as degenerates and clubs as places people go to only for drugs, how often do we hear the artists sticking up for the rave culture? What I'm trying to say is: Do the big DJs and producers have a responsibility to dispell the myths about rave culture and stop it's persecution?

Thoughts?