Editing Ian MacKaye (section)

==Impact==
===Straight edge philosophy===
{{Main|Straight edge}}
The song "Straight Edge" was written by MacKaye for his band [[Minor Threat]] and was released in 1981 on Minor Threat's self-titled EP. It was a song that described his personal life free of drugs, alcohol and "sex as a conquest", though claimed he was not attempting to force the lifestyle on others.<ref name="MRR">{{cite web |title=Minor Threat Interview |url=https://www.maximumrocknroll.com/article/minor-threat-interview/ |website=[[Maximum Rocknroll]] |access-date=November 12, 2024 |date=August 30, 1982 |archive-date=April 14, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240414170717/https://www.maximumrocknroll.com/article/minor-threat-interview/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The song came about through MacKaye moving away from DC as a teenager, briefly to [[Palo Alto, California]], and returning to find friends addicted to alcohol & drugs.<ref name="MRR"/> 

His decision to abstain from substances began to influence youth culture as Minor Threat gained popularity through numerous live shows and sales of their EP. Although to MacKaye the song did not represent a philosophy or a movement, over time people adopted the philosophy of the song and many bands began to label themselves "straight edge", founding the [[straight edge]] movement. Although straight edge is not explicitly supportive of vegetarianism, MacKaye has stated that he is a vegetarian because he regards it as a logical progression of his views.<ref>{{cite web|title=Famous Vegetarians – Ian MacKaye|url=http://www.ivu.org/people/music/mccaye.html|work=International Vegetarian Union|access-date=April 27, 2013|date=April 2, 2010|archive-date=April 11, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130411171414/http://www.ivu.org/people/music/mccaye.html|url-status=live}}</ref> He follows a strict [[Veganism|vegan]] diet.<ref>{{cite web|title=Ian MacKaye on vegetarianism|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1K5lWESm20| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111118033313/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1K5lWESm20&gl=US&hl=en| archive-date=2011-11-18 | url-status=dead|work=YouTube|publisher=Google, Inc|access-date=April 27, 2013|format=Video upload|date=March 15, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=interview with ian mackaye|url=http://rockproper.com/blog/interview-with-ian-mackaye.html|work=rock proper|access-date=April 27, 2013|author=casey|date=November 25, 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130125093708/http://rockproper.com/blog/interview-with-ian-mackaye.html|archive-date=January 25, 2013|df=mdy-all}}</ref> In interviews especially in his later life, MacKaye has often become annoyed with questions about being the founding father of a movement he never intended to start:

{{blockquote|"I'm credited because I coined a phrase and wrote a song about it. I'm not going to spend any more energy than I already have explaining that. From the very beginning I've tried to say that this is not my opinion. That whole thing just makes me realize I don't have any control over what people think of me. And I don't really give a fuck. I think that the idea of straight edge, the song that I wrote, and the way people have related it, there's some people who have abused it, they've allowed their fundamentalism to interfere with the real message, which in my mind, was that people should be allowed to live their lives the way they want to. It was just the title of a song that I wrote but certainly never intended to start a movement."<ref>{{cite web|title=A Conversation with Ian MacKaye|url=http://www.unomas.com/features/ianmackaye.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000303075714/http://www.unomas.com/features/ianmackaye.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 3, 2000|work=Uno Mas|access-date=January 15, 2020|author=Jim Saah|date=March 5, 1996|df=mdy-all}}</ref>}}

Although "Straight Edge" gets the most attention, MacKaye wrote other songs with Minor Threat describing his clean lifestyle as well, most notably "Out of Step (With the World)," in which he said "I don't smoke. I don't drink. I don't fuck. At least I can fucking think." "In My Eyes" is also at least partially about his philosophies, with lines such as "You tell me it calms your nerves; you just think it looks cool."{{citation needed|date=December 2022}}