Tom Gabel of Against Me! has posted a blog entry reprinted from Antimusic, discussing the story behind "I Was a Teenage Anarchist" and it covers much of his political development as a teenager in Florida and on early, solo Against Me! releases:

I got into radical politics when I was 15 years old, shortly after discovering punk music. At first I thought punk was just nihilism, misanthropy, self destruction, Sid Vicious. Then when I was 15 I got beat up by the cops; the experience changed my life. […] The experience politicized me. I dropped out of high school. I started doing a zine. I started a distro of political pamphlets and Anarcho-punk records. I started a Food Not Bombs chapter with a group of friends. We met other like minded people across Florida and started a radical activist network.

The real revolution was the political awakening. That initial spark that made me want to change the world. And that's what I'm interested in, maintaining that fire. That's what the song is about.

Check out the entire piece here.