Having a bad day? I don't think anyone here is throwing any sort of fit they need to get over.....it's simply a point of discussion.

Sorry, but I find taking offense at someone's sweatshirt reference to a former national regime to be so trifling as to assume an odd fixation exists in even bringing the subject up.


Still, I apologize for my lapse in manners.

What if it were a swastika?

The swastika is a terrible example. There was so much Hindu symbolism tied up in the swastika long before Hitler took it over. It's become taboo in Western cultures but, with the continual blending of East and West, I wonder how long that will remain the case.

OKay fine, what if it were a shirt that said "Nazi Germany".

I'm probably not the best person to argue about this. I could care less what people wear on their shirts. I get more disgusted by some of the shirts at T-shirt hell than is someone was to wear "Nazi Germany" emblazened on their chest. But, people can wear what they want and I can be disgusted as I choose. No big deal.




Now, where is my Anarchy Now shirt?

Likewise, I don't particularly care. Largely because I choose to ignore most of what Weir says anyway. But I do find the choice to be in poor taste. I'm obviously not going to call for his head on a platter, but while the Mickey sweater ammused me and raised my esteem for him in a minor way, a CCCP sweater just confirms in my mind his status as someone whom I don't particularly respect.

Oh great. One more thing I can't wear to the park.

Seriously though, I think that the CCCP iconography has become a part of fashion. Silly fashion, mind you, but fashion nonetheless. While I agree that many people find old Soviet Union stuff to be representational of an oppressive regime - that's just the viewer applying his own point of view on someone else's fashion choice. I'll bet there are thousands (millions?) of people who felt that life was OK during the time of the USSR, and don't attach any of the totalitarian or oppressive tags to their opinion. Personally, I'm not a fan of the "big brother" government that the USSR represented (at best), but I'll bet there are people who'll find a red, white and blue shirt with USA emblazoned on it offensive for just that reason - and I'm including many in free and democratic countries when I say that.

I sort of like the fact that he gave us a range of Capitalist Icon to Former Opressor to choose from. I mean, what a great dichotomy.

What about an FCUK shirt? Those were popular awhile back. Certainly potentially offensive, for reasons outside of geopolitics. There's just no accounting for taste.