Yesterday, on the way home I saw a guy standing a few feet from me with a sickle and hammer tattoo. I'm not one to take offense in most instances, but this pushed me over the line. I don't understand how the emblem of one of the most murderous regimes in the history of the world could have become acceptable to adorn your body with. If one had a swastika tattoo, it would get one abhorred and ignored and thought to be a true boor. But with a hammer and sickle tattoo the reaction is likely to be "cool, man. That's awesome!" But let me tell you, no it's not cool. It's disgusting. The Soviet Communists murdered around (nobody really knows the exact number) 40 million of their own citizens. The number of Jews killed in the Holocaust pales in comparison to that (please don't take this to mean that I think the Holocaust was not a big deal. Nothing could be further from the truth.) but somehow, it's acceptable, nay, celebrated in some circles to remember fondly the regime that carried out those atrocities. For what it's worth, I doubt most people who would get such a tattoo, or wear a similar t-shirt truly understand the meaning and emotions behind that emblem. Just be glad that political dissidents like yourself are not sent to gulags and murdered here. There are some things to still be proud of in the USA. So next time you say "ha ha, check out this awesome communist stuff," think for a minute about what that symbol means and whether or not you want to associate yourself with the world's worst mass murderers.
On a side note, it really sucks that such a beautiful symbol was ruined so. Most graphic designers, I'm sure, would kill to create one such beautiful, simple, and elegant logo. Oh well.
2 comments:
Actually (and this is sad and sort of sick), there are those who would salute a swastika. It not as boorish as one might hope. But anyway ... you've gotten me thinking about this. Here's the problem: The emblem of the hammer and the sickle stands for communism AND the murderous regime. So we don't really know what your guy was supporting. Was he saying with his tattoo, "I'm into living communally ... putting all of my stuff into a communal pot." ... or was he saying, "I think Stalin is great." It's gotten very confused unfortunately ... because even Lenin didn't support what the Soviet Union turned into, he just died before he could do anything about it. Did you ever see the movie, "Reds" with Warren Beatty and Diane Keaton? It probably came out when you were quite small, but you might like it ... it's pretty long, but good. A worthy watch, a true story about an American who gets caught up in the Bolshevik revolution.
Communism - in it's pure form, as expressed by Marx and other theorists - has some valuable points. However, it can't really work very well as a state for the simple fact that you have to have all 100% buy-in by everyone. And it can't be coerced. So it works well in microcosm ... on farms for instance. Or in co-housing units.
So ... now ... maybe I can stop thinking about this. And move on to something else. Have you read "Animal Farm" perchance?
I guess I lament the fact that such a great and evocative symbol has been usurped (permanently IMHO) by such a terrible regime. The same is true for the swastika. It might have other meanings (sanskrit or something) but you just can't use it that way anymore.
Isn't Animal Farm the one that ends by saying that the animals looked from man to pig and pig to man and could not tell the difference or something like that? I've never read the whole thing. And Orwell wasn't real big on the subtlety was he?
How about Atlas Shrugged? Now there is an interesting book. Maybe I'll do a post about that one.
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