Matt Brundage

Communist chic

Cameron Diaz What really gets my blood boiling these days is the “Communist chic”, especially on clothing and apparel. Why has the wearing of the Soviet hammer and sickle, the red star (of both the USSR and China), or images of Che Guevara, Marx, or Mao become stylish?

First, let’s analyze communism/socialism on an absolute basis: 100,000,000 lives lost to democide. Communism, wherever it’s tried, leaves a trail of death.

And what of living conditions of the survivors?

The irony of this is that communism in practice, even after decades of total control, did not improve the lot of the average person, but usually made their living conditions worse than before the revolution. It is not by chance that the greatest famines have occurred within the Soviet Union (about 5,000,000 dead during 1921-23 and 7,000,000 from 1932-3) and communist China (about 27,000,000 dead from 1959-61). In total almost 55,000,000 people died in various communist famines and associated diseases, a little over 10,000,000 of them from democidal famine.[1]

Throw in chronic political oppression, slave labor, and a basic lack of human rights (including fundamental property rights) and suddenly celebrities, actors, musicians, and Middle America are clamoring to be seen in Communist-themed apparel. Am I missing something here?

I’ve seen images of popular musicians and even television personalities wearing Communist-flavored shirts and hats; for the most part, there is no outrage! These people are subsequently lauded and with no mention of their disgusting logos.

Imagine, for a moment, if a celebrity were to wear, say, a Nazi or Hitler-themed shirt or logo. Remember that Nazi Germany was responsible for the deaths of over 20,000,000 people — a number that almost pales in comparison with Communism. This Nazi-logo sporting celebrity would be instantly vilified and his career would be essentially over. Well-meaning people would discuss his sanity (a-la Charles Manson). Yet if that same person were to wear a hammer and sickle shirt, replete with red star and perhaps a Fidel Castro-style hat, he would be seen as yet another rational, sensitive, well-meaning liberal. Unbelievable.

2 Responses to “Communist chic”

  1. Steve says:

    “Communist chic” is awesome. I always wanted a way to know if someone was a historically ignorant consumerist tool without having to talk to them.

    But in all seriousness, communism is not the same as Nazism. Historically, most every economic, political, and religious system has been responsible for its share of death and destruction (e.g., the British flag easily stands for more death and massacre than the hammer and sickle), and certain regimes were worse than others (e.g., take Gorbachev’s USSR vs. Stalin’s USSR). Of course these days it’s usually worn in ignorance or for provocation, but someone could represent the hammer and sickle and still think Stalin was evil, since the communists adopted the symbol for its meaning (empowerment of the peasant class, etc.), rather than the other way around.

  2. William says:

    But I look so good in red.