My girlfriend thinks I'm ridiculous...

[Stand Your Ground]

Would you say so?

http://i55.tinypic.com/291jc3q.jpg

I also have a commie necklace not included in the pic. :D

[thesadmafioso]

So you own some items depicting the unification of the industrial proletariat with their class allies of the peasantry in united revolutionary cooperation, what is so ridiculous of this?

Seriously though, you have to view an assortment of such items through the lens of someone less inclined towards history and Marxist theory if you want to understand why that sort of situation may arise. Obviously, most of the effect of socialist symbolism will be lost on the average person and thus it will just sort of come off as strange to them.

[Stand Your Ground]

Indeed. She's mostly apolitical, but I know she hates the U.S. system as any sensible person would. She just thinks I over do it with the hammer & sickles lol.

[Tommy4ever]

Mabye she finds it strange that an Anarchist has all this Soviet paraphanalia. :p

[scarletghoul]

LOL Why not go for some diversity.. a mao shirt, something red/black,, cuba solidarity wear etc

[bcbm]

Would you say so?

yes, you seem a little too invested in your subcultural identity

[Tim Cornelis]

Yes, it's lil' ridiculous in that it's useless to have a communist mouse patch (or whatever it's called in English). Especially since you're not a USSR apologist, I presume.

[Sam_b]

Yes, especially since your avatar appeard to communicate that you're an anarcho-communist.

[PhoenixAsh]

I think ridiculous is the wrong word to use. I think bcbm said it best...too invested
...and I'll add too one sidedly so (and with that I mean in imagery).

That said...if you like it...why the hell not. But I seriously wonder why you would have them since you are an anarchist...and that might lead me to think you want them for shock value. Thats fine by me...just realise what you are doing.

I have several shirts myself...one with the black cat; one with the black rose; two different antifa shirts and one with the RAAN symbol. I wear them to the gym. It keeps the opinions I do not want to hear away from me...and it works...people watch what they are saying to and around me and that avoids very nasty debates.

[Sam_b]

and who actually wears a Hammer and Sickle tshirt anyways

[PhoenixAsh]

At oen point I was seeing them everywhere....turned out to be some fashion label called CCCP which was briefly popular.

[thesadmafioso]

I used to have a few communistic t-shirts that I would wear in high school, more or less for the opportunity they afforded me to political debate and to feel rebellious. It was good fun for that time and for that age, I guess. Seems somewhat vulgar looking back on it though.

[Aurora]

Best thread title ever :lol:

The flag is pretty nice though, wouldn't mind having one.

[GPDP]

About the only thing I have that may tip people off about my politics is the hammer and sickle over the red/black flag as my cell phone's wallpaper. Well, that and my books, but only a few of them are openly about radical politics, at least as far as their spines go.

Just about everything else I own only points to me being a huge tech/video game nerd.

[ColonelCossack]

dayum... that's more hammer and sickle stuff than i've got. and i've got quite a lot.

[Leftsolidarity]

Haha I've got a lot of hammer&sickle shirts and anarcho-communist flags also. Lucky for me though my girlfriend digs it.

[Dogs On Acid]

I like the key chain and the flag, the rest is ridiculous.

[W1N5T0N]

im not really into the whole political ideology/soviet nostalgia thing anyway...

People who like to wave flags don't deserve to have one- Banksy.

Thats why the black flag is the best flag: It signifies no adherence to any fixed ideas, leaders or systems. it is an anti-flag.

[Rafiq]

I think the makhnovtchina flag is badass, but other tham that, red flags are the way to go.

[W1N5T0N]

black or red, preferably both.
No state, no ideology, no fake idols. (and no fake symbols either)

[Franz Fanonipants]

"bro what i consume and posses defines me"

your girlfriend is right

[Sun at Eight]

I think it's better, if you're into collecting left-wing stuff, to build up a collection of left-wing pamphlets and posters and whatnot from the movements happening around you, rather than branding everything with a hammer and sickle.

But that might be a bit too hipster.

[black magick hustla]

and who actually wears a Hammer and Sickle tshirt anyways

irl trolls

[Quail]

I have a couple of anarchist t-shirts, a feminist t-shirt and an antifascist one, so I don't think that wearing t-shirts that reflect your ideology is ridiculous. My living room is also decorated with anarchist posters and I have a couple of flags (flags make quite good decorations when not in use). Most people I know have political clothing/flags/posters though.

[Lyev]

I completely agree with her. Communism isn't a fashion brand. A hammer & sickle key-ring? Come on...

[TheGodlessUtopian]

Haha....I have a che shirt, a courier bag, and a necklace....nothing else though. Cool stuff, though somewhat materialist (guilty as charged I am on this front).

[Rusty Shackleford]

Thats why the black flag is the best flag: It signifies no adherence to any fixed ideas, leaders or systems. it is an anti-flag.

No, it signifies an adherence to non-adherence. and no, it is not an anti-flag. it is a flag. that is black. that symbolizes some sort of idea.




and to be on topic:

OP, you have more hammers and sickles than revleft i bet.

[Sentinel]

I have some CWI t-shirts that I mostly use when we are doing political work, like arranging/intervening in protests or selling the newspaper. Sometimes I wear them just for fun as well, in order to bring some visibility to our organisation. They don't contain hammers and sickles though.

One has, however, an awesome Trotsky quote about the nature of a Marxist party: "..we are not a party as other parties. Our ambition is to have more members, more papers, more money in the treasury, more deputies. All that is necessary, but only as a means. Our aim is the full material and spiritual liberation of the toilers and exploited though the socialist revolution.'

Of course one has to stand quite close to me for a while in order to read all that. :(

[Lunatic Concept]

I found a big hammer and sickle flag left over at the london student protests :)
Few political t-shirts and a load of posters on ma wall. No hammer and sickle keyrings though :D

[W1N5T0N]

No, it signifies an adherence to non-adherence. and no, it is not an anti-flag. it is a flag. that is black. that symbolizes some sort of idea.

an adherence to non-adherence is a contradiction.
the black flag simply is a signal of rejection of political and hierarchical sytems.
The soviet flag is today...more of a warning than some kind of advertisement for a product.

Soviet Russia: good idea, but basically after 1921 the shit hit the fan...

[The Dark Side of the Moon]

not ridiculous

[Tim Finnegan]

Well, personally, I have a few non-specifically leftie shirts, some leftie band shirts, and a couple of jackets with a few buttons and patches on them. Hopefully that's not too crass? ;)


Thats why the black flag is the best flag: It signifies no adherence to any fixed ideas, leaders or systems. it is an anti-flag.
And the red flag signifies an iron-clad adherence to the international proletariat. Ergo, it is superior. :p (Of course, you can always go Voltron on them in the traditional anarcom fashion, but I have a personal affection for the pure red field. ;))

[Stand Your Ground]

To sum up a reply to everyone:

It's not really meant to be USSR/Soviet stuff, just commie stuff.
Yes, I am an anarcho communist and I do have an Anarchy shirt as well.
As for the key chain & mouse pad, I needed some anyway so I figured what the hell, I might as well get ones I like.
Yes I do like have the hammer & sickle clothes to somewhat troll, although I've gotten more positive comments than anything. Although one person did flip me off lol.

[W1N5T0N]

Well, personally, I have a few non-specifically leftie shirts, some leftie band shirts, and a couple of jackets with a few buttons and patches on them. Hopefully that's not too crass? ;)


And the red flag signifies an iron-clad adherence to the international proletariat. Ergo, it is superior. :p (Of course, you can always go Voltron on them in the traditional anarcom fashion, but I have a personal affection for the pure red field. ;))

I am totally for the red flag, and what it stands for.
However, doesn't mean im gonna put on symbols of one or another form of oppression on it. Soviet Union was a hell for many. Gotta love 'em CHEKA boys...

[Stand Your Ground]

LOL Why not go for some diversity.. a mao shirt, something red/black,, cuba solidarity wear etc
I have tons more political shirts without communist symbols on them. Anti-Nazi, American flag that says fuck the system on it, fuck racism, anti homophobia etc.


yes, you seem a little too invested in your subcultural identity
Maybe. It's sooo much fun being...behind enemy lines. :cool:

[PhoenixAsh]

[s
You jelly OP? :P

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6031/5895022337_8a0ebd763a.jpg


Party member cards/booklets from my mother & the ones I kept for some reason.

The top stack are illegal communist papers from WWII my grandfather printed. I had the whole range from the start to the first liberation edition...but my ex spilled cola on them and they were pretty much ruined. As was the Nazi wanted poster for my grandfather...which featured a scetch which, for some reason, was really accurate....

The two open papers are party papers you may not see it immediately...but the guy in both pictures is the same guy.

And that ashtray...I bet that asthray will get you really excited :D Here....I made a close up:

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5309/5895022449_4ff5995676_m.jpg



ahhh...the top news paper is from 1947...features an article from the may celebration. It states that 12000 members of the communist party were gathered in The Hague to celebrate may day. The guy in the picture was the president of the committee and wasn't there because he was in hospital.


http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6021/5895022669_fab1935f81.jpg
and some other stuff my grandfather and parents were gifted....

The yellow-black medal was a gift from a soviet dignitary who visited my grandfather....which pissed of Saul de Groot the leader of the Dutch communist party. My mother said she liked the shiny thing and he gave it to her. It features Stalin.

The grey thing on the top right is actually a phoenician coin somewhere before christ...I put it in there because for some reason I found it again in some shoe box amongst this stuff.




http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5066/5895022887_4e43766e22_m.jpg

This is the resistance cross medal from my grandmother which she gave to me a week before she died. My grandfather had a larger one...but my parents keep that one.

After the war the Queen invited a lot of resistance members to stay at her palace to recuperate. Including communists. She was actually quite fond of them regardless of political outlook. My grandmother and my mother stayed there.

My mother actually met our current Queen in the gardens and she wanted my mother to tie her shoes for her since it was her first week with shoes with strings on :D My mother was three years younger than the queen and she asked the Queen, of all people, who that silly girl was that couldn't tie her own shoes :D My grandmother told me this story. :)

I have no reason to doubt the truth since there is a photograph in our family album of the four of them. And I know my grandmother was briefly detained during the war because, when travelling by train, my mother who was three at the time siad to an officer of the Wehrmacht : "rood front" which was somewhat of an illegal greeting of comrades. My mother still has the tendency to say silly things....I think I have inherrited that wonderful trait of her :D



O....and when I visited the USSR in 1994 I bought a giant bronze head statute of Lenin. I traded it for my sneakers....and nearly got arrested for trying to get it through customs. THey wanted to see if I smuggled things in it. Unfortunately the thing melted when my room burned down. I'll see if I can find a picture of it somehwere....

[Tim Finnegan]

I am totally for the red flag, and what it stands for.
However, doesn't mean im gonna put on symbols of one or another form of oppression on it. Soviet Union was a hell for many. Gotta love 'em CHEKA boys...
Well, that's fair enough for the hammer & sickle, but I don't think that a plain red flag is strongly associated with the Soviet Union or Marxism-Leninism, at least outside of North America. In the UK, at least, it's probably more closely associated with militant trade unionism than with any particular Marxist tendency.

[Sam_b]

I have a couple of anarchist t-shirts, a feminist t-shirt and an antifascist one, so I don't think that wearing t-shirts that reflect your ideology is ridiculous.

The point is that it isn't really his ideology.

[Susurrus]

I prefer hats myself. Got a Chinese communist hat, a Che beret I picked up in Cuba, an East German winter hat, a Soviet cap w/sideflaps from the Afghan war, and, of course, a Soviet ushanka.

Pins are also a good and cheap way to show one's political affiliation.

I also have a soviet flag. I think the reason hammer and sickle flags outnumber black and red and black flags is because of their availability, and the fact that people will recognize them. Plus it's great for trolling Teabaggers, and reenacting Raising the Flag Over the Reichstag.

[W1N5T0N]

Well, that's fair enough for the hammer & sickle, but I don't think that a plain red flag is strongly associated with the Soviet Union or Marxism-Leninism, at least outside of North America. In the UK, at least, it's probably more closely associated with militant trade unionism than with any particular Marxist tendency.


As i stated earlier, the virgin red flag is very different from the soviet one, and i embrace it.

[W1N5T0N]

red/red'n'black flags: DIY?

[nuisance]

I've got a class war polo and an antifascist shirt (and one that i nicked off a mate), i think that's about it. did have an Anarchist Federation one also, well, until i fled the org.
but yeah, the whole hammer and sickle shit is a bit bad imo.

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

I have a home-made red and black cloth that can be used as a bandana, mask, flag, whatever. I also have a black t-shirt with a red hammer and sickle on it. But that's it.

[hatzel]

I have never in my life possessed any kind of political slogan / symbol t-shirt. I float around people with all that stuff, and antifa symbols, and slogans about veganism, and whilst I can kind of understand them being worn at meetings and congresses and stuff, I cannot for the life of me figure out why people just walking around in their everyday lives don't wear...you know...normal clothes...I mean, what's wrong with a nice button-up shirt or something? :rolleyes:

[Roach]

I dont understand people obsessed with leftist themed clothing, maybe some need to indentify yourself to this political tendency, but for me, it looks a little useless, as if socialism was only about hammer and sickles and che faces, not really about working class struggle and marxism.

It fails to give a political message and makes Communists look like some members of a silly sub-culture, it makes the hammer and sickle look like a left swastika and all communists as che cultists. I actually own a soviet ushanka, since it was a gift from a friend of mine who traveled to Europe years ago, but it almost never sees the light of day, and in the rare occasions I put it on my head, it is only so because of a joke.

But that is just my opinion, so dont get angry please.

[PhoenixAsh]

Well...ity takes all sorts.

Some symbolism will draw peoples attention and that will open the possibility of debate where previously there was none.

If I wear my Black Rose or Fighting Cat polo-shirts I often get people who comment on it and that has given a lot of people food for thought and ideas which they previously did not think about. I am usually very open and easilly approachable...so for me that works.

And seeing symbolism (the serious symbolism) means people will get used to it being around. They will not see it as such a fringe movement anymore...it kind of counter acts the propaganda. But yes...it matters what you are wearing; how you look and how you act for that to work.

[NoOneIsIllegal]

I have a red and black flag, and two General Strike posters. Nothing else I think (clothing wise, I wear a lot of band shirts, button ups, sweaters. no politics dawg)

[tracher999]

fuck that girlfriend go on with your life
thats why i need no girls in my life
fuck all that i love you shit

greetings:cool:

[praxis1966]

red/red'n'black flags: DIY?

You could go that route, but if you can't sew AK Press will sell you one: http://www.akpress.org/1997/items/anarchosynidicalistflag

I actually have a bunch of political T-shirts, but I'm trying to shift away from them. Mostly I wore them in my late teens early 20s when I was out to shock people and get attention. Now that I've gotten a little older I don't want them to see me coming. :ninja:

[wunderbar]

I've got a red flag, a red flag with an IWW logo that I painted on, an IWW cap, a "Castro hat" that I got in Cuba, and a ton of buttons (many of which I don't wear, I just like collecting political buttons). My next flag project will probably be a red/black flag.

[Sasha]

i'm such an lifestylist that almost all my clothing is political and my house is covered in posters and flags and such.
but yeah, there is an difference between wearing an nicely designed political t-shirt like this:
http://www.fireandflames.com/temp/dev/images/ShirtFFOldSchoolBlack.jpg
which could very well have been me standing before my sticker wall

and looking like this:
http://image.bayimg.com/hammpaace.jpg
http://thumbnails.truveo.com/0011/7D/C5/7DC5BCC17222D7A9D7A3D5_Large.jpg

if you more look like the latter than the former than yes, your girlfriends is right and yes you are ridiculous

[Sasha]

[s
You jelly OP? :P




http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5066/5895022887_4e43766e22_m.jpg

This is the resistance cross medal from my grandmother which she gave to me a week before she died. My grandfather had a larger one...but my parents keep that one.

After the war the Queen invited a lot of resistance members to stay at her palace to recuperate. Including communists. She was actually quite fond of them regardless of political outlook. My grandmother and my mother stayed there.

My mother actually met our current Queen in the gardens and she wanted my mother to tie her shoes for her since it was her first week with shoes with strings on :D My mother was three years younger than the queen and she asked the Queen, of all people, who that silly girl was that couldn't tie her own shoes :D My grandmother told me this story. :)

I have no reason to doubt the truth since there is a photograph in our family album of the four of them. And I know my grandmother was briefly detained during the war because, when travelling by train, my mother who was three at the time siad to an officer of the Wehrmacht : "rood front" which was somewhat of an illegal greeting of comrades. My mother still has the tendency to say silly things....I think I have inherrited that wonderful trait of her :D


great story, my great grandpa refused his "verzetskruis" and all other royal medals because of the velser affaire (betrayel of communist resistance fighters by royalist ones presumably on orders from the government in exile), prins bernhard (ex-nazi husband of the then queen made "commander of the resistance" while in exile) and the fact that his sons (who fought in spain as well as the resistance) still didnt get their dutch citizenship back while dutch nazi's who fought in the east didnt even loose it.

i dont have much WW2 stuff, my grandpa had some spanish civil war stuff but most of that went to the union museum or the IISG, i only kept the one poster that was an double.
i'm sure his brother who was actually in spain and in the resistance and remained an communist had a lot more but i never seen him since i politicized (he developed alzheimer by then) and found it weird to claim part of his inheritance when he died since i never saw him. but i think everything went to the IISG so i can see it there

[praxis1966]

i'm such an lifestylist that almost all my clothing is political and my house is covered in posters and flags and such.
but yeah, there is an difference between wearing an nicely designed political t-shirt like this:
http://www.fireandflames.com/temp/dev/images/ShirtFFOldSchoolBlack.jpg
which could very well have been me standing before my sticker wall

and looking like this:
http://image.bayimg.com/hammpaace.jpghttp://thumbnails.truveo.com/0011/7D/C5/7DC5BCC17222D7A9D7A3D5_Large.jpg

if you more look like the latter than the former than yes, your girlfriends is right and yes you are ridiculous

Your second graphic isn't showing up, homie.

[Triple A]

leave your girlfriend and marry me?

[The Teacher]

I'm not a communist but I want to get a hammer and sickle shirt just to piss off rednecks.

[hatzel]

leave your girlfriend and marry me?

One of the more outlandish proposals I've seen in recent times. Still, good to break out of the ol' swanky restaurant, down on one knee etc. etc. idea. Modern! :rolleyes:

[ComradeGrant]

I have a couple white t-shirts that I drew leftist things on in sharpie. I have an environmentalist shirt and a Che shirt my friend gave me but other than that my clothing isn't particularly leftist. I do have a Soviet flag that I'm going to troll nationalists with later though.

[Aspiring Humanist]

Anarcho-communist

Soviet flags, keychains, assorted nick nacks
Um what
I kind of have to agree with your girlfriend here

[Stand Your Ground]

Um what
I kind of have to agree with your girlfriend here
It's not meant to be Soviet stuff, not every hammer & sickle means USSR. Why can't an anarcho communist have hammer & sickle stuff?

I would like an anarcho communist flag but I can't find one that I care for. I want one that looks like my avatar.

[Stand Your Ground]

I used to have a few communistic t-shirts that I would wear in high school, more or less for the opportunity they afforded me to political debate and to feel rebellious. It was good fun for that time and for that age, I guess. Seems somewhat vulgar looking back on it though.
I wish I was political back in high school, hell middle school too. Wearing my shirts would have been soo fun. =D

[Hebrew Hammer]

I have a framed picture of Stalin, a Lenin pin from the USSR and the little red book, that's it.

[Public Domain]

I have a few t-shirts that I wear for the lulz and a USSR flag. Other then that, just patches and sht I've made myself.

Oh, and a Che Guevara grinder.

People think I'm loopy, but it makes a good conversation starter

[KC]

Yes, this is dumb, stop being such a lifestylist

[Fawkes]

I have a framed picture of Stalin

:lol:




But to the OP, you basically sound like a self-parody.

[Ostrinski]

Always thought the reduction of revolution to an aesthetic was laughable.

[Hebrew Hammer]

:lol:


^Reaction I was going for, lol, but I do have it, hilarious conversation piece.

[Sasha]

Your second graphic isn't showing up, homie.


that sucks because it was supposed to show this:
http://thumbnails.truveo.com/0011/7D/C5/7DC5BCC17222D7A9D7A3D5_Large.jpg

[Diello]

that sucks because it was supposed to show this:
http://thumbnails.truveo.com/0011/7D/C5/7DC5BCC17222D7A9D7A3D5_Large.jpg

He doesn't wear Marxist eyeglasses; the flags and the hat and jacket are all well and good, but how the hell am I supposed to know what his political orientation is if he's not wearing Marxist eyeglasses as well?

[Tim Finnegan]

Always thought the reduction of revolution to an aesthetic was laughable.
To be fair, there's a difference between reducing revolution down to an aesthetic and an aesthetic expressing substantial revolutionary activity. The question, I guess, is whether this activity is there, and to what extent this aesthetic actually expresses it. http://www.v-strom.co.uk/phpBB3/images/smilies/smiley_shrug.gif

[Fawkes]

that sucks because it was supposed to show this:
http://thumbnails.truveo.com/0011/7D/C5/7DC5BCC17222D7A9D7A3D5_Large.jpg

OH MY GOD I LOVE THAT GUY! "On a 3 terrabyte external hard drive" That guy gets laid on the daily

[Os Cangaceiros]

don't advertise your politics. move through society like a unidentifiable contagion. :sleep:

[Principia Ethica]

I'm a female and I have to admit. . .I find it a little bit of a turn on to see a guy in leftist garb. 2 reasons. 1) I'm very drawn to compassionate and passionate people. If he is a leftist, I immediately think that he concerns himself with the plight of other people. And of course I could be mistaken but I'd assume that he is into it enough to buy and wear that kind of gear. It would definitely be a conversation starter for me ;) 2) It's kind of sexy that he isn't afraid to show his political beliefs that are outside the main stream. :D

[Zav]

So you're an An-Com with a Soviet fetish?

Also, I'd bet that all those hammer and sickle goods were made by transnationals in China.

[Belleraphone]

Maybe because you have stuff with the USSR flag on it and not the traditional symbolism of communism, where the hammer and sickle itself are red. Basically you're unintentionally endorsing the USSR. I'd say that's a problem.


I have a framed picture of Stalin, a Lenin pin from the USSR and the little red book, that's it.
Glad to know you support a dictator who made it easier for the right-wingers to criticize us.

[Susurrus]

I wonder if there's any soviet memorabilia left for Russian communists to wear...

[thesadmafioso]

I wonder if there's any soviet memorabilia left for Russian communists to wear...

I think the rest of Russia has already sold it to the 'communist' youths of America, so they can lead a revolution and that sort of thing.

In the name of full disclosure though, I should admit that I am more than guilty of helping to drain their surpluses. In addition to this, I have a slew of lapel pins which adorn any jacket I wear out to public. I find it to be a more subtle alternative to the che t shirt, one which still allows a political point to be made.

http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/ee425/thesadmafioso/IMG_0178.jpg
http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/ee425/thesadmafioso/IMG_0172.jpg
http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/ee425/thesadmafioso/IMG_0175.jpg

[MarxSchmarx]

If anything your girlfriend is being diplomatic. The fact that you need materialist, external confirmation of your politics in the form of trinkets such as those depicted indicates you are insecure about your leftism. A real leftist worker won't have a need for such trifles - just a red tie to wear on May Day is the only wardrobe a leftist man should have.

[Fawkes]

A real leftist worker won't have a need for such trifles - just a red tie to wear on May Day is the only wardrobe a leftist man should have.

Fatigues (http://cdn1.beeffco.com/files/poll-images/normal/fidel-castro_1426.jpg) or gtfo

[Fawkes]

Anyone else think of this when they see the thread title?
RhalnCwP82s


(this is not an endorsement of this lame song or its sexist language)

[Hebrew Hammer]

Glad to know you support a dictator who made it easier for the right-wingers to criticize us.

Blah blah blah blah.

[La Comédie Noire]

The only thing I own with leftists symbols are books.

[Hebrew Hammer]

The only thing I own with leftists symbols are books.

I think I own maybe 2 books with an actual Communist/leftist symbol on the cover. One is my edition of the Manifesto but it's not blatantly on there and one is some library book on Communism that I got for free because it was about to be thrown away and was written during the Cold War era. Haven't really seen to many of those.

[Agent Ducky]

I can't talk, I'm the one who made communist glasses.... Actually, with all that stuff you'd probably like communist glasses.....

[Tommy4ever]

I can't talk, I'm the one who made communist glasses.... Actually, with all that stuff you'd probably like communist glasses.....

What are communist glasses? I mean, I get they are glasses, but what makes them communist?

[W1N5T0N]

Because a communist is wearing them.

[Olentzero]

Back in the late '80s, a company called Peace Frogs put out a line of shorts with various country flags - I picked up the USSR version and still have it around somewhere (though the intervening 25 years has made the fit a little... tighter). Used to wear those to gym class a lot. Got a couple USSR flags and a shitload of Soviet pins - most of those were from my time in St. Petersburg when you could buy 'em by the bucketful for cheap.

Also got a bust of Lenin from an antique shop on Nevsky Prospekt which still graces my bookcase full of political books, and a good collection of leftist T-shirts from various demonstrations and conferences (including my favorite - a black T-shirt that says "BOLSHEVIK", which is now so old that it only comes out for special occasions like May Day when it's warm and sunny.)

But getting stuff simply because it has a hammer and sickle on it? Borderline ridiculous. It's like someone who gets stuff simply because it's got a frog or a cat on it and they like frogs or cats. You end up with a lot of trinkets that do little more than collect dust. Get some theoretical lit, subscribe to a radical newspaper or magazine, friggin' hunt down a copy of Land and Freedom and watch it. There are better ways to dispose of your disposable income.

[Tim Finnegan]

A real leftist worker won't have a need for such trifles - just a red tie to wear on May Day is the only wardrobe a leftist man should have.
Ah, but surely self-denial is a form of resistance to an existing desire? A real real leftist worker should be able to deck himself head to toe in leftist iconography, because he knows that he could drop it all at a moments notice and not miss a thing. ;) (I mean, not that he should actually do it, cos he'd look like a berk, but you can see what I'm getting at.)

[AmericanCommie421]

In Soviet Russia girlfriend thinks you're ridiculous!

[Manic Impressive]

I've got a hoody with a hammer and sickle on it, I don't wear it much but I will wear it down the pub on occasion. For the same reason as Hindsight said, sometimes to spark conversation and debate but also sometimes confrontation which I am not adversed to. But mainly I get very positive responses since wearing it to my local kebab shop I get extra meat on my kebabs :D. The worst response I have ever got while wearing it was from an "anarchist" who called me a Nazi.

p.s. comrade Tim sexist language tut tut

Berk = Berkshire Hunt = C C C......

[Tim Finnegan]

p.s. comrade Tim sexist language tut tut

Berk = Berkshire Hunt = C C C......
Oh, I honestly wasn't aware of that. We don't have rhyming slang up here.

[Susurrus]

friggin' hunt down a copy of Land and Freedom and watch it.

Ken Loach put it on youtube for free you know.

[Manic Impressive]

Oh, I honestly wasn't aware of that. We don't have rhyming slang up here.
No worries me china plate I didn't mean to Zeta Jones. Us crafty cockneys are Robin Hood at covering up our sexism in a la mode ;)

[Stand Your Ground]

I don't see what the problem is with wearing political clothing. With how demonized far left politics are in the U.S. (just saying cause I live there) you have to be pretty brave to wear a hammer & sickle shirt around. With how weak & small I am, I could easily have my ass handed to me for wearing something like that, but I refuse to put my politics off to the side because it might piss some people off. For my self respect & to maybe get some people who see me thinking about something other than the Tea Party, I will continue to wear what I wear, no matter what others think of me. :cool:

Edit: And to the Offspring song posted, I have a job, it may be part time but it's still a job.

[Stand Your Ground]

Back in the late '80s, a company called Peace Frogs put out a line of shorts with various country flags - I picked up the USSR version and still have it around somewhere (though the intervening 25 years has made the fit a little... tighter). Used to wear those to gym class a lot. Got a couple USSR flags and a shitload of Soviet pins - most of those were from my time in St. Petersburg when you could buy 'em by the bucketful for cheap.

Also got a bust of Lenin from an antique shop on Nevsky Prospekt which still graces my bookcase full of political books, and a good collection of leftist T-shirts from various demonstrations and conferences (including my favorite - a black T-shirt that says "BOLSHEVIK", which is now so old that it only comes out for special occasions like May Day when it's warm and sunny.)

But getting stuff simply because it has a hammer and sickle on it? Borderline ridiculous. It's like someone who gets stuff simply because it's got a frog or a cat on it and they like frogs or cats. You end up with a lot of trinkets that do little more than collect dust. Get some theoretical lit, subscribe to a radical newspaper or magazine, friggin' hunt down a copy of Land and Freedom and watch it. There are better ways to dispose of your disposable income.
The things I have I usually have needed anyway. I need shirts & hoodies for obvious reasons, mousepad for my desk, keychain to help keep track of my keys, and the flag was just because I wanted one. Like I said before, if I need something, I might as well buy one I like.

[Tommy4ever]

I don't see what the problem is with wearing political clothing. With how demonized far left politics are in the U.S. (just saying cause I live there) you have to be pretty brave to wear a hammer & sickle shirt around. With how weak & small I am, I could easily have my ass handed to me for wearing something like that, but I refuse to put my politics off to the side because it might piss some people off. For my self respect & to maybe get some people who see me thinking about something other than the Tea Party, I will continue to wear what I wear, no matter what others think of me. :cool:

Edit: And to the Offspring song posted, I have a job, it may be part time but it's still a job.

But the fact is you are not even wearing clothes that identify your political identity as an anarchist, you are wearing clothes that identify you as a Sovietophile - something an anarchist really shouldn't be ....

[ellipsis]

and who actually wears a Hammer and Sickle tshirt anyways

Me. But its a "The Red Son" t-shirt made for the comic, so Hammer and Sickle in a Superman "S" style.

to OP:
Especially if you were it all at once. you might want to branch out, and make some Sickle-A t-shirt. Thanks RAAN!

[praxis1966]

But the fact is you are not even wearing clothes that identify your political identity as an anarchist, you are wearing clothes that identify you as a Sovietophile - something an anarchist really shouldn't be ....

Well, as I said earlier I have shifted away from political clothing. However, in SYG's defense, nobody gives a flying fuck about anarchist symbols. They don't hold the same cultural value that hammers and sickles do. I own a shirt with a big ass circle A on it and I never got the same kind of stares I did when I wore my only hammer and sickle T. The circle A is so played out people just assume you're some silly teenager... And in my estimation about 99% of Americans have no idea what a sab cat actually means. So, if you're trying to advertise the fact that you're a revolutionary leftist in the US, really nothing but the old hammer and sickle will do.

Do I agree that it's a good idea? Not particularly. When I wanted to do some IRL trolling I went a much different route. For instance, I used to work in what can only be described as a dive bar in the Deep South. The owners couldn't have given a shit what I wore to work, but considering the clientele (and some of the other employees in fact) I decided to wear my Malcolm X T-shirt to work one night (and I'm lily white for the record). Oh, you should have seen the looks... Only one guy actually said anything to me (he was a friend of the owners) but the rest were too intimidated by the fact that I had the authority to chuck them out of their favorite watering hole to make a fuss. It was great... The odd thing was, every night after about 10 pm the clientele went from mostly older working class whites to a genuinely diverse mix of young folks (who were getting off of their restaurant jobs)... I was pretty friendly with most of them, and several of them thought it was hilarious and gutsy as hell.

[Agent Ducky]

What are communist glasses? I mean, I get they are glasses, but what makes them communist?
This is going to sound weird, but it's like, 3D glasses with no lenses covered in red duct tape with the hammer and sickle drawn on the lenses. You don't wear them like normal glasses because it's hard to see. Yes, I'm weird for making that, but I made them kinda on accident. My brother and I were playing with duct tape and covering random stuff and we covered the glasses and I was like... these could use a hammer and sickle.
I have a picture of them somewhere.......

[Diello]

Berk = Berkshire Hunt = C C C......

You know, I never knew the etymology of "berk" until now.

[Die Rote Fahne]

I have a communist party t shirt...you know the one...Marx witha lampshade...classic.

That's all I have.

[Stand Your Ground]

But the fact is you are not even wearing clothes that identify your political identity as an anarchist, you are wearing clothes that identify you as a Sovietophile - something an anarchist really shouldn't be ....
That's not how I see it though, I don't put all h&s's as being Soviet, or just one tendency of communism. When people ask I always tell them anarcho communist.


Me. But its a "The Red Son" t-shirt made for the comic, so Hammer and Sickle in a Superman "S" style.

to OP:
Especially if you were it all at once. you might want to branch out, and make some Sickle-A t-shirt. Thanks RAAN!
I don't wear everything all at once. I wear one political thing when I go out and that's it. I do have a sickle-A shirt as well, but some people could stare at that for hours and have no idea what it is.

[Olentzero]

Ken Loach put it on youtube for free you know.I was genuinely not aware of that. Looks like I know what I'm gonna find for Friday night's movie!
The things I have I usually have needed anyway. I need shirts & hoodies for obvious reasons, mousepad for my desk, keychain to help keep track of my keys, and the flag was just because I wanted one. Like I said before, if I need something, I might as well buy one I like.Fair enough, point conceded.

[Il Medico]

What are communist glasses? I mean, I get they are glasses, but what makes them communist?
They are the glasses that wish to seize the means of production from the oppressive monocle class.

I'd imagine.

[Olentzero]

They are the glasses that wish to seize the means of production from the oppressive monocle class.Rabble-rouser!

[Quail]

You know, I never knew the etymology of "berk" until now.
Nor me. I had no idea that it meant c...

[Landsharks eat metal]

What are communist glasses? I mean, I get they are glasses, but what makes them communist?
Here (http://www.revleft.com/vb/showpost.php?p=2122882&postcount=42)is a link to the post where Agent Ducky showed pictures of her epic communist glasses.

[praxis1966]

Here (http://www.revleft.com/vb/showpost.php?p=2122882&postcount=42)is a link to the post where Agent Ducky showed pictures of her epic communist glasses.

That's kinda awesome, actually. I half expected them just to be a pair of horn rims with a hammer and sickle drawn on the tape holding the bridge together.:lol: Apparently Agent Ducky's all kinds of crafty what with this and that Lego construction of hers... She's like a commie Martha Stewart.

[bcbm]

I don't see what the problem is with wearing political clothing.

it reduces radical politics to the equivalent of preferring nike to adidas


With how demonized far left politics are in the U.S. (just saying cause I live there) you have to be pretty brave to wear a hammer & sickle shirt around. With how weak & small I am, I could easily have my ass handed to me for wearing something like that, but I refuse to put my politics off to the side because it might piss some people off.no the wobblies who organized when it meant getting thrown in jail or executed by pinkertons in a ditch were brave. that you can walk around in a hammer and sickle shirt is a sign of how much of threat our politics are. i think this speaks to the "problem" as well, its a big "look at me i'm a rebel" more or less divorced from actual political content. i mean you think not wearing that shit on your sleeve is "putting your politics off to the side," because politics is just another personal branding choice.


For my self respect & to maybe get some people who see me thinking about something other than the Tea Party, I will continue to wear what I wear, no matter what others think of me. :cool:i doubt seeing a t-shirt with a cliche symbol will make them give any consideration to changing their beliefs

[Cane Nero]

i doubt seeing a t-shirt with a cliche symbol will make them give any consideration to changing their beliefs

Totally...

Dude, My opinion is that you should use these "political clothing" only if you somehow really feel good using them.

Have no illusions of changing the world or educate people in some way with that kind of shit.

[praxis1966]

At the risk of sounding like a condescending old fart, if I'm completely honest I have to say I think wearing all kinds of political symbols has more to do with teenaged narcissism than actual politics. As somebody who's old enough to have a bit of perspective on this, it seems to me that people in their teens (indeed their 20s in some cases) are going to do ridiculous shit with their appearance one way or another. It's ego driven, "Hey everybody, look over here! It's the Me show!" type stuff. Frankly, knowing young people the way I do, if it wasn't hammers and sickles I have to believe it would just be something else, Mohawks and facial piercings perhaps.

Anyway, don't anybody think I'm being too critical. As I said, I did the same damned thing when I was that age... But I think it's a phase most people grow out of.

[The Man]

Behind my desk is a huge Soviet Flag, and on the sides of the wall is a 3'x5' Portrait of Marx, 3'x5' Portrait of Engels, 3'x5' Portrait of Lenin, and a 3'x5' portrait of Stalin...


OH and I have a Che Guevara doll that sits on my window sill.

[Mindtoaster]

You aren't a real leftist unless you're rockin SOME GODDAMN CHE-PANTS

http://www.thechestore.com/proddetail.php?prod=T94

http://i.imgur.com/IwOQf.jpg

:laugh:

[A Revolutionary Tool]

Question. Where the hell do you people get your red, red/black, black, and hammer and sickle flags and shit from. I was at Walmart and couldn't find any, thought I might check out Target.

[Susurrus]

Question. Where the hell do you people get your red, red/black, black, and hammer and sickle flags and shit from. I was at Walmart and couldn't find any, thought I might check out Target.

I got mine on amazon, but looking for them at wal mart? lol:laugh:

[SJBarley]

Not at all, I have pretty much every item depicted there but with Che/Cuba connotations rather than Soviet, roll out the red!:laugh:

[Quail]

Question. Where the hell do you people get your red, red/black, black, and hammer and sickle flags and shit from. I was at Walmart and couldn't find any, thought I might check out Target.

I'm assuming this is sarcasm?

But if not, DIY! I made an anarcha-feminist flag this afternoon, was pretty much no effort.

[A Revolutionary Tool]

I got mine on amazon, but looking for them at wal mart? lol:laugh:

I kid of course lol. Thanks.

[A Revolutionary Tool]

I'm assuming this is sarcasm?

But if not, DIY! I made an anarcha-feminist flag this afternoon, was pretty much no effort.

How, I don't know how to sew and I don't own a sewing machine, how did you do it?

[Susurrus]

How, I don't know how to sew and I don't own a sewing machine, how did you do it?

If you can't sew, but really want a flag, you can just get an appropriate sized piece of colored cloth and paint over half of it with black paint. I like those little red shop cloths for this myself.

[A Revolutionary Tool]

Or I could just buy red cloth and leave it red. Plain red flags are awesome! It's funny that when I look at hammer and sickle flags on amazon most are in the "Home, Garden, and Pets" section and the shirts are in the "Industrial and Scientific" section.

[Stand Your Ground]

Question. Where the hell do you people get your red, red/black, black, and hammer and sickle flags and shit from. I was at Walmart and couldn't find any, thought I might check out Target.
Search Google or eBay, where I got mine for like $6.

[Ele'ill]

and who actually wears a Hammer and Sickle tshirt anyways


Every human being in Portland, Oregon. I fucking hate Portland, Oregon :bored: *Edit- actually this would be far too mainstream for anyone out here. You wouldn't get beaten up for it out here but I'm sure packs of assholes would talk about you to death in private for eight months straight before moving on.

In fact- this is an excellent thread to discuss this topic that's been on my mind for a while. I've noticed that Portland is a lot less 'radical - accepting' and a whole lot more 'radical - social hierarchy'. I like going places and feeling like I'm not supposed to be there- that's fun- thanks gang. I'd like to see more anarchists who don't feel the need to dress as a subcultural clique. Being a punk, vegan or houseless traveler kid isn't a prerequisite to anarchism.

[Agent Ducky]

Lol praxis, I think I'm gonna quote you in my signature for that one. :lol:

Also, if you can't sew, DUCT TAPE.

I should post pictures of my duct tape communist purse with the red stars.... XD

[praxis1966]

Lol praxis, I think I'm gonna quote you in my signature for that one. :lol:

Also, if you can't sew, DUCT TAPE.

I should post pictures of my duct tape communist purse with the red stars.... XD

Fine by me and you should, lulz...

[Quail]

How, I don't know how to sew and I don't own a sewing machine, how did you do it?
You can also hand sew with a needle and thread, which I did for May day.

[human strike]

I can't think of anything I own like this... Does this make me ridiculous by revleft's standards?

Oh but I do have a few old Soviet WW2 propaganda posters actually.

My prized revolutionary possessions are a black mask and toe-capped boots. ;)

Actually the police still have those boots I need to get them back lol xD

[bcbm]

Question. Where the hell do you people get your red, red/black, black, and hammer and sickle flags and shit from. I was at Walmart and couldn't find any, thought I might check out Target.

target used to sell some soviet/radical crap actually. or probably still does

[La Comédie Noire]

I'm gonna start dressing like a sans-culotte. :)

[Tim Finnegan]

target used to sell some soviet/radical crap actually. or probably still does
Radical chic crap, or Call of Duty tankie crap?

[bcbm]

they had a cccp track jacket thingie, and lots of stupid hats as i recall

[A Revolutionary Tool]

target used to sell some soviet/radical crap actually. or probably still does

You're fucking with me.

[Aspiring Humanist]

It's not meant to be Soviet stuff, not every hammer & sickle means USSR. Why can't an anarcho communist have hammer & sickle stuff?

I would like an anarcho communist flag but I can't find one that I care for. I want one that looks like my avatar.

I realize that but when you have a hammer and sickle with a red backround and a star on top of the h&s which is the exact flag of the USSR it kind of puts off the message that you identify as a marxist-leninist/stalinist douchebag.

and the occasional shirt or two is fine, but do you really need a mousepad and a keychain? that hyperconsumerism is what we should be fighting, not absorbing it into our own ideologies

[Public Domain]

I got a bunch of silly Soviet trinkets... But I don't need them.

I'd just rather buy this shit then, you know... anything else.

[RichardAWilson]

I think it's cool, but that's just me.

[RichardAWilson]

Plus, as for the aforementioned, I don't believe consumerism conflicts with socialism. Indeed, in a sense, socialism would make consumerism much more sustainable and available to the masses.

Socialism isn't an ideology of poverty.

[A Revolutionary Tool]

I realize that but when you have a hammer and sickle with a red backround and a star on top of the h&s which is the exact flag of the USSR it kind of puts off the message that you identify as a marxist-leninist/stalinist douchebag.

and the occasional shirt or two is fine, but do you really need a mousepad and a keychain? that hyperconsumerism is what we should be fighting, not absorbing it into our own ideologies
Like he already said what's wrong with getting a hammer and sickle mousepad and keychain if you're going to get those things anyways? Might as well get one that you think looks awesome. I'd much rather have a awesome hammer and sickle mousepad than the shitty faded black one I'm using right now.

[A Revolutionary Tool]

Lol found this website browsing for a hammer and sickle flag and this is what it says on it:
These 100% polyester USSR Hammer & Sickle flags of Russia measure 3'x5', have 2 brass grommets used for attaching to your flag pole, and are perfect for special events, school projects, church and business displays, or for displaying in your dorm room or home.
http://www.unflags.com/rusushamsic3.html
:laugh:

[Agent Ducky]

Ok, these are some crappy quality cell phone pics of the anarchist communist purse I made from duct tape I mentioned earlier... :
(closeup of the design vvv )
http://i55.tinypic.com/2irb66p.jpg
(wider pic of the whole thing vvv)
http://i54.tinypic.com/6rsjud.jpg

Yeah, the colors are off cuz of the stupid phone camera. But a lot of people have told me I should make an online store or something and sell my duct tape stuff O_o.

[hatzel]

Haha, another truly awesome Ducky product :cool:

[Comrade Crow]

I have a black maine coone cat, that's how Anarchist I am.

On a serious note, I also have a black flag, tie and face cover, but that's about it aside from the cat.

[ComradeGrant]

My Maine Coon is orange. Stupid apolitical fluffy adorable bastard

[Property Is Robbery]

Behind my desk is a huge Soviet Flag, and on the sides of the wall is a 3'x5' Portrait of Marx, 3'x5' Portrait of Engels, 3'x5' Portrait of Lenin, and a 3'x5' portrait of Stalin...


OH and I have a Che Guevara doll that sits on my window sill.
Wow, you haven't even been a ML for very long at all :p

Did you buy that all at once?

[Sun at Eight]

Maoist glasses against revisionism:
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReviews12/la%20chinoise/003259_sub.jpg

[NoOneIsIllegal]

Ok, these are some crappy quality cell phone pics of the anarchist communist purse I made from duct tape I mentioned earlier... :
(closeup of the design vvv )
http://i55.tinypic.com/2irb66p.jpg
Between this and your Lego Land trip, you are the best poster. Ever.

[RedAnarchist]

I don't have much leftist stuff myself, and the only leftist clothes I have is a RevLeft t-shirt.

I do have a few books, many of them given to me by a neighbour (I'm not sure why she had them, but she may either be a former leftist, or has a relative who is/was leftist. The books she gave me were either relating to the Soviet Union, Lenin or Che).

The books she gave me are, in no particular order -

The Red Army, by Edgar O'Ballance
Essential Works of Lenin (1966 edition by Bantam Matrix publishers) - this was published in the US and sold in my home city.
Lenin Revolutionary Adventurism (English language pamphlet published by Progress Publishers in Moscow in 1969). It has some Russian on the back in Cyrillic, along with some old English telephone numbers a previous owner has written on it).
Lenin, by James Maxton (Wikipedia says that he wrote the book in 1932, and the copy of the book I have looks to be quite old, probably from at least the 1940s).
Khruschev Remembers (translated and edited by Strobe Talbott. The book is from the early 1970s).
Guerilla Warfare (Published by Pelican in the early 1970s, or at least my copy was).
History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Published by Foreign Languages Publishing House in Moscow in 1948).
The Secret of Stalingrad, by Walter Kerr (My copy seems to be more recent than the early 1970's publishing date, and it was probably published in the 80's).
They Shall Not Pass, the Autobiography of La Pasionaria (My copy is a commemorative edition for Ibarruri's 80th birthday, which was in 1975, and my copy certainly looks old enough to have been published in the 1970s).
Our Course: Peace and Socialism, by LI Brezhnev (Published by Novosti Press Agency Publishing House, Moscow, 1977, and I think my copy dates back to the late 1970's).

The books I've bought myself over the past eight years or so, in no particular order -

Rebel Alliances - the means and ends of contemporary British anarchism, by Benjamin Franks
The Communist Manifesto.
The Battle For Spain, the Spanish Civil War 1936-1939, by Antony Beevor.
The Revolution of everyday life, by Raoul Vaneigem.
Karl Marx, by Francis Wheen.
The ABC of Anarchism, by Alexander Berkman.
Che Guevara A revolutionary life, by Jon Lee Anderson.
Homage to Catalonia, by George Orwell .
Mutual Aid A Factor of Evolution, by Peter Kropotkin.
Bakunin, a Biography, by Mark Leier.
The Great Anarchists - Ideas and Teachings of Seven Major Thinkers, by Paul Eltzbacher.
Che Guevara The Motorcycle Diaries.
No Gods, No Masters, by Daniel Guerin.
Facing The Enemy -A History of Anarchist organisation from Proudhon to May 1968, by Alexandre Skirda.
Anarchism, by Peter Kropotkin.
Living My Life, by Emma Goldman.
Demanding The Impossible, a history of Anarchism, by Peter Marshall.
Granny Made Me An Anarchist, by Stuart Christie.
Nestor Makhno, Anarchy's Cossack, by Alexandre Skirda.

[praxis1966]

Books don't count as extraneous business, RA. You're supposed to have that stuff. :)

[Bad Grrrl Agro]

Indeed. She's mostly apolitical, but I know she hates the U.S. system as any sensible person would. She just thinks I over do it with the hammer & sickles lol.
If only she saw the tattoo on my boob...

[Tablo]

I only have a few theory books and an EZLN shirt..

[praxis1966]

While we're on the topic, I have the poster below hanging on my bathroom door. I dunno whether anybody here has seen it, but it's an actual ad that the Scot Tissue company ran during (I believe) the McCarthy era.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3184/2439695420_e9a8a6f6c9_z.jpg

:laugh:

[Susurrus]

Ah, I've seen that before! I plan to put it one of my school's restrooms!

[Agent Ducky]

Between this and your Lego Land trip, you are the best poster. Ever.

Awwwww, thank you :blushing:

But wait, THERE'S MORE!

http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/281436_1854570365735_1285099774_31506370_7516956_n .jpg

An-com earrings! I just made these today after being inspired by ComradeGrant's story of an apparently anarchist old lady he saw.

[Comrade J]

Can't be fucked to read all this thread obviously, but am I the only one who thinks all this imagery, symbols etc. is extremely pointless? No disrespect if you're into that kinda shit, but personally I find it detracts from the reality of what Marxism is, and is less about your political ideals and more about how you wish to appear to other people - perhaps in a sense because you enjoy courting controversy, which to an extent Communism is to some people.

Then again, at the risk of this becoming the Four Yorkshiremen sketch, I grew up fairly poor and working class, so I was attracted to this sort of ideology because of that. Some people are undoubtedly 'communists' because of the aforementioned way to court controversy and break from social norms by alligning themselves with an 'extreme' political view. This is why this site is so over-saturated by teenage middle class kids who think it's all a joke.

Btw, just a note, this isn't aimed at OP in any way, I know nothing of your life and background and I'm not making judgements. More just a train of thought on some of the people who seem to be attracted to symbols of communism. And I'm a little drunk so if this doesn't make sense grammatically then my apologies.

[praxis1966]

And I'm a little drunk...

There are things I could say to the rest of your post but I know better than to rationalize with a drunk person. Therefore, at the risk of sounding like an iPhone commercial, the only comment I'll make is we have a thread for that (http://www.revleft.com/vb/post-here-if-t157522/index.html).

[Pretty Flaco]

You guys are all ridiculous. :rolleyes:

[Comrade J]

There are things I could say to the rest of your post but I know better than to rationalize with a drunk person. Therefore, at the risk of sounding like an iPhone commercial, the only comment I'll make is we have a thread for that (http://www.revleft.com/vb/post-here-if-t157522/index.html).

Say whatever your point is Prax; being a little inebriated doesn't mean I don't stand by my assertions, just that occasionally the grammar might be a bit off so it might not be too easy to read.

[praxis1966]

Say whatever your point is Prax; being a little inebriated doesn't mean I don't stand by my assertions, just that occasionally the grammar might be a bit off so it might not be too easy to read.

:lol: I was kinda just fuckin' with you, bro.

[Manic Impressive]

Most clothes have stuff on them whether it's a Nike tick or Addidas stripes most people walk around like massive advertising boards anyway why shouldn't people wear a :hammersickle: or a :blackA:. I don't think it does detract from "real marxism" if anything it encourages debate and sparks peoples curiosity. It also counteracts the propaganda associated with the symbolism and gets people used to seeing it. For instance a young guy called me a Nazi for wearing a hammer and sickle I explained to him that communism was the opposite of fascism, so it had a positive educational impact on him.
I've also met other like minded people this way people are like "oh wow you're a communist I thought I was the only one"
I've only almost got in a fight about it once which was with a supposed anarchist who called me a Nazi. He got promptly ejected from the pub and the bouncer came up to and said how wonderful it was to see an English person wearing a communist symbol and then proceeded to tell me how wonderful Yugoslavia had been. Oh yeah and as I said in my previous post the Kurdish workers in my local kebab shop give me extra meat after they saw me wearing it :D

[La Comédie Noire]

My Maine Coon is orange. Stupid apolitical fluffy adorable bastard

Someone should always pm immediately when Maine Coons are brought up. I love Maine Coon cats and we used to know an orange maine coon with white paws, but he passed away. :(

[DiaMat86]

pick up that raggedy old red flag and wave the motherfucker around!

[freya4]

Wow...I feel like some apolitical non-leftist loser after looking at this thread! The only remotely leftist stuff I have are two books: Mother by Maxim Gorky and The Communist Manifesto, both of which my parents gave me for Christmas.:(

[Tim Finnegan]

I just remembered, I also have one of those little Maoist caps with the red star that my dad brought me back from his youth group's trip to China. Does it add ridiculousness points if I just keep it around as a sort-of-ironic ornament rather than wearing it? :laugh:

[Manic Impressive]

Wow...I feel like some apolitical non-leftist loser after looking at this thread! The only remotely leftist stuff I have are two books: Mother by Maxim Gorky and The Communist Manifesto, both of which my parents gave me for Christmas.:(
You shouldn't feel any less of a leftist for not having stuff just as no one should be made to feel like they are a lifestylist for having a few things. It's a personal choice at the end of the day I don't think any of us should be looking down on anyone for wearing or not wearing something as well as having or not having something.

[praxis1966]

You shouldn't feel any less of a leftist for not having stuff just as no one should be made to feel like they are a lifestylist for having a few things. It's a personal choice at the end of the day I don't think any of us should be looking down on anyone for wearing or not wearing something as well as having or not having something.

Exactly. Some people like to collect nicknacks, some don't. To me, this is like collecting stamps, coins, or comic books, only the difference is that everybody here is a leftist of some stripe or another and quite passionate about being one... Hence, the natural predilection for paraphernalia with hammers, sickles, circle As, and sabcats on it.

[Anarchrusty]

To the OP: lots of people think I am ridiculous for a variety of reasons: the music I listen to, the way I look, my ideas of a better world, my shoes, my chaotic mind, my cardigan, my vast knowledge on several subjects, my drinking habits, my bi sexuality, my dog and many many more. Do not let them get to you. Be your own person.

[NoOneIsIllegal]

all I have... lulz. I don't have the spanish one, these 2 were free because they were deemed "misprints" so I'll have to buy the Spanish version. omgz personal info you can see my 2% of my glasses

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v209/ixivtwo/Snapshot_20110724_10.jpg


I just moved, hence the naked walls.

[A Revolutionary Tool]

The only leftist thing I have is a shirt my cousin made for me. It has a red and black flag, various quotes like "Property is theft", and RATM and SOAD because we both like those bands. I guess he got bored one day, had a few plain white t's, two markers, and decided to do that. Sounds like what Agent Ducky does a lot too lol.

[Agent Ducky]

The only leftist thing I have is a shirt my cousin made for me. It has a red and black flag, various quotes like "Property is theft", and RATM and SOAD because we both like those bands. I guess he got bored one day, had a few plain white t's, two markers, and decided to do that. Sounds like what Agent Ducky does a lot too lol.

I haven't made a shirt yet, but I really want to. I have a shirt that I wanna spraypaint, I just don't know what to spraypaint yet.

[praxis1966]

I haven't made a shirt yet, but I really want to. I have a shirt that I wanna spraypaint, I just don't know what to spraypaint yet.

Word to the wise: Until you get your can control down, you're best off using a stencil. This will help you get a feel for things in the beginning and, if you want, do your design in negative space... which to me is pretty dope on a T.

[ellipsis]

Someone should always pm immediately when Maine Coons are brought up. I love Maine Coon cats and we used to know an orange maine coon with white paws, but he passed away. :(

I once saw a classified ad in my local paper that read:


Wanted: Maine Coon Cat, I ran over my last one with my brush hog and miss him very much

also FYI a brush hog is a type of heavy duty mower used on fields with lots of, you guessed it brush.

[Agent Ducky]

Word to the wise: Until you get your can control down, you're best off using a stencil. This will help you get a feel for things in the beginning and, if you want, do your design in negative space... which to me is pretty dope on a T.

I'm definitely gonna use stencils, lol. I know I would fail majorly otherwise. Ok, and negative space as in the design is what's not spraypainted and everything else is?

[praxis1966]

I'm definitely gonna use stencils, lol. I know I would fail majorly otherwise. Ok, and negative space as in the design is what's not spraypainted and everything else is?

Yup. Personally, I think going that route looks more "street," for lack of a better word.