Comments on: Soviet Chic

By: Nikitn

Nikitn — Fri, 22 May 2009 11:37:34 +0000

Retards, Communism, or Soviet Union WAS NO MORE EVIL THEN US and capitalism. Saying otherwise proves that you are just another pathetic result of the US education system.

Clava CCCR!

By: Plainyelasida

Plainyelasida — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 16:49:09 +0000

I was exactly looking for something like that. Are you kidding me about my ideas sales I have a nice fresh joke for you people) What is the last thing a “Tickle Me Elmo” doll gets at the factory? Two test tickles.

By: Thanos6

Thanos6 — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 17:09:40 +0000

There’s also the fact that the Nazis were 100% evil right up until the end (I’m not counting, say, the very brief reign of Karl Donitz). On the other hand, the Soviets, for the last decade or so, had Gorbachev, who’s always struck me as a fundamentally decent man trying to remove the corruption of the system but who was removed before he could finish.

By: AltaGid

AltaGid — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 18:55:13 +0000

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By: tredinertok

tredinertok — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 19:05:48 +0000

Hello

Very interesting information! Thanks!

G’night

By: Brian Moore

Brian Moore — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 21:13:36 +0000

I think part of it is that Nazis and Soviets had (or would have) different opinions about those kitschy items of today that bear their imagery. I have a crappy Mao watch because I thought it would be hilarious to think of how angry he would be at his image being reduced to a mere trinket. (The minutes hand is Mao’s arm, raised in eternally rotating salute — when the battery works)

It’s certainly true that part of it is that some people wear Nazi regalia non-ironically, whereas I don’t think anyone (even Communists) are particularly serious about Soviet symbols. But I’m sure this isn’t a very settling response to say, a Hungarian, seeing a hammer and sickle, who emigrated here right before the tanks rolled in and killed his family, just as it wouldn’t be for a holocaust survivor to see an “ironic” swastika.

I know if I could get memorabilia with the symbols of ancient tyrants (for whom the statute of limitations on outrage has passed) I would. I bet I could sell some sweet William the Conqueror gear. Maybe Hammurabi t-shirts.

By: Sam McManus, totally a Libertarian

Sam McManus, totally a Libertarian — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 22:25:09 +0000

I think Soviet aesthetics are just easier to take at face value. How many times have you heard “Well, it’s a good idea, but it doesn’t work in practice” in regards to communism? Nazism doesn’t have the same sort of appeal to outsiders because it was pretty prusso-centric and brutal on its face; the Soviet “ideal” of total comraderie still has its fans because the evils of such a doctrine are hidden. In other words, the evils of communism weren’t the point of communism, whereas with Nazism the stated goal (if not at first) was militarism and aggression.

By: Not a Libertarian

Not a Libertarian — Sun, 10 Jun 2007 08:36:24 +0000

Ralph Lauren is Jewish.

Posted by: Matt at June 9, 2007 9:14 PM

And? That means he can’t rip off the Nazi aesthetic and use it as part of his ads?

Ralph Lauren has had ad campaigns that directly echo some of the homoerotic, aryan chic of Triumph of the Will.

Once again, if you want to see the Nazi/Fascist aeshetic alive and well, just go to the fashion/ad industry.

By: Jacob T. Levy

Jacob T. Levy — Sun, 10 Jun 2007 06:12:21 +0000

er… free-market responsibility for the potato famine? corn laws, anyone?

By: The Run Amok

The Run Amok — Sun, 10 Jun 2007 05:08:57 +0000

Hey Julian,

Interesting post. I was thinking about it while watching the Soviet propaganda film Jane Galt post earlier. Part of my thoughts:

“Instead of celebrating power outright, the Soviet film patronizes with fraternity. Riefenstahl’s films and Speer’s buildings overwhelm. They don’t seek outside approval, but submission. To a non-contemporary individual who prizes liberty, the Nazi zeitgeist is more explicitly ominous.”

The rest here
http://therunamok.wordpress.com/2007/06/09/uncle-joe-in-berlin/

Note: this in no way implies that the Soviet Union wasn’t an evil totalitarian state like the Nazis. Just regarding aesthetics.