Communist Chic Marches On

First there were the Che t-shirts, then all sorts of other Che regalia. As I was doing some holiday shopping in Ann Arbor back in December, I came across t-shirts displaying images of not only Che, but also Mao and Lenin! Aside from items displaying communist heroes, there are also items that boldly display the hammer and sickle.

If you thought that what I've just listed runs the gamut of communist chic apparel, think again. To make the commie fashion statement complete, one must acquire... a Castro Cap!



It's disappointing to note that less than week after I placed a link to their website in the new music and culture section of the sidebar, Ropeadope has let me down by adding a new accessory to the communist chic wardrobe. Here's a word of advice to the Ropeadope people: please stick to releasing good music, and nothing more! I sincerely hope to never see any more additions to the collection, such as Stalin Sneakers or Pol Pot Pajamas!

For those who are actually unaware of this fashion rage, here is a link to a link to a Toronto Star article on the subject from a couple of weeks ago. I'm not linking to the actual article since the Toronto Star has the worse website of any major newspaper on the planet. Included in the article are some comments made by Radley Balko, a libertarian who doesn't hide his objections to such fashion items.

Speaking of Balko and consumer culture, here is a link to Kevin Carson's most recent blog post, where he happens to take to task Balko's position toward corporate America's youth marketing and consumer culture. The gist of Carson's analysis is that state intervention has more to do with the phenomenon in question than "free markets".