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If Nazi kitsch is taboo, shouldn’t fawning over Soviet design be as well?

by tiahura 5y ago

kabes 5y ago
Is Nazi kitsch taboo? I've seen a few documentaries about it on public television throughout the years.
- tiahura 5y ago
  Let me know when you see a Nazi item on Antiques Roadshow, and its banned on EBay.
smcl 5y ago
The thing is you might be hard pushed to find some uniquely Nazi design people would consider worth fawning over, I think they were very backwards-looking and I imagine they weren't particularly interested in developing some bold new design or architectural style. Only thing I can think of is their famous Hugo Boss uniforms, but that's inextricably linked to their military and the genocide they committed so thankfully I don't think the public at large are very interested in fawning over that even if neo-Nazis get a kick out of it. I guess if we include the symbols, in Europe the swastika is gonna be taboo for my lifetime at least given that it is effectively THE symbol of genocidal hatred. Hammer and sickle is a little more complex - it is connected to a broader international workers movement so I think it’s less tainted in many places. It doesn't help that Nazism was almost single-mindedly focussed on white supremacy and domination, it was their entire thing during their existence. The Soviet Union had its own atrocities and repression, but these weren't the single guiding principle behind the project overall. That's no comfort for the victims of the USSR (I don't think the Hammer & Sickle will be popular in Czech Republic, for example) but there it is. It also depends what you mean by "kitsch" - if we broaden it a bit to include interest in engineering like guns, tanks and planes then this is not taboo (see Ian McCollum aka "Forgotten Weapons" on YouTube who has covered a few Nazi weapons over the years).
Biganon 5y ago
Communism was not built, as an ideology, on the hatred and total destruction of an ethnic group. Stop with the false analogies please.
- cuteboy19 5y ago
  The ukrainians would vehemently disagree.
  - smcl 5y ago
    You’re seem to me suggesting two things that are both quite wrong: - you’re implying that communism === Soviet Union - you are implying that the ideology behind communism was centred on the destruction of an ethnic group (the Ukrainians)

If Nazi kitsch is taboo, shouldn’t fawning over Soviet design be as well?

kabes 5y ago

Is Nazi kitsch taboo? I've seen a few documentaries about it on public television throughout the years.

tiahura 5y ago
Let me know when you see a Nazi item on Antiques Roadshow, and its banned on EBay.

smcl 5y ago

The thing is you might be hard pushed to find some uniquely Nazi design people would consider worth fawning over, I think they were very backwards-looking and I imagine they weren't particularly interested in developing some bold new design or architectural style. Only thing I can think of is their famous Hugo Boss uniforms, but that's inextricably linked to their military and the genocide they committed so thankfully I don't think the public at large are very interested in fawning over that even if neo-Nazis get a kick out of it. I guess if we include the symbols, in Europe the swastika is gonna be taboo for my lifetime at least given that it is effectively THE symbol of genocidal hatred. Hammer and sickle is a little more complex - it is connected to a broader international workers movement so I think it’s less tainted in many places. It doesn't help that Nazism was almost single-mindedly focussed on white supremacy and domination, it was their entire thing during their existence. The Soviet Union had its own atrocities and repression, but these weren't the single guiding principle behind the project overall. That's no comfort for the victims of the USSR (I don't think the Hammer & Sickle will be popular in Czech Republic, for example) but there it is. It also depends what you mean by "kitsch" - if we broaden it a bit to include interest in engineering like guns, tanks and planes then this is not taboo (see Ian McCollum aka "Forgotten Weapons" on YouTube who has covered a few Nazi weapons over the years).

Biganon 5y ago

Communism was not built, as an ideology, on the hatred and total destruction of an ethnic group. Stop with the false analogies please.

cuteboy19 5y ago
The ukrainians would vehemently disagree.
- smcl 5y ago
  You’re seem to me suggesting two things that are both quite wrong: - you’re implying that communism === Soviet Union - you are implying that the ideology behind communism was centred on the destruction of an ethnic group (the Ukrainians)