The reason I bring it up is because of the deep relationship between aesthetics and institutional control. At one time these aesthetics were meant to enforce a

The reason I bring it up is because of the deep relationship between aesthetics and institutional control. At one time these aesthetics were meant to enforce a classist, autocratic governance rooted in deception, oppression and information asymmetry. The designs look nice, gold looks nice, the pope has some nice swag, but it's all a symbol of power. It's easy to forget that when you're lost in the sauce. SS uniforms looked slick as hell as far as uniforms go, but I wouldn't debate with a Holocaust survivor about why they should see the good in Nazis. The other people in this thread seem to have forgotten about the Crusades.