The Poles might like these Ché themed shirts...
Posted on 01/23/2010 4:36:11 PM PST by DogByte6RER
Poland: Your Ché Guevara T-shirt can land you in jail
Poland's revised criminal code includes a ban on communist symbols, such as the red star or hammer and sickle, though one artist says "they are no longer meaningful."
By Hilary Heuler
• A local, slice-of-life story from a Monitor correspondent.
Evocative symbols of Europe’s troubled past, such as the swastika, have long been illegal in countries across the continent. But now Poland has gone one step further, revising its criminal code to include a ban on symbols of communism. Poles can now be fined or even put in prison if they are caught with a red star, a hammer and sickle, or even a Ché Guevara T-shirt.
To some, it may seem like a natural reaction for a country that suffered so much under the Soviet Union. There are exemptions for artists, educators, and collectors. But the ban doesn’t sit well with the younger generation of Poles, many of whom see communism not as a threat but as a source of satirical fun and creativity.
“In high schools it’s cool to wear Ché Guevara or the hammer and sickle. Some fashion brands even promote these symbols as part of their clothes,” says Justyna Kopczynska, a sociologist from Warsaw University. “Right-wing politicians are so radically against [these symbols] that they don’t see the difference between being ideologically conscious of being a communist, and just being young.”
A number of trendy communist-themed bars have appeared around Poland, poking fun at life under the old regime. One restaurant in Warsaw fills its menu with dishes such as “trout from the fish shop with the three-hour queue” and “Bulgarian peach pie: bartered for irons and Soviet cameras during the ‘International Tourist Exchange.’ ” You can even order communist-era “coffee” made of corn and chicory.
(Excerpt) Read more at csmonitor.com ...
The Poles might like these Ché themed shirts...
I really like Poland. They have been a loyal ally lately, which of course means they are probably getting snubbed whenever possible by the current admin.
I’m glad someone remembers what they stand for.
If only it were that way over here.
Of course, you’d have to round up and incarcerate almost all of the DNC.
It’s not such a bad idea.
Tell that to the over 100 million dead because of communism.
will they add Obama soon?
It should land them in the morgue.
Yah, a funny thing happened to them on the way to being BRUTALLY MURDERED...they decided afterward to NOT allow people to wear shirts that support killers.
On Becks special he had some shirts. The Mao one had on the back “This shirt killed 70 million people”
Cool. Why should international socialists be treated any differently than national socialists?
;-)
Thanks, but I’d rather have free speech. As much as I detest those people and all things communism, I’d rather reserve my right to wear an anti-obama T-shirt or wear a cross.
On a side...Beck’s t-shirts in his documentary were great! Communists on the front, and the number of people who died at their hands written on the back.
YES!
Those wearing them should be socially sanctioned,
like, not being allowed onto private or business property by the owner. And being mocked and loudly ridiculed by passers-by.
But...
The gov’t shouldn’t be involved in sanctioning wearing a Che shirt.
That’s really ironic, when you think about it.
Obama will have to leave his Che Guevara tee shirts at home when he visits Poland.
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