For years, it has bewildered me that Guevara has garnered a seemingly growing number of admirers around the world who see his visage as a romantic and idealistic portrait of justice. Unfortunately, branded merchandise and the allure of Hollywood capitalistic forces, ironically have made Guevara a compelling figure. We seem intent on ignoring how inglorious Guevara truly was, how many societies he fractured, the tyranny he perpetuated, and, most importantly, the many people that died under his command.
Guevara was a seeker of power who convinced the world that he was a successful warrior and a visionary philosopher, when I believe he was neither. The same year, the photograph was reportedly used by French students in the historic protests, as well as by a Dutch anarchist group who claimed they got it from Sartre and by art forger Gerard Malanga. Dazed media sites. News U. Politics Joe Biden Congress Extremism.
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It resonates the type- setting of popular rock band Linkin Park. Both use statements written in first person. Both ridicule obsessions with fitness and dietary prescriptions through the arrangement of text and graphics that are playful in nature. But does it mean that someone who is wearing a T-shirt with such a message has to subscribe to those messages?
Similarly, T-shirts carrying Buddhist thoughts neither impose an obligation on the wearer to follow them, nor make it imperative to make a pledge to serve the message.
To elaborate further, let us consider the specific case of the Buddha, who happens to be a popular T-shirt icon. Buddha, or any other figure for that matter, is devoid of any religious, mythological, and historical associations when seen on a T-shirt. Anyone can wear them without being a devotee.
One does not have to be a fan or a follower of footballer Cristiano Ronaldo to wear a T-shirt with his image on it. A Lionel Messi fan may choose not to wear a Ronaldo T-shirt, but all those who do wear it may not be Messi fans either.
Similarly, one need not have an appetite for or intent of violence if one chooses to wear a T-shirt with a hyper-masculine and hyper-muscular Shiva, nor does one need to be a bhakt devotee to wear it.
Slogans or icons on T-shirts do not call for adherence to a particular philosophy in any form, but it is merely a consequence of certain individuals being iconized as saleable commodities. Individuals or trends become icons or messages only to be packaged as standardized signs of protest, resistance, peace, divinity, and so on. But at no point do these images and messages demand belief, practice, or even awareness, which is a proof of their facileness. Consuming a T-shirt does not entail the process of being consumed by it.
Unlike designer wear, which is purchased to make a class statement, the T-shirt is a mass-produced product meant for mass consumption, and often, a creation of low-cost urban infrastructures. It has no designated space in the wardrobe. It is not crafted to last for generations.
It can be bought without much of a thought and discarded with lesser regret.
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