Where are the Rosa Luxemburg t-shirts?
Posted Monday, October 08, 2007, 7:27 PM by Lonely Planet
Here's a way you can mark the 40th anniversary of the death of Ernesto 'Che' Guevara: for the next week, every time you see someone wearing one of those iconic Che t-shirts during your travels, ask them:
- so who is that bloke, anyway?
- why do you like him so much you want him on your t-shirt?
- do you think violence is a valid means of overthrowing a repressive dictatorship? Alternatively, is murder a necessary but deplorable means to a desirable end, but not something we should ennoble by making heroes of its protagonists? Is it OK to kill if it's for something you believe in and, if so, would you wear Senior General Than Shwe on a t-shirt if he took a nicer photo?
- would you consider yourself a relativist or an absolutist, and, more specifically, do you think it was OK that Che hated gays because, given the time and place, hating gays was normal behaviour?
- who is better looking: Che Guevara or Gael Garcia Bernal?
"We will continue to fight you as long as we have weapons in our hands."
- Osama bin Laden
"Any nation that decides the only way to achieve peace is through peaceful means is a nation that will soon be a piece of another nation."
- Richard Nixon
"I don't care if I fall as long as someone else picks up my gun and keeps on shooting."
- Che Guevara
- Jane Rawson
Labels: Politics, The Americas, Travelsnitch
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11 Comments:
Would you like to live in a communist country?
Are you listening to Fidel Castro's speeches on your ipod?
Would you wear a Kim Il Sung t-shirt if he was sexy like Ernesto?
I consider myself very much relativist - couldn't quite make out whether this is a good or bad thing in your book though. Therefore I think it quite unfair to judge someone from the past (or, indeed, from a different culture) purely based on your or my current standards.
While I do very much agree that Che was anything but an angel, I also think that it is very much flawed to compare him with Burmese generals.
I have lived in a communist country - in former Soviet Union - have you?
I also have been to Cuba, have you? People proudly wear Che shirts there and not because he was sexy. Haven't heard the same about Kim Il Sung.
And I honestly feel that Castro speeches (although I must confess that my spanish is not good enough to follow them in original) would probably make better iPod material than those of Bush.
Hi peemot, I'm not saying relativism is a good or a bad thing (hmm, there's some relativism for you...), I'm just interested in whether people consider these kinds of issues before they decide that they want to be associated with the ideology of Che, or whether they just like the way the guy looks and think wearing him somehow makes them a rebel.
Gael Garcia Bernal wins. Hands down.
Dear Peemot,
I've been nowhere and done nothing. What I was commenting on was how some people can wear Che like a Nike logo while being clueless about who he was or what his legacy is. I wasn't saying anything about Che, Castro or Kim.
You must be joking about the speeches though, although I personally loathe the man his speeches have a sort of unplanned comedy about them, and they are always less than seven hours long.
Che has became a global idol not for the particular dream he had rather than for the relentless way he pursued it. People can often overlook what the fought for and associate themselves what he fought against. You can of course argue that they have gotten it all wrong, but I am afraid that this is beside the point - the same way you could go and tell aussies to change their flag as they are no longer a British colony or tell Germans that Deutschland is NOT "über alles", contrary to what they sing in their national anthem.
Do you understand that Che was fighting for what he tought was the right thing to do at his time? Do you know what was the situation in latin america at that time? And just as a matter of facts Che dint only represented revolution in Cuba but in the whole region....and few countries far from the region that were freed by the revolution like Angola and Sierre Leone.
At last mh personal opinion is that most people tends to forget the heroes mistakes trought the time, making them idols..that's why they become...like Che..fashionable.
meiktres, yes, i have a passable understanding of what che was up to and why. i'm not knocking the bloke. i'm just wondering if most people who wander around wearing his face on their front really know what it is they're representing (or if they even care). mao too has become a fashion icon. i find it discomforting.
I understand the issue brought up by those who wear Che on their shirts and have no idea who he was and it is a bit of a pet peeve but the fact is that although he was violent you can't compare him to Il because he was an idealist
i'm five ft six are you ? i'm white are you ? i come from a family of four, do you? nobody cares if you've lived in a communist country or what type of bike you ride,what you think is what counts-how many rebels do you see running around now ? it all comes down to having balls,che did,rosa did,kropotkin did.
NO HOPE, NO FEAR
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