If you want to guarantee avoiding being lined up against the nearest wall and shot by a revolutionary firing line, should the day come that the world governments finally lose it and the people rise up and take back everything they can get their hands on, including their human rights, land, and the means of production from the Bourgeoisie then PT is probably a good bet. Although I’m not as hot on Marxist theory as I was in my student days I’m sure that PT count as part of the merchant classes and hence members of the bourgeoisie but I wouldn’t hold that against them, I mean who actually toils in the fields these days, that’s what combine harvesters are for aren’t they?

Okay political opinion and jokes aside I have to admit that most political t-shirt designs out there combine to make a rather dour affair all round, essentially they haven’t changed much in style, colour or quality since the 1960s “Ban The Bomb” and Che Guevara tees you’ll spot in most grainy footage of the political rallies at the time, but PT have managed to do the impossible (or so many have presumed), they’ve combined fashion, humour and politics to form a particularly groovy collection.

Here’s a few of my faves available at their store right now:-

Devolve – Pro Bike Cyclist Tee.

This rather funky pro-cyclist tee features one of my all time favourite words – “devolve” – if there’s one thing I know the human race is going to have to do either by choice or by calamity it’s learn the meaning of devolution.

Which thinking about it is rather apt seeing as it’s just one letter away from revolution.

Essentially there are quite a few problems staring the human race in the face right now and one cure-all for a good proportion of them is the humble bicycle. Everything from the oil crisis (I don’t care how cheap petrol is right now it’s still running out) to pollution to the destruction of the ecology through everything from road building to out of town shopping malls is caused by the car.

Now I know there’s a lot of you out there, and this includes a vast majority of Americans, who are going through a range of expressive gestures right at this moment. Be it rolling of the eyes, a shrug, a clenched fist or an angry click of the mouse onto the nearest sexy sports car site, but think about it, is it worth dismissing this timeless piece of perfect mechanics simply for a quick thrill of speeding around the block until you reach the nearest traffic jam? The bicycle offers everyone a wealth of opportunity, be it fitness, a cleaner environment, a healthier bank balance, more nature and less tarmac, you name it this simple piece of machinery will (if we’re lucky) most likely contribute to a better life for all. Available in brown (see image), b/w and black and pink. Now get on your bike and save this grubby old world!

Keep Speech Free Tee.

I’ve featured the front and back of PT’s Keep Speech Free Tee. In case you haven’t heard of Mario Savio he was a student leader of the Berkeley Free Speech Movement and besides the act he was an important figure in civil rights history this is a rather funky (if a little basic) design that caught my eye. What I particularly like are the punk/futurist graphics, simple lines created at particular angles have an enormous amount of impact (as did Avio’s speeches). Plus the fact that PT haven’t rammed the message home by cluttering the front, if you’re not in the mood for an uprising you can simply slip on a jacket and cover up the full lowdown on the back of this tee. But whats’ most important is that if we didn’t have rights to free speech (which by the way I am not even sure if the UK does have them or at least not to the extent that the USA does) then you’d probably be reading something more like…

I love the government – the latest government approved t-shirts come in black or white and avoid the clutter of slogans and/or images. Except for this one – “Order is Unity”. Oh are we not a happy breed? So contented, so grateful that our government can speak for us allowing us to work (silently) for the greater good. This has been a New World Order approved advertisement for government issue t-shirts available at your nearest civil obedience centre – available at 50 lashes – maximum one t-shirt per family unit.

Share a Shower Tee
Who said saving the environment can’t be sexy? If you find them kick them in the butt won’t you? Here’s a novel idea, an ecological t-shirt that doesn’t feature a bird flying or a tree or a rainbow. Thank god(ess) for that.

I’d like to see this collection grow, and I don’t know what they’ll end up replacing all the old Bush tees with, I mean I know he was jerk but he’s been a veritable goldmine for the t-shirt industry up until now :p Let’s just hope they won’t fill up the store with a load of Obama tees, I mean he seems like a nice guy but well perhaps presidential tees aren’t exactly the right direction for a revolutionary t-shirt site like Proletarian Threads. They also offer some fair deals on shipping from only $2.50 for up to $20 in tees, (although I can’t tell what the international rates are :/) and they seem to be rather laid back on wholesale charges, if you run a local action group I’m sure they’ll take it easy on you – hey even offer a fund raising kit! Almost all of their tees start at just $14.99 and if you get bored of political fashion there are plenty of links to music and books in the same vein. All of their prints are made with non-toxic inks on 100% cotton sweatshop-free garments so that should rest your conscience a little further! Anyway if you’re up for a bit of major political upheaval and want to bring down the bourgeoisie for the 21st century you know where to get your tees now don’t you?

I suppose the British equivalent of the Republicans is the UK’s Conservative Party, but in truth I’m sure most Brits would say that Tony Blair (Ex-Labour PM) was probably the most right-wing leader we’ve had since Margaret Thatcher! The fact is the few times a Conservative MP has tried to look funky (take William Hague – their last failed Shadow Cabinet Leader – who sported a baseball cap whilst he ‘got down with the kids on the street’, his political campaign failed shortly after that, coincidence? Either way, most Conservative and Republican men would rather wear a suit any day, so the argument is rather inconsequential anyway! On to the tees at Thriving Ink, all available at $21.95 and good quality tees they are.

Captain Obama T-Shirt - what a great name! I used to read Marvel and DC comics as a kid, they were really expensive here in the UK in the 1970′s, I’d probably not get more than a few a year and most newsagents seem to frown upon 7 year old kids buying them, I’ve no idea why? Perhaps it’s the same thinking that went into banning a Transformers T-Shirt at Heathrow Airport recently! The rough and ready design truly appeals to me, an example of real grunge rather than just a few vector effects, absolutely mad looking I grant you, but truth be told I love it.

Let’s not get into a Barrack Obama love fest here, I’ must remember I’m reviewing t-shirts, and not the future political direction of the USA. I just hope that America has better luck than we did with Tony Blair. Perhaps the comparison is slim but I do remember a lot of hopeful messages for the future, yet plenty of promises were broken. Then again Labour did splurge most of their budget (profits from the Conservatives selling off the nation’s assets in the 1980s and 1990s) on the Iraq War, so I’m thinking Obama won’t break the bank by beating up on any country soon. Fingers crossed the US has a potentially great president in the running, if he can back up his message, which so far seems to be about ‘change’, then perhaps something will. I like a change now and again, although changing your mind too often isn’t a good thing.

08ama is ‘def’ as they say in the hip-hop world, again the treatment is great, very grainy, very ‘Straight Outta Compton’ – although I don’t know how appropriate it is for a potential president, I am hoping it’s more than a happy coincidence that the dripping lines look like a barcode, it would make a snazzy subtext about personal liberty. Who knows I could be wrong.

Pop Goes Obama hasn’t quite captured the Warhol look that the designer probably anticipated, in fact it looks a little lame to me, more like something from Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-in than a happening, but I get the point. Pop icon for the millennia, nice idea:/

There are plenty of cool grunge tees at ThrivingInk.com, check them out sometime.

Well we all know how politicians kiss babies to enhance the caring side of their political campaigns so it’s only right I mention the latest sale on at Threadless.com

Threadless are holding a Baby Shower Promotion at the moment.

July and August have the most number of births than any other month in the year. To help celebrate the arrival of all of those little bundles of joy our next promotion is all about the baby and mommy too. Save 15% off any product in the kids and baby category or the maternity t-shirt. Minimum $10.00 purchase required. Discount is not valid on shipping.

Your Coupon Codes: BABY208 & CADBABY20

Political Tees Wanted!
As a matter of fact Threadless.com have also given a shout out to all their best t-shirt designers to start submitting more political tees for the contest, they say that demand is high, so get cracking and make sure you have a winner on your hands by checking out the competition first!

[tags]Obama t-shirts, barack, t-shirt, ink[/tags]

Heightened Security is my very latest design and was heavily inspired by my article on the Heathrow Terminal 5 debacle, not the disastrous opening of the new terminal, but rather the overbearing security and their ridiculous ban of a well known Transformers t-shirt, simply because it featured a cartoon laser. Read the Story >>

It seems that amidst the heightened security and a worldwide (or at least American Government) panic that somehow half the rogue states in the world are about to blow us all up, a lot of emotions have been heightened too. Recently a UK government report, yes it was commissioned by Labour, has given a severe warning to both the police and local authorities across the country to stop the infringement of human rights (as per many EU directives) or have their powers taken away. For the police this will mean no more random stop and searches, most of which have been just about anyone with dark skin (as per the killing of Brazilian man Jean Charles de Menezes on the London tube network) and for the local councils this could mean the end of CCTV surveillance. Hooray! We are the most watched country in the world and the UK doesn’t even have a constitution, we are supposed to be subjects (i.e lessers/serfs) of the Queen. If I’m not a citizen then I’m nothing.

Furthermore I can never agree that it is a necessary evil to remove the rights of all in order to protect the rights and freedoms of those same individuals. I have often discussed the future with my partner Christina, will we sit it out here in Britain or give up and move to Europe where many countries offer far greater human rights and abide by those laws? Furthermore many offer a far greater level of respect and support for artists than we get here in the UK. I have never had funding, or sponsorship, I had a limited grant for university and then nothing, the UK doesn’t support its artists, and now it doesn’t support human rights. I can see a disturbing trend spreading across capital-hungry states of the world, and I am afraid to say it has distinct a resonance of fascism. I don’t mean to be a scaremonger, but the evidence is here already. You can’t legislate the vilification of a minority, you can’t legalise brute force and lack of proper legal representation and due process.

The fact is that apart from the oil crisis, which essentially seems to have begun the day Bush announced he was going to bomb Iraq, the environment is disintegrating before our very eyes, more and more governments and politicians are blatantly controlling the media’s output, we are just about there, a fascist state. Airport Security is a Travel Bug Exterminator.

Heightened Security T-Shirts from only $9.99!

Heightened Security T-Shirts T-Shirts at CafePress.com only $9.99! There are plenty of
other items available organic tees, sweatshirts and hoodies too.

Heightened Security T-Shirt at RedBubble.com available
from GBP £11.94 – USD $23.94

Get Heightened Security printed on any item
at Zazzle.com

[tags]terrorism, travel, t-shirts, airport bans[/tags]