Personally speaking, I think anyone prepared to put up with this in order to get to the States is in actuality agreeing to leave their human rights at the border. There are few if any journeys worth forsaking one’s human rights just for the chance to travel. When you consider all the cancellations, air fares and taxes, minuscule seating arrangements, surly staff and invasion of personal privacy, I wonder how long this situation can continue?

4th Amendment Wear is taking a stand, their metallic ink-printed tees and underwear highlight the plight of air travellers the world over, as they breach the American border. The prices are a little steep, but the process is pricey and the concept is so worthwhile, especially when you consider that airport security applies the same measures to your kids. Of course, this is all meant to be part of a peaceful process, highlighting the imbalance in the rights of travellers versus corporate and governmental agenda. “Most TSA employees are extremely professional, so these clothes are meant to again provoke debate rather than be read as a message aimed at specific employees who are just doing their jobs.”

Metallic Ink Tee

You can see from the pics just how well this tee shows up under an airport X-ray. You can buy the shirt in white in sizes S-XXL for $45 each.

See all of 4th Ammendment’s gear here.

When you buy a t-shirt from Print Liberation you’re buying a message, you’re opting in to an ethos that hasn’t reared it’s head in decades. Big bold upper case fonts declare their ideology like a heavyweight knock out blow to the head. Don’t expect ‘pretty’ or exuberant illustration – that just isn’t what Print Liberation are about. Don’t expect glib and throwaway sentiments either, this brand doesn’t mince their words, this brand is about as close to an ‘anti-label’ as anyone has managed to create in decades. Their home grown basic design ethic is born out of experience and need, not ambition or fashionable attitude. You get what you see, and what you see is the truth.

They offer a range betwixt the big bold and rather glib typography tees that flooded Britain in the 80′s and the highly politicised tees of the 60′s and 70′s psychedelic era. Avoiding the petty thoughts of famous bands of the time like Wham’s “Choose Life” and Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s “Frankie Says“, and taking on a deeper and more politicised line more suited to the revolutionary downturn of the hippie movement. Yet there’s nothing sentimental or amateur about Print Liberation’s presentation, with a total lack of pretension, their designs get to the point straight away. There’s no room for art when it comes to this label’s idea of fashion, their hard-edged design ethic tells you why and how it is the way it is. They never cushion the blow, they never ‘decorate’ the truth with illustration and a spectrum of colour. They think the way many of us think, and in turn, their customers help to spread their message.

Founded in 1999, a moment when much of the media touted the world as we knew it would end, well if the Millennium Bug had had its way, a bedraggled collective of burnt-out advertising executives decided to turn the tables on big government and big business. Using the same talents prostituted to the corporations in the name of profit, they began to brainstorm their way through to a new beginning, an new era of indie urban fashion and art. The message would always be the truth, the mechanism for delivery would be popular culture, and the ideology revolution. You’re either with them or against them, that’s just how they roll, live with it.

Destroy Fox News

I spent a considerable time here in the UK, during the run-up to Obama winning the US Presidential elections, skipping between BBC, CNN and Fox News, and I what I found most enjoyable about my exploration into the political process in America was the rapid decline in cheap shot journalism and snide reportage as the producers and presenters of Fox News realised that Palin is an idiot and McCain was about to lose. One of the greatest moments of Fox News has to be the coverage of the empty hall (bar a solitary cleaner sweeping the floor), where McCain and his party faithful were supposed to be consoling each other in a celebration of what they had managed to achieve, even if they hadn’t won. They didn’t, they all left seconds after McCain’s farewell speech. The news reporters were silent and sullen, it was the most miserable night in the history of Fox News. Whilst the rest of the world celebrated Obama’s dramatic win, Fox News sulked. Hilarious. If you’d rather not see ultra-right bias conservative opinion-based news spouted across the airwaves, then vote with your chest and sport the Destroy Fox News tee for $15 in white – sizes S to 2XL.

Screw The Holidays Tee

Christmas is cancelled, or it should be, unless all the bankers of the world decide to shell out and pay for it this year, I mean. What the hell did the huddling masses do in The Great Depression for Xmas? They’d have been lucky to have found a roof over their head and a crust of bread. Yet still the mega-corporate machine trundles on, consuming all desires for a more balanced way of living and spewing out nostalgic sentiments designed to guilt-trip parents into digging deeper. Santa is on crack, Rudolf has been roasted over an oil drum hobo barbecue, and the trees are all dead from pollution and land clearance for bio-fuel. Get over it. Buy the Screw The Holidays tee for $14 in white – sizes S to XL here.

You’re Not Dead Yet Tee

Wake up, get on with your life, don’t give up… You’re Not Dead Yet is a t-shirt that delivers a powerful message. Even though it might seem that things can never get better, this might be it, sure you can have religion if it makes you feel better, but what if there’s nothing more, you die, you’re finished, kaput, zip, nada. If the world were filled with people who thought this was their only chance at existence I’m sure one of two things would happen, either no one would give a damn, or they would. We’d enjoy life no matter what, we’d appreciate it, instead of clouding it with ideas of what comes next. Perhaps, just maybe, we’d even all look out for each other more too. Available in lemon at $18 – XS to XXL.

Fix Health Care Tee

If you don’t you’ll be too ill to do it later. We have the NHS in the UK, it’s a mess but at least it works upon a humanistic principle. Letting people die simply because they don’t earn as much is tantamount to murder, it’s the ideology of some of worst rogue states in the world. The tyrant, despot, billionaire sheik or king have their own hospitals, for themselves, family, friends and foreign dignitaries, whilst the rest have to rely on an untrained ‘healer’ living in a damp and squalid hut in the village. Healthcare for everyone should be a human right, otherwise you may as well hold a gun to the head of everyone earning a pittance right now. Get the Fix Health Care tee for $16 in white – sizes XS to XXL.

Check out all of PL’s feisty and politically charged tees at www.printliberation.com or if you’re in Philadelphia visit their Flagship Store!

For those not familiar with RetroCampaigns.com you can read our previous reviews here and here. This makes our third feature on RC, perhaps we should ask for a freebie or two, and see if we can’t hold a contest for you lucky people. We’ll see. In the meantime let’s check out Abe and Teddy, oh and the other one heh…

Abe Lincoln Tee

This snazzy little number is available as a ‘destroyed tee’ in heather for both men and women. It features an original image from Abraham Lincoln’s 1860 ‘Rail-Splitter’ presidential campaign. What I love about Retro Campaigns is the way they give you the full low-down on every t-shirt they produce, and more. If you scroll down this page you’ll see a potted history of Abe’s political career. He got the nickname Rail-Splitter because it was a well known fact at the time that splitting rails was one of his previous jobs. He’d also been a general store clerk, country lawyer, postmaster and surveyor, he was most certainly a man of the people who wasn’t afraid to muck in. I was about to say not afraid to get his hands dirty but that’s probably not an appropriate way to describe a good politician these days. They are far and few between, what’s more most of them out there have probably got their hands dirty, but for all the wrong reasons! Most famous for his objections and eventual dismantling of the cruel practice of slavery during the American Civil War. Buy and wear a tribute to the visionary that was Abe Lincoln for $29.95 in sizes small to XL here.

Teddy Roosevelt Tee

Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt is another historically highly progressive politician of his time. What’s more he has a rather unique claim to fame, the fact is the ‘teddy bear’ was named after him. He was the 5th cousin to America’s 32nd President Franklin D. Roosevelt. This particular tee is from his 1912 campaign, nicknamed the ‘Bull Moose Party’. He was the first man to invite an African American to the Whitehouse, the esteemed Booker T. Washington – an educator, orator, author and a dominant leader of the nation’s African-American community from the 1890s to his death. as a member of the Civil Service Commission and later as New York City Police Commissioner, to root out corruption, promote fairness and eradicate cronyism and patronage. Roosevelt believed each individual deserved a fair chance; with the playing field levelled, each man is responsible for his own success or failure. Get your Bull Moose tee for $29.95 in all sizes for men and women here.

Tippecanoe and Tyler Too Tee

Like I’ve mentioned I know very little about William Henry Harrison, you can read all about him at Retro Campaigns. However I think I get the gist of it, he picked on a few Native Americans, he sang songs about himself, he won a landslide vote and then died of pneumonia a month later. I suppose I’m not a fan for the main reason that there’s just too much self-grandiosing and entertainment value in politics these days. It’s a personality game, with the exception of unelected UK prime minister Gordon Brown who has absolutely no personality, nor soul most likely. I think the political arena is more about distraction technique than solving the country’s problems. Even those with the best intentions can’t manage such a mammoth task. Next time you vote, if your favourite candidate is an all-round showman, they probably haven’t a clue about politics. That’s the plain truth. Get this tee in all sizes for men and women at $29.95 here.

As usual there are plenty more presidential tees on offer in all eras at www.RetroCampaigns.com.

]]> http://buy-tees.net/2009/11/american-political-legends-t-shirts/feed/ 0 http://buy-tees.net/2009/07/the-art-of-politics-at-retrocampaignscom/ http://buy-tees.net/2009/07/the-art-of-politics-at-retrocampaignscom/#comments Sun, 26 Jul 2009 15:45:02 +0000 admin http://buy-tees.net/?p=1174 Re-imagined, digitally aged, and carefully printed on vintage-style fabric Retro Campaigns have just released another batch of past presidential campaigns for the politically nostalgic t-shirt fan. Expect more familiar names from the American role call of leaders, the good, the bad and the ugly are all present to swear their oath of allegiance to kitsch fashion on a monumental scale. Look out for new tees featuring landmark characters of the political landscape such as JFK, Bobby Kennedy and Ronald Reagan, as well as less well known campaigners such as Barry Goldwater and Adlai Stevenson.

It must say something about our present culture when politics of a bye-gone era can warm our hearts and bring a smile to our faces. Perhaps it’s simply because there was a distinct lack of marketing savvy, image branding was something you did to a cow’s rear end, and a spin doctor was more likely busy selling phony medicines and potions from the back of a car in a one-horse town than teaching the future leader of the country how to effectively ‘bend the truth’ to his own advantage. Don’t get me wrong, politicians were always crooked, in fact I prefer the ones who lie about who they bedded and where than those who decide to lead a country up the garden path without a by nor leave, ending their term halfway through a bloody war, recession, political cover-up, or a rather brutal combination of all three.

The truth is no one person is in charge these days, besides the fact we live and die to serve a so-called global market, hence the constant hand-shaking and brow furrowing of just about every leader in the world, but beyond that it’s the corporate world, or rather the few that own the lion share of the remaining profitable corporations in the world. They call the shots. The president of the USA, no matter what his or her name or colour of their skin, and every other president and prime-minister of the democratic world serve the money men, and charge us for the privilege. If there’s money to made then some faceless billionaire or other is sure to back a political (marketing) campaign to the hilt, but always under certain conditions, be it corporate taxes, citizenship, or turning a blind eye to environmental damage, for instance. Still, we always have the soft focus of rose-tinted nostalgia to help us take our minds off the state of the world today, so let’s take a dip back into the corny campaigns of presidents past, and smile at the naivet√© of what was once considered state-of-the-art political coercion.

Sock It To ‘Em Bobby Tee

One of many t-shirt designs for tragic 1968 Robert F. Kennedy campaign, who was infamously shot dead during celebrations of his successful campaign in the Californian primary elections while seeking the Democratic nomination for President of the United States. Sock It To ‘Em Bobby alongside RFK For The USA are two of the funkiest of RC’s collection of designs. Which is not surprising considering that this was indeed the height of the Psychedelic Movement both in the USA and around the world. Both are available for $19.99 for men (small to XXL) and women (small to XL).

Wilkie Minuteman Tee

Prior to and during World War II, the Revolutionary War icon The Minuteman was resurrected as part of campaign to convince Americans to buy war bonds. Wendell Lewis Willkie (who eventually lost to Franklin D. Roosevelt) supported the effort and encouraged his supporters to participate. Unfortunately the term ‘Minute Man’ might have rather different connotations these days, something I’d expect to see promoting Viagra rather than a presidential candidate. On a more serious note after a violent race riot broke out in Detroit, killing 34 people, Wendell Willkie (1892 ‚Äì 1944), spoke out passionately on national radio against both Democrats and Republicans for failing to address civil rights for African Americans. On some counts the man was way ahead of his time and it’s a great shame that the American public weren’t quicker to catch on to the message. Get the Wilkie Minuteman Tee for for $19.99 for men (small to XXL) and women (small to XL).

Check out RetroCampaigns.com whole collection today, including their new selection of kid’s tees too!

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?

For all the freedom that technology has brought us you have to admit that there have been some massive downsides to our information revolution, including the slow coaches in government catching on to ‘this thing called the Internet’. Essentially CCTV Britain doesn’t let you sneeze without recording it on some secret database or other, and i won’t even start on America, however let’s just say if you mention Iraq or terrorism in a phone call then you’re on their hot list, besides the fact that I very much doubt any of us are about to lay waste to civilisation, the alternative is a barcoded subsistence of mutual fear and conformity.

Now if you’re still with me and are at this very moment fidgeting as you wait for a less ethereal revolution to come your way, you might want to check out the offerings at BanT-Shirts.com, a site that provides a chink of light, a hope of fashionable resistance against the underwhelming moral minority that have little to look forward to except a turnaround in the world economy and their graves.

If you’re not a faceless follower of the mainstream media, and you want to shake up your community with a pithy yet pertinent message, then Ban T-Shirts organic cotton t-shirts have a collection that could help you on your way to becoming a socially acceptable political agitator. Ban T-Shirts offer a range of superb selection of printed on the finest brands of American made sweat shop free T-shirts including American Apparel; Royal Apparel and Organic Apparel.

Inspired by the counter-culture protests of the Vietnam War era, the Guns and Flowers T-Shirt is a popular choice at BT.

If you can do nothing else resort to peaceful protest, not that you’ll have a chance these days, most soldiers are trained to shoot you kneecaps away before you’ve got close enough to stick a flower in their barrel, but I appreciate the sentiment. Solid, strong, bold and adventurous in sentiment and design, I wish that more designers had the cahunas to put their beliefs straight nto cotton and be done with it.

The most ‘manly’ thing a man can do is show his sensitivity without putting his meat and two veg on the chopping block and begging for mercy. If you love your woman, if you love women, show them you’re on their side, be a hero and wear this t-shirt. Domestic violence is a serious concern for many women and men in the world, if there’s one thing that doesn’t make sense to me it’s physically torturing the one you love. Hence my love for Ban T-Shirts Real Men tee.

I’d urge anyone out there who wishes to surreptitiously or even subconsciously change the world for the better to consider purchasing this t-shirt. It’s a slogan t-shirt sure, but apart from the fact that it’s superbly well executed it actually displays a message worth wearing. Imagine if you’re strolling along and one guy considering taking out his life’s frustrations on his poor distraught family actually reconsiders his life for a moment, this isn’t fashion, this is humanism in action, and no one can argue the value of that.

I find myself watching Fox News here in Britain just to remind myself how screwed up the world is and especially how much the media is to blame for that. it doesn’t matter what’s going down, who’s changing the world, who’s fighting who, who’s in the wrong, who’s in the right, you can be guaranteed that Fox News will lie about it.

I suspect that most problems in the world have been exacerbated by the likes of Fox who come rain or shine spout the same old same old. the left are evil, a free market is the be all and end all, and if you’re not with us you’re against us. Roll on Obama.

The fact is that user-generated content is probably on the brink of saving the world, we don’t actually need mass media, honestly we don’t. Take a look around, their are even user-generated news channels like Current.tv now that show every day schmoes like you and me filming stuff from all over the world, unedited, un-biased truth that would shake the corporate status quo to its foundations if only it had a little more airplay.

Get out there, kick up some fuss, screw with the suits, tell them what you think , wear a t-shirt from BanT-Shirts.com!

However most people with a political opinion don’t particularly like the opposition, I doubt that many Americans out there who’d vote for Obama would have any kind words for McCain and vice-versa. The truth is electoral politics lives and breathes the antagonism of difference, without it the debate becomes stale, although it could be said that parties in power immediately switch to a politics of indifference in an effort to avoid being torn apart by the arguments of an unsatisfied and even angry electorate. I can’t think of a single political campaign that hasn’t sunk to the depths of bickering, sniping, and personal insults that CF obviously want to avoid.

At least CF give you the option to skip a candidate, say you don’t want to vote between two t-shirts of McCain or Obama there’s an option to move ‘to the other side’. But deep in my heart this isn’t a judgement in fair play, it’s censorship. People love to hate, it’s a fact of life, there will be some ardent politicos out there pummelling the vote buttons trying to increase the popularity of their favourite candidate, but eventually they know they can’t ‘win’ anything over the competition, this isn’t a political contest, it’s a t-shirt vote. Still, it’s nice to have a break from all the back-stabbing out there at the moment.

So what’s on offer? Well for the voters there’s a chance to vote and consequentially buy an Obama or McCain t-shirt when the contest is over. However for the designers, there’s a $250 prize and 20 free t-shirts plus tons of recognition for the winning designs (one for each candidate), and 10% of the profits from each t-shirt sold. I appreciate what Jimmy Hendricks (wow nice name) and his team are trying to do at CollarFree.com, I know how frustrating the backbiting in politics must seem to the majority of everyday people looking for a fairer deal, equality or perhaps a few tax breaks. However if CF’s model was to be taken on by government, you’d have two Americas, Donkey USA and Elephant USA. Which isn’t exactly united is it? The political fires are inevitably stoked by the media, and those corporations with enough vested interests, such as oil refineries and car manufacturers who regularly throw money in an attempt to avoid the problems rather than fix them. Besides the media has it’s own unique agenda, the agenda of fighting the boredom of a generation with the shortest attention span in history. I’ve said it many times before, good news = no news. A ‘pig with lipstick’ makes the headlines not ‘candidate makes a valid point about macro-economics’.

They’re using the popular ‘crowd sourcing’ model that many market research companies have taken up off the back of sites like Threadless.com, and I can see this having a big future in politics itself…

The only way we can take the electoral process to the next level is to remove the media from the process altogether. Get the voters to click on their TV remotes and tally the results. No fanfare, no ticker-tape parades, no public advertising. Everyone knows we’re always going to get the same thing. One loves big business and war, the other favours the poor and human rights, one wants to reward the winners, the other wants to help the losers. If anything I think society is almost ready to drop government altogether, they’ve privatised enough of the services and utilities in the USA and Europe as it is. The rich have private security and the poor are more often abused by the police than protected by them. Perhaps I’m leaping ahead by a few decades again, perhaps we do have to keep going through this ritual for a little longer, but never forget, the only people who truly control the electoral process are the media, financial markets, manufacturers, retail giants, and energy and arms barons. The rest of us are only here to make up the numbers.

No person, no party, no government can fix our current situation. The electoral process has been reduced to a market research tactic, and the swaying motion of the undecided is merely economic. If the economy is doing well we all want to be humane and benevolent, if it’s not we become selfish and opportunistic, just the way that politicians do.

Still, I fully appreciate CollarFree.com‘s admirable intentions, I’d rather CF were in government, at least there would be far less argument (and plenty of great t-shirts for every voter). If you feel the same, go and check out CollarFree.com right now and have your say.

I’d venture to say there’s a bitter-sweet theme that runs through all of Steve’s works, a quality I find both reassuringly honest and revealing, especially when put in the context of his fine collection of unique and pithy t-shirt designs. All of his tees are fair trade, 100% cotton American Apparel, hand-printed and highly original for the most part, so it’s well worth taking a gander the next time you’re passing.

Steve’s outlook on life may be on the dour side, but he still has a great sense of humour, I really think he should be British, we’re all like that over here, except the Scottish who are just dour, (I jest, we’re all miserable bleeders over here, especially since we haven’t had a Summer this year (or not one that you’d notice). Talking of the weather…

A Chance of Reign suits my mood (and the current politically charged mood of the world) perfectly, I’m currently working on my second artwork for my new site PaulBaines.co.uk, which takes a similar path of cynicism towards world politics. Steve is extremely adept at pushing his message across both conceptually and visually, if I was the sort of reviewer that blagged t-shirts for reviews, then this would be the one.

Funnily enough umbrellas fascinate me (design geek alert), perhaps I used to make them in a previous life, their construction, shape and name seem to afford a false sense of security, something akin to the current message peddled by the majority of Western Governments these days. “Everything’s fine, don’t worry, carrying on working, earning, spending, travelling, the world is perfectly safe as long as you do what we tell you to do.”

The truth is there are as many reasons to hate life as there are to love it, and there always were and will be. Democracy allows you a unique option, the ability to choose between a life of perpetual fear or ignorance, that’s a free choice given to every citizen of every democratic state of the world. The alternative is to simply live in fear, as do most citizens of most war-torn, rogue, corrupt, or fascist states out there. Someone living in the Middle East (for instance) will have ‘bombs on their doorstep’ marked as a higher priority than global thermonuclear war or the accelerated decimation of the polar ice caps, but they’ll not be bombarded by any other campaigns, than those of terror. Through social networking I have made friends and acquaintances who have lived through all kinds of turmoil and political unrest, war, feudalism, Political campaigns, advertising campaigns, military campaigns, we can read all about them, watch the footage on TV, listen to the debate, and even risk venturing an opinion without being shot, although for the majority the opinions of the public are seen as little more than a nuisance in the great office of power that is the western democratic system we call government.

Talking of government check out Robit’s Ragingly Inefficient T-Shirt.

I have an inkling that no matter if the Mayan Calendar is right or wrong about 2012, someone, somewhere, will exacerbate the political or ecological climate enough to convince us all the end of the world is truly nigh. The media obsessed over the intricacies of a Nuclear Winter throughout the Eighties, I grew up expecting the Cold War to end with a big bang, seeing as Russia has woken from its pseudo-capitalist dream and started flexing its military muscles again, that paranoid childhood may have stood me in good stead. My advice is simple, if it’s going to happen it’s going to happen. Personally, if I knew a pile of nuclear missiles were heading my way I’d race to the epicentre of the blast. What humans won’t be able to control, perceptually or physically, is the aftermath of man’s existence on this planet, most would eventually die of radiation burns, cancers, or malnutrition. The ecological system would collapse, global dimming would take effect, and what would remain of the human race (if anything), would be unrecognisable to say the least.

Government as a concept is drifting into deep water these days, there are so many different factions, pressure groups, minorities and majorities unhappy with how politics has come to control the lives of everyone on this planet. I think there should be a stipulation that all potential leaders of this planet have a passion for sci-fi and in particular the dystopian nightmare proffered by so many writers of the genre in the past century or so. There’s no point taking away our freedom in order to protect us, the people of the world have a long history of compliance and revolution, anyone, anything, any seemingly innocuous event can tip the balance and send a society in to chaos. Check your history books, so many empires and civilisations end in blood and turmoil, it would be nice if a few more politicians out there took note. You only have law as long as you have the support of the people or the money to pay your police and army, if either fails, you’re talking a return (however temporary) to the stone age, no power, no lights, no transport, no water, no food, the lines of distribution are broken, the cities turn to dust. If I had the money I’d buy a plot on a steep flat-plateau island with enough sun and wind and fertile earth to grow food, and hunker up for the next decade. Looking at recent events, be it Russia-Georgia, China-Tibet, The Middle East, America’s waning economic position in the world, or the India-Pakistan stand-off, there isn’t much chance that we’ll be fixing anything anytime soon. Neither will the government, no matter where you live.

Things have got so bad these days that we’re turning history into nostalgia, to the point that past wars and historical fears of the future have become almost comforting. I grew up thinking the Russians would drop the bomb, it was tangible, it was simple, and for the main part we all lived with it because we knew that Russia would have as much to lose as the rest of us. America even dumped a heap of their missiles here in the UK, I’m assuming most have gone back there by now, following the furore at Greenham Common, however the USA are up to their tricks again and want to plant a whole load more across the whole of Europe, which will more likely cause WW3 than prevent it. Ah well, somethings never change.

Prepare For Robots is almost cheerful in comparison, I love Japanese Manga, and especially their robots, I’m not so keen on the monsters, I expect I’m working on some scale of feasibility here. Even though it would ruin Japan’s economy (not that it’s looking to healthy anyway), I’m sure if any country was to produce a giant killer robot it would be them. Japan is the only country who’ve ever announced a 100 year program for creating android technology, robots should relatively be child’s play in comparison.

Japan will more likely be wiped clean by an enormous Tsunami than a monster, a robot, aliens, kung-fu killers, or ghosts. Japan reminds me of myself when I was a teenager, I didn’t have time for reality then. Oh what a wonderful made-up place the world was then. Prepare to be dazzled by Robit and go out in style!

Again they’re featuring some US political icons from the past, it would be nice to see them expand their horizons and venture beyond the shores of America, perhaps it’s all down to supply and demand, I know that Margaret Thatcher (ex UK PM) has had as much influence on political history as Ronald Reagan, in fact they were close allies and friends for many years, and even Ronnie remarked upon the importance of Britain’s first female Prime Minister on the world stage. Even today, at least in a majority of European political circles, the term ‘Thatcherism‘ is still widely used to describe the trend towards privatisation of most privatisation of public services and infrastructure, entrepreneurialism in a perspective of the aggregation of personal wealth and self-responsibility, be it on an economic level or one’s interaction within society and state.

I grew up through the Reagan/Thatcher years, and learned to hate that time, it was oppressive, materialistic, politically paranoid and filled with grand gesture which in the long run failed to achieve much. The Star Wars Program was one example of Reagan the actor ousting Reagan the politician, another was the Falklands War and in particular the furore surrounding the sinking of the Belgrano overridden by a cult of personality, a more sophisticated circle of political pr experts and high economic forecasts for the UK at the time. But the worst of all must have been the infamous recording of Ronald Reagan announcing the beginning of WW3 for a laugh. Prior to his weekly radio address on August 11 1984, Reagan uttered this on what he assumed was not a live microphone. “My fellow Americans, I’m pleased to tell you today that I’ve signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes.”

It might have seemed funny then, but when you place this kind of thinking in a modern context (consider the current situation with Russia and Georgia), it doesn’t take much imagination to assume there are plenty more world leaders who secretly think on much the same lines, (including Putin). Power corrupts, there’s no avoiding it, this goes beyond breaking promises, essentially, to think you can lead your country, good or bad, you’re an egomaniac. If all people behaved like politicians, there’d be no constructive conversation; businesses and friendships would collapse left, right, and centre, and we’d all be declaring war on this, that, and the other at the very first possible opportunity.

I dream of a world of collective self-responsibility, where we rely on the neutral advice of a body of recognised experts in everything, be they great scientists, creatives, business tycoons, humanitarians, diplomats, and so on. But the final vote on everything should be left to the people. We have the technology already, consider interactive TV, more people vote for American Idol than the US elections. Many wouldn’t vote for every issue, that is human nature, but the right to vote on each and every law should be the future of democracy, not the past. Britain hasn’t even been allowed to vote on our future in the European state, without real democracy their is no real accountability.

If Blair and Bush were tried for war crimes I’d then believe that democracy as it stands, works. If they’re left to their own devices from now on and even treated as heroes for the rest of their lives, something has gone seriously wrong within the heart of modern politics. Hence the clamour for Obama, a seemingly just and righteous man who for all appearances seems to wear his heart on his sleeve. I’d love to believe he will be different, a president unlike any before, someone who tells the whole truth and nothing but. It’s an unrealistic expectation, it would take super-human control and nerves of steel to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth, to all of the people all of the time; an omittance is a lie, a half-truth is a lie, ‘dressing the truth’ rather than the naked truth, is always the more viable option for any leader past and present. There will be a time when even Obama will be tested, I doubt it will be any different. I am sure that one day the spectre of truth will ruin politics, in our recent collective cultural history, the rise of the spin doctor has put paid to that; if the people don’t like it rewrite the terminology, if they’re still not happy, lie. The future will be far more difficult for all politicians, the people are informed and empowered by their knowledge, and what’s more they share it with each other (unlike politicians).

What’s most depressing (for me) about politics, are those who stand out from the rest and put their moral backbone on the line, their head on the proverbial chopping block, and swear to improve life for one and all. Few ever achieve much, and those that do are least able to accept when they’ve lost their magic touch, Tony Blair (ex-PM of the UK) was riding a crest of a wave of adulation until he decided to back Bush and his illegal and pointless war against Iraq. Remember this is the war that Bush had to get his secret service agents to defraud the world in order to gain a little legitimacy, there were no weapons of mass destruction, Iraq had no connection with Bin Laden, and essentially the whole thing was a horrible mistake. If you want to take out a tyrant, pay a hit man, it will leave the country in chaos, but at least you wouldn’t have had to kill a hundred thousand people first.

There are no angels in politics, some have done more good than others, although I’m speaking from a humanitarian viewpoint, not economically or tactically in a world-wide theatre of war, I mean food, health, human rights, dignity, fairness. The problem is none of that makes money, what does make money are weapons technologies, energy concerns, heavy industry, the money markets, and the rich.

Politicians by nature exist between a rock and a hard place, they have to persuade a raft of nobodies that they will represent them, and then spend their term in office negotiating with overlords of an international economy to cut them a break and help them save face in front of their increasingly impatient public. Promises are cheap, breaking a promise ruins credibility, but dithering and fudged reports and vague press announcements can last until the next election comes round.

I truly believe that historians of the future will view our current age of war and exploitation with the disdain it deserves, the gullibility of the voter, the recklessness of political use of military power, corporate greed, the ongoing and savage decimation of our natural environment. Perhaps if enough time has passed they’ll even be amused by the hypocrisy of this highly politicised age, where every thought and action is bombarded by an alternate view, demonised by those who believe otherwise, and in turn rejected by the intelligentsia for fear of cultural retribution.

State and religion must never mix, yet as the so-called War on Terror drags on another year, the evangelical nature of politics becomes ever so apparent. I’d rather live in a society that instilled self-belief, not an enforcement of a belief of convenience, a biased diktat, or compliance to an economically-inspired credo of intolerance and short-term gain.

We cannot live by inspired speeches alone, they can initiate change, and sometimes, if the argument is far and just and a true reflection of a changing public consciousness, society does improve. I recently created my first full-scale artwork for sale online, it’s called Black Christ and is available at ImageKind.com – I was referring to the future of Obama’s career, and the prospect of yet another media martyr, the economy survives off contrition not appeasement, court controversy, stir public opinion, boost ratings, sell products. However politicians can push the agenda into a far more powerful echelon of society, the movers and shakers of all they survey, the sellers of dreams, the economic giants of the world, they are (for now) all we have to influence change in this world where less ‘have’ than ‘have not’.

“But suppose God is black? What if we go to Heaven and we, all our lives, have treated the Negro as an inferior, and God is there, and we look up and He is not white? What then is our response?” (Robert Kennedy).

Live Long and Prosper With Obama! Yes yet again I am submitting another design to Threadless.com – it’s almost like a lottery to me, taking a punt, a gamble on my own talents. Threadless are asking for political t-shirts whilst the US political elections are running and so I thought I’d chip in. Besides I was inspired by the tees I featured at Thriving Ink and thought what the hell.

I know I’m British, I know it’s none of my business, I’ve probably annoyed someone or even everyone with this design but I’m not a great fan of politicians as it happens. I’ve lived through the Thatcher government and the Blair government here and now our current PM is telling us not to waste food, this isn’t The Blitz Mr. Brown, if only the idiot had managed to make good on some of Blair’s promises we might not be in this schtuck right now.

Anyway good luck with the elections USA, let’s hope whoever you choose doesn’t decide to start another war, besides the enormous ethical arguments, I don’t think we could afford another one. It’s easier and cheaper to declare war on poverty or obesity, or something abstract that cannot retaliate, and in general will actually kill anyone in the process.

If it’s of interest, I don’t think that Barack Obama looks like Spock, (although Spock would be a very cool politician – though he’d find the whole process of government highly illogical). I just think Barack would fit in really well on the USS Enterprise, boldly going where no African American has gone before ;)

Buy your Obama Prosper Tee at Zazzle!

[tags]Obama, Barack Obama, Obama t-shirt, US Elections,Spock,Star Trek[/tags]