Aesthetics of Evil - The Fascist uniform.

Hello tovarischi hugopnik here your favorite slavic political analyst. Hope you're doing well.

Today's topic is not exactly a usual bread and butter as the americans like to say but that does

not mean it's not extremely important I don’t have a background in history - so I took extra steps in

making sure that everything said in the video was carefully sourced. nnw let's get into it.

Have you ever said heil Hitler? Or did a Hitler salute? Have you ever looked

at historic footage of a Nazi march and felt this weird, animalistic fire brewing in you?

I did - a few times - back when I was 4 or 5 or something. I remember my grandpa’s face vividly

when he saw me doing it. The confused disgust in his face, and my confusion as to why the hell

he slapped my raised arm down - and engaged in a long, but very necessary conversation with me.

You see after having seen nazis on some English history channel for the first time,

me, someone who did not speak a word of English quite literally saw the Nazis only,

and exclusively, for what they looked like. Disciplined, well kept, strong, powerful,

and proud. Plus, they had a cool-looking little crooked cross - what kid doesn’t like weird

symbols, eh? At that stage, when I was barely peeking out of my mind’s tabula rasa - my first

instinct to seeing a fascist - was attraction. Now, after having been given historic context

about the actions of this human excrement of an ideology - even a kid of my age

managed to feel shame for having endorsed them in my mind. For a millisecond.

So why, when taken at pure face value, did these people - who dressed in a particular way - who

walked and talked - and stood the way they did - why did that make that little boy - whose people

they massacred in the millions - feel like they want to belong - hell - to be - one of them?

This is the question we’ll try to answer here - concentrating on the uniform, and the usage

of aesthetics as propaganda - with the fascists being the absolute masterclass of this praxis.

Also - we’ll compare their approach to that of the allies in WW2 and talk a little about how

uniformity, and fashion in general, can mold the very wearer - and those who gaze at the wearer.

So what is a uniform? Well, it stems from the latin word Uni - which directly translates into

the noun unifier. The uniform, throughout eons did not really move away from that very definition.

Today people like to throw around the word “uniformity” and address it to people who

lack character and who exemplify followers, not leaders. But this is a bit simplistic,

is it not? Every subculture, at the end of the day - has its varied uniforms - metal heads,

skaters or corporate lawyers - all have a set aesthetic expected of them to

follow - if they want to be perceived as members of the group they belong to. And so did the Nazis,

but simply representing their uniform through the lens of the commonly understood definition - which

is the military representation of rank and national belonging - would undermine the rather

complex and ideologically potent character of the Fascistic look. The Nazi of old,

in contrast to their rambling and disoriented modern counterparts,

left almost nothing to chance - and as all of society was being transformed to fit their warped

world view the clothes on your back were no longer just clothes on your back - but the very skin you

must adopt as an Aryan and as an Ubermench. The bad guy look. Darth Vader’s soldiers, Star trek

alternative universe villians or the eternally vigilant Helghast. There’s a direct association