No Nazis here, just a punk boy who has a sticker on his bike.
Not to stir up too much trouble, but the sauvastika and swastika are both used in Buddhist art and iconography, though the sauvastika is more common now. If nothing else, it pops up when people want things to look a bit more balanced, and flip the thing for aesthetic reasons.
That said, I have no time for anyone flirting with fascism. There was a big nazi skinhead scene in my hometown for a while, and before too long it became clear that unless someone kicked them up and down the street, they wouldn’t get why it wasn’t cool or funny. Eventually they all seemed to pick up and move to the Midwest. I don’t think anyone minded.
The OP has nothing to do with Buddhist symbols. It’s about a bunch of college students, and graduates, who claim the Nazi party would serve as a good alternative to the KMT and the DPP. For me the most troubling aspect of the story is that one can graduate from college and remain so completely ignorant. I don’t believe they’re advocating discrimination or genocide. I believe they’re just totally clueless. Heck, this one even majored in politics.
:loco:
The “sauvastika” and “swastika” are alternate spellings for the same thing. They’re essentailly the same word.
While the Nazis used a right-handed swastika, the Buddhist swastika comes in both left-handed and right-handed forms, though the left-handed is more common.
[quote=“Mother Theresa”]
:loco:[/quote]
Fed up with a messed up system, so she wants to embrace an even more messed up system??
[quote=“Chris”]The “sauvastika” and “swastika” are alternate spellings for the same thing. They’re essentailly the same word.
While the Nazis used a right-handed swastika, the Buddhist swastika comes in both left-handed and right-handed forms, though the left-handed is more common.[/quote]
Sauvastika (or survastika), though, has come to be understood as indicating the “left handed” version, where Swastika typically means the “right handed” one. At least, that’s how I’ve seen it used in American academic circles. It’s imperfect, but “left handed” and “right handed” seem even more awkward.
Granted. Then again, staying on-topic to anything OP lasts, what . . . five or so replies here? Just chiming in.
[quote=“Mother Theresa”]The OP has nothing to do with Buddhist symbols. It’s about a bunch of college students, and graduates, who claim the Nazi party would serve as a good alternative to the KMT and the DPP. For me the most troubling aspect of the story is that one can graduate from college and remain so completely ignorant. I don’t believe they’re advocating discrimination or genocide. I believe they’re just totally clueless. Heck, this one even majored in politics.
:loco:[/quote]
So what? We have communist parties in the US and here in Taiwan. Westerners with graduate degrees wear Che Guevara tshirts and watch romantic movies about him.
Are they somehow more enlightened?
[quote=“Doctor Evil”][quote=“Mother Theresa”]The OP has nothing to do with Buddhist symbols. It’s about a bunch of college students, and graduates, who claim the Nazi party would serve as a good alternative to the KMT and the DPP. For me the most troubling aspect of the story is that one can graduate from college and remain so completely ignorant. I don’t believe they’re advocating discrimination or genocide. I believe they’re just totally clueless. Heck, this one even majored in politics.
:loco:[/quote]
So what? We have communist parties in the US and here in Taiwan. Westerners with graduate degrees wear Che Guevara tshirts and watch romantic movies about him.
Are they somehow more enlightened?[/quote]
Good point. And the Shrub was elected twice. The world is full of idiots.
I’ve seen a few guys trooping about Taipei in Nazi regalia, and it’s hard to know where to start with laughing at them, trying to correct them or simply taking their photo to prove to Taiwanese friends that it’s not just a “buddhist” swastika. It’s about as stupid as a black guy wearing a KKK sheet, a white guy dressing in black-power duds … but not quite.
If I see a scooter with the swastika on it, I usually let a spit-take (with a mouthful of papaya milk or yogurt) suffice to register my shock.
Getting back to the Taiwanese who think that a Nazi regime would do better for their country, they also appear ignorant of the other less-savory aspects of National Socialism as practiced by the Germans. Midnight “disappearances” of regime opponents, concentration camps, etc. Would the Hakkas or the aboriginals be the first ones in the gas chambers?
[quote=“mofangongren”]
Getting back to the Taiwanese who think that a Nazi regime would do better for their country, they also appear ignorant of the other less-savory aspects of National Socialism as practiced by the Germans. Midnight “disappearances” of regime opponents, concentration camps, etc. [/quote]
Hmmm…sounds mysteriously like our friends across the straits. I think this is hilarious…most of the people here would think nothing of going on vacation or taking a job in the workers paradise yet if this were 1937 instead of 2007, they would choke before buying a Black Forest cuckoo clock.
What’s the f*cking difference?
The Nazis could have gotten away with a lot of their behavior if they hadn’t decided to take the show on the road to expose the rest of the world to it. Probably as long as the Chinese don’t march forth for Lebensraum they’ll continue to do what they want – after all, the Tibetans and Uighurs are an “internal matter.”
They will take their show on the road one day, that’s a certain.
Actually you have seen moves toward exactly that. Burma is increasingly turning into a Chinese colony. They would do the same thing to others once they get the chance, a unified Korea would end up in their traditional role as a vassal state very fast.
Their attempt at getting at Vietnam was a disaster though, but their stealthy invasion of the south china sea sets a worrying precendent.
OK, the Taiwanes young are just a bunch of hapless fucktards, if you ask me. Also, it’s very worrying that university students here have such a weak grasp of world history.
有沒有人想買二二八殺蟲劑.
There are even a couple of magazines sold on newstands here where Taiwanese guys interested in “reinactment” clothing dress up and get photographed wearing SS uniforms. Seems a bit strange to me. Of course, Taiwan has a history of making Nazi outfits and other “white power” regalia for consumers in western countries – pins, patches, outfits and the like.
These dorkus erectus are meeting in Taichung on Mar 17. Anyone know where? I’d like to go, harass them with tough questions, take a few pics, etc.
Vorkosigan
I have a serious question…just how much do they teach about WWII in schools here? My wife and I were talking about it once and she honestly didn’t know why WWII started or what the Nazis were about.
I know in my high school back home we had a pathetically short section on Asian history and I’m just wondering if the reverse applies here.
[quote=“rob_the_canuck”]
I know in my high school back home we had a pathetically short section on Asian history and I’m just wondering if the reverse applies here.[/quote]
Yes. It does.
Note that i only learned about Chinese history when studying Chinese.
In high school, we mgiht have had 5-10 pages on China.
today’s taipei times
[quote=“douglas@taichungpaws.org”]today’s Taipei times
taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/ … 2003352058[/quote]
Disgusting…absolutely disgusting. Hitler’s “superior race” had nothing to do with culture and everything to do with genetics…dumbshits.
It’s times like this I really wish I could give those buggers a good kick in the ass.
From the TT piece linked above.
[quote]Writing in the NSA forum under the handle “Lahn,” another founder-member of the NSA insisted the group is not neo-Nazi or racist.
“What Hitler meant by `superior race’ is superior cultural content and not biological phenotype,” he wrote.
Lahn Chao (趙威) – Lahn’s real name – told the Taipei Times he is a 24-year-old pursuing his master’s degree in political science at National Chengchi University.[/quote]
OK, it would appear that he has not bothered to read “Mein Kampf” or bother with the minor fact that When hitler talked about “extermination of undesirable elements”, he meant the extermination bit literally, and not as a metaphor for self-improvement.