If Sid Vicious and the other punks hadn’t been so incensed by all the peace, love and LSD hippy bollocks, not to mention the bloated music it produced in the late ’60s/early ’70s, they would never have reached for the most offensive polar opposite – the Swastika – to show their disdain. Wearing it on their sleeves (or carving it into their arms with a knife) outraged not only the hated hippies but their parents and the whole post-war consensus united around one thing – righteous victory in World War II.
Pretty good offence-to-effort ratio there, for one little fashion addition.
Of course, they didn’t actually believe in the Nazi cause. Of their modern imitators – certain sections of the young online right – I’m not so sure. Like the ’70s punks, they attempt to outrage and reject the liberal order but, unlike them, it’s not about playing dress ups. Many are actually defending the goose-stepping genocide enthusiasts.
