• HelixDab2@lemm.eeEnglish
    0·
    24 days ago

    Can anyone explain WTF he was wearing motorcycle goggles in this photo? “Working” without a shirt, okay, sure, he wants a sunburn, that’s his problem. But goggles? Is this some proto-cybergoth bullshit?

    • Zement@feddit.nlEnglish
      0·
      24 days ago

      Idk for sure, but wheat is harvested when it is very dry (lots of dust)… But then the cloth in front of his mouth is missing …

    • parricc@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      24 days ago

      Actually, that is probably exactly what he was going for. Mussolini was a huge proponent of the Italian Futurist movement, and he had a lot of weird ideas about what was futuristic. Stuff like, “In the future, people will make their clothes out of milk.” Anyway, aviation and representing aviation was a huge part of that, and he frequently used it in his propaganda.

      • FuglyDuck@lemmy.worldEnglish
        0·
        24 days ago

        FWIW, Caesin can be turned into a fiber (trade names include Aralac and Lanital when turned into fabric,) which could conceivably be used as clothing.

        It’s also one of the earliest plastics (used in buttons and jewelry,)

      • Lad@reddthat.comEnglish
        0·
        24 days ago

        Then a short time later he and the Italian Air force get taught a lesson in aviation by the RAF in Greece and North Africa lmao

      • HelixDab2@lemm.eeEnglish
        0·
        24 days ago

        Futurism was a fascinating movement; many of the ideas of the Manifesto of Futurism by Marinetti have ended up being absorbed by culture. The change of popular music–particularly synthpop, industrial, and techno–really capture ideas of futurism, regarding changing aesthetic tastes away from the classic.

        • parricc@lemmy.worldEnglish
          0·
          24 days ago

          It definitely got very intertwined with fascism, though. There were a lot of ideas like, “In the future, there will be no books. Books focus too much on the past, and we need to keep looking forward.” The never look back mentality especially led to a lot of bad things, and it ended up directly inspiring fascism. It’s pretty easy to see the close association, especially considering the Futurist Political Party got absorbed into Mussolini’s party basically as soon as he created it.

      • frezik@midwest.socialEnglish
        0·
        24 days ago

        That’s interesting. I’ve long thought that self proclaimed Futurists are a clueless lot. It’s technology advancement will always happen and is a good thing, full stop. No consideration for usefulness or how it helps people or even if it will work at all. Most of them lack a background in technology or science, or even just critical thinking skills to tell if they’re being hoodwinked or not. The ones that do have a technical background, like Ray Kurzweil, are the real dangerous ones. They tend to dazzle with bullshit, some of which is correct, but it takes an expert to disentangle the correct parts.

        The other site’s /r/TechNewsToday was the worst for this. Articles about startup companies making impossible claims were swallowed whole, and you’d be downvoted to oblivion for pushing against it. Technology always progresses forward at a breakneck pace, it’s always good, and there’s nothing you can do to convince them otherwise.

        Which is all to say that after a few moments thought, I’m not surprised that it was historically associated with fascism.

        • Codex@lemmy.worldEnglish
          0·
          24 days ago

          There’s an RSS bot that reposts HackerNews content to Lemmy. I think [email protected] is the current iteration, if you want some fascists futurists delivered directly to you.

          Comments over there on the Orange Site really run the gamut from naive boosters who don’t see how technology could ever be misused to straight up grifters lying to promote their shitty startups and glorify the idea of the enlightened tech genius/savior.

  • JeeBaiChow@lemmy.worldEnglish
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    23 days ago

    Bet you he didn’t have a 16year old telling him how to winnow the wheat. And they probably didn’t shut down the field for this photo op either.

    • remotelove@lemmy.caEnglish
      0·
      24 days ago

      All the cool kids are “harvesting” wheat. You should give it a try some time. (wink, wink)

  • cabbage@piefed.socialEnglish
    0·
    24 days ago

    I feel like part of the problem is that people don’t expect fascism to be so goddamn pathetic. They see obvious morons like this or Trump, and they struggle to imagine how they could possibly be dangerous.

    I guess the lesson from history here is that just because they’re ridiculous it doesn’t make them any less dangerous.

    • WoodScientist@lemmy.worldEnglish
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      24 days ago

      Hitler’s book was literally titled “my struggle.” His whole shtick was “I’m just this poor downtrodden Everyman trying to help the country, but the bad people won’t let me!”

        • nomous@lemmy.worldEnglish
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          24 days ago

          And also sit idly by while his cult tries to seize power, knowing they won’t be the first against the wall.

          • Tinidril@midwest.socialEnglish
            0·
            24 days ago

            So, everyone who has a problem with how the Democrats run things is an enemy? Gosh, why does that sound familiar?

            This is the attitude you take, then you wonder why there isn’t more unity against the Republicans. If you want to know how fascism wins, this is it.

            • nomous@lemmy.worldEnglish
              0·
              24 days ago

              So, everyone who has a problem with how the Democrats run things is an enemy? Gosh, why does that sound familiar?

              Cool strawman.

              This is the attitude you take, then you wonder why there isn’t more unity against the Republicans. If you want to know how fascism wins, this is it.

              Fascism wins by people voting for fascists and by milquetoast moderates going along with it because they won’t be first against the wall. If that seems so offensive to you then you deserve to be offended.

              • Tinidril@midwest.socialEnglish
                0·
                24 days ago

                It’s hardly a strawman. Based on nothing but a statement that many Americans who don’t buy into Trump’s cult are still discontent with the system, you presumed that all of them, or at least a significant majority, are either against your rights, or at least willing to sacrifice them for some unspecified reason.

                There is no conflict between being against the mass hording of wealth that plagues this country, and supporting the freedoms of disadvantaged groups. You seem awfully willing to abandon the fight for the economic prosperity for all Americans, not because it helps your minority, but because you get to be smug while society crumbles.

                If the message is that people should vote for the lesser of two evils, especially to protect vulnerable classes, I’m right with you. If the message is “shut up about what’s wrong with the Democratic party” then you are playing right into Republican strategy.

                The Democrats don’t want you dead, but they don’t really care much if you live or die. The Democratic establishment is consistently the last on board for minority rights. Look at gay marriage for example. It wasn’t until the idea became overwhelmingly popular that establishment Democrats came on board. The Defense of Marriage Act and “Don’t ask, don’t tell” both had overwhelming support from the Democratic establishment. Even then, gay marriage was enacted by the Supreme Court, and the Democrats have made no effort whatsoever to protect it in legislation, just like RvW.

                At least the Republicans are honest in a warped way. Democrats hold minority interests hostage to further their own financial interests. They want your neck perpetually on the chopping block because they benefit from your peril. It’s a game they play and, one time or another, it will be you that loses.

                • nomous@lemmy.worldEnglish
                  0·
                  24 days ago

                  everyone who has a problem with how the Democrats run things is an enemy

                  Unless you can show me where I said that, it’s a strawman…

                  Based on nothing but a statement that many Americans who don’t buy into Trump’s cult are still discontent with the system, you presumed that all of them, or at least a significant majority, are either against your rights, or at least willing to sacrifice them for some unspecified reason

                  Don’t assume what I presume as you’re incorrect and that’s not at all what I said.

                  There are plenty of discontent Americans who didn’t fall into Trump’s cult.

                  You must be assuming every one of them is a democrat, which is obviously not true. You make a lot of assumptions.

                  I’m not really interested in arguing over it, it’s probably more hassle than it’s worth. It’s been a long day, I’m sure we agree on lots of stuff, have a nice night.

      • Sir_Kevin@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
        0·
        24 days ago

        You weren’t kidding! Here’s an excerpt…

        Its chief officer was the Grand Cyclops, who appointed two Nighthawks, a Grand Turk, a Grand Sentinel, Grand Magi and a Grand Ensign in addition to his Grand Scribe. The Grand Cyclops, Grand Exchequer, Grand Magi (second officer) and Grand Monk (third officer) were elected by the body politic of the dens, identified as Ghouls.

        What the actual fuck?

        • 🔍🦘🛎@lemmy.worldEnglish
          0·
          24 days ago

          Yeah this makes me afraid that I’m going to homebrew some NPCs that accidentally follow this naming scheme too closely

        • Codex@lemmy.worldEnglish
          0·
          24 days ago

          Check out the Behind the Bastards podcast. Robert did a couple on the origins of the KKK and, yeah, they started out basically as a “retvrn to tradition” D&D group who got rebooted into racist terrorists. Bunch of pathetic nerds seeking power and finding it in violent terror.

  • Agent641@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    24 days ago

    It’s weird that they still did the photo op even after all those bees stung his face