Expressions of Discontent

Leaping on the Prince-Harry-is-a-Nazi bandwagon (article here), Welsh Assembly member Alan Pugh has proposed placing legal restrictions on the wearing and display of the swastika (news story from IC Wales and BBC). What a moron. Surely, he realises that doing so would play into the hands of the very fascist groups he deplores? They would exploit such a restriction of "free speech" as a proof that the "liberal establishment" can't defend its positions on grounds of reason, but maintains its hegemony by suppressing the right wing. Right-wing groups don't need the swastika, anyway. They're thriving in countries in mainland Europe where the symbol is currently banned. Meanwhile, Buddhists and Hindus will be hurt because the swastika is for them a widely used and powerful talismanic symbol. Greeks might also be a bit peeved that one of the key motifs of traditional Greek design might be banned. I suspect there are more Greeks and Hindus than fascists in Britain, so let's be kind to the swastika for their sake.

As a bonus, here's the Falun symbol, which, as you can see, contains five swastikas and four yin-yang symbols. If only out of sympathy for the inclusive mystical idealism represented by symbols like this, we should retain the use of the swastika:



(The above image is from this site, which contains lots of information about the swastika and its use around the world.)

As a general principle, banning symbols is a foolish imposition, bound to backfire, since it increases the aura of the symbol, while not hurting the cause of those who use it as a rallying point, since they can simply adopt a new symbol.