In the 19th Century (that would be the 1800's) Liberal Christian movements, and especially one called the Social Gospel Movement, took a liking to a banner that offered "The Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man" as their bearded and definitely icky guiding light. This movement attempted to apply Christian Ethics to mounting social problems revealed by a rapidly industrializing world. Then came the lightening bolt of 20th Century (1900's) which defined supply and demand as in fundamental opposition the Spirit of Christmas with such guiding lights as "A flick and it's Lit," interspersed with "Free Nelson Mandela," "We got the meats," "Yankee Go Home," "The pause that refreshes," "Good to the last drop," "Melts in your mouth not in your hand," "Remember 1916," and may none forget Nietzsche's "Rinse and Repeat."
Now that the 21st Century (2000's) is a quarter of a century old it may be time to search for hope in newer and less imperial forms of International Expression which also manage to defy the ironic tendencies of the 19th and 20th Century. My own nomination would be a study of the developing costumary and cyclonudista traditions of free and independent citizens in war-torn Portland Oregon.
The first recorded cyclonudista was observed in June of 2001 in the Catalan area of Spain to promote a more humanocentric understanding of cities as places where people tried to live their lives, not cars or tourists in airbnbs. Since then the cyclonudista traditions have spread through Europe and across the Atlantic to the less constipated city dwelling human populations. Including Portland, Oregon.
Costume has always been an element of political engagement. You got the red beaky hat for the truly absurdists. This concept of recognizable uniform goes back a bit, suffragettes went for purple, white and green, they chose a style of dress that defined their idea of modern womanhood and did rather well as an inspiration for the fashion industry.
And yes, the citizens of Portland have introduced their own style to their displays of opposition to hastily raised, poorly trained masked thugs led by an ill-informed, corrupt leadership, dispatched by an often chaotic and despotic political class holding sway over a federal government. Portland has chosen to introduce the imagery of Disneyesque dancing creatures as a sort of evening entertainment. It's a classic and rather beautiful de-escalation technique that back in the medieval, a king's Jester and often his Bard learned to master. A mix of satire, wit, appeasement and humor which Plato and Socrates might have recognized as rhetoric.
