Analysis of a Trend

To be blunt: I find it sickening that peace has become such an mass produced thing. I refuse to even call it a concept anymore because things like concepts require some degree of thought. No. Everywhere I look there is a peace sign; clothing stores, networking sites, tattoos. This is for all the facebook loving, pot smoking, naive communist youth that worship the peace symbol. You teen hipsters are no more original than the overgeneralized media you hate so much. The peace symbol has become something like a coach purse for wanna bes. Even the tweenies eat this crap up like a shake on the dollar menu. In order to have some degree of human intellect you must have fully developed first. I am a firm believer that 13 year old girls who do not have breasts yet should not front peace signs. My sincere apologies to all the honor child soccer moms but your 11 year old IS stupid.

As for those who have grown beyond the prepubescent drama. I have one simple phrase for you: Put down the pipe and pick up a book. There is more to peace than Victoria's Secret hoodies, dreadlocks, and tie-dye. Since you guys have no problem binging on over processed media bullshit; Here is some interesting facts to add to the cuisine. Bon Apetit.

1) The peace sign was made by a English dude named Gerard Holtom in 1958. Mr. Holtom was an artist with a college degree. It is unknown whether or not he abused illicit substances. Usually, people who do heroin have a bit of trouble getting into Harvard.

2) It was created for a organization known the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. This around the time everyone was scared of various threats such as bombs, homosexuals, and Communism. ( Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. August 1, 2009 <http://www.cnduk.org/index.php/information/info-sheets/the-history-of-cnd.html> )

3) Gerard Holtom was a Christian. Before he drew up his finished symbol; He actually contemplated using the cross as part of his design but the church disapproved. (they would.)

4) Gerard Holtom was also a pacifist. A pah-see-fist is someone who opposes war and violence and generally; things that make little children cry.

5) The peace symbol came to America right away. It is most a associated with the 1960's make-love-not war-or-eat-meat saga. (duh.)

6) There is rumors that the peace sign has a satanic or anti-christian representation. This propaganda has been disproved by specific interviews with Holtom himself. ( I guess he wasn't a Hot Topic fan. )

7) The peace symbol is not copyrighted. This means that ANYONE can have access to it or in most cases, butcher it. I repeat: You cannot get sued for downloading the peace symbol from the internet. Indeed. You had better stop downloading pornography and start downloading universal concepts. It is specifically not copyrighted for the sake that peace is supposed to be a kind of “freedom and prosperity for all” ideal. It is most unfortunate that it is instead used as a trademarked kind of cocaine for an uneducated society. All the Nuclear Disarmament Campaign asks is that the commercial users (the big fat ugly CEO's of million dollar companies) perhaps give them a donation. Yeah. Right. ("The origins of the peace symbol". August 1, 2009)

This is just one of the examples of how good ideas get distorted. People just say... “Hey man. That looks cool. I want it.” It simply doesn't matter if you don't know anything about peace studies or any history behind what that symbol stands for. It is really disheartening that people who cannot even spell words properly exploit peace for the sake of fashion. In conclusion: We live in a culture that rapes the meaning out everything... No matter how important it is.