Police and military uniforms have converged on a “special forces” look.
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This is a fashion trend. It’s not just functional; camo serves no purpose of disguising whatsoever on Minneapolis streets. Militaries are dressing the part — and ICE is playing dress-up.
Avery Trufelman’s excellent podcast Articles of Interest spent an entire season on this topic, under the name “Gear.” Here’s on relevant episode.
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@inthehands what I find interesting is that these “uniforms” blur the line between countries, paramilitary goons are the same everywhere, they are not a symbol of authority, but of force.
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@inthehands Aestheticization is a common trend in fascist regimes - Walter Benjamin's 'Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction' goes into it, iirc he frames it as a way of giving the fascist in-group proletariat an outlet that does not risk fundamental structural changes.
But it functions more broadly as a means of social control, pacifying & reassuring the in-group with the spectacle, while terrorizing out-groups.
So the video game comparison is not an accident - it's kinda the point.@miss_rodent
Oh 100% it’s the point. I do recommend listening to Gear: she casts a much wider net than fascism, and it’s a really subtle and interesting series. -
This is a fashion trend. It’s not just functional; camo serves no purpose of disguising whatsoever on Minneapolis streets. Militaries are dressing the part — and ICE is playing dress-up.
Avery Trufelman’s excellent podcast Articles of Interest spent an entire season on this topic, under the name “Gear.” Here’s on relevant episode.
2/2
I’ve had this contingent of the language police show up in my replies a few times now over the word “cosplay,” and look…
OK, I get it, I get the instinct to say “Don’t drag me into this!” and I applaud the effort to push fascists out of communities, yes to all that…
…and also we need to recognize that what ICE is doing absolutely •is• cosplay. The word means “costume play.” It refers to assembling and wearing costumes that are not necessarily functional, but show affinity for a particular subculture by reproducing characters from that subculture’s popular narratives.
ICE are cosplaying Call of Duty. That is an accurate description of what’s happening. (Listen to “Gear.”)
I make software and I make music. I don’t think either one of those things •should• be about violence. I don’t •want• them to be about violence. But both are used in the service of violence, like it or not. I shout the violence out whenever it shows up. But would be ridiculous for me to point at what Palantir does and say “That’s not software!” Unfortunately, it •is• software. To deny that would be beyond self-defeating; it would be irresponsible.
ICE •is• doing cosplay, and we hate it. It’s an insult to the cosplay subculture. It is an insult to the whole of humanity. Fascism creeps into all of our spheres, into every beloved craft and community, and the response is never to pretend it’s not there. The response is to drive it out.
@wildrikku
https://mastodon.gamedev.place/@wildrikku/115956545807535535 -
@inthehands what I find interesting is that these “uniforms” blur the line between countries, paramilitary goons are the same everywhere, they are not a symbol of authority, but of force.
@thias
Listen to “Gear!” -
@inthehands they are very effectively cosplaying the SA
@Nicovel0 @inthehands Greg Bovino's style has been compared to Ernst Rohm....
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@inthehands as a veteran, I find the appropriation of military motifs by civil law enforcement extremely offensive, but also incredibly dangerous.
A particularly egregious example, that I wish people would address more often, is the use of the word "civilians" to describe people that are not whatever strain of police is using the term. "Civilians" refers to people within the general civil populace, as opposed to the military. The police (in all their various forms) are members of the civil society, and as such, civilians themselves.
Words have meaning, and those meanings matter. When we allow these subtle shifts in language, we normalize the militarization of police forces nationwide, but more than that, we reinforce the self-image of the police as separate from the rest of civil society. And history shows that when people view themselves as apart from civil society, they often see themselves unbeholden to the norms and ethics that govern civil society.
One can draw a pretty straight line from that to these guys cosplaying soldier, wearing full tactical gear, riding on MRAPs and HMMWVs, assault rifles on their shoulders like the movies, belt-fed automatic weapons mounted on turrets in the background for Kristi Noem's photo-ops. We, collectively, should have never let anyone get away with normalizing this from the second it started. Yet how many articles does one read in the press where no one ever bothers challenging a cop when they refer to the people that they've supposedly sworn to protect and serve as "civilians", as if they, themselves, are not?
@cross
You definitely should listen to “Gear.” -
@inthehands as a veteran, I find the appropriation of military motifs by civil law enforcement extremely offensive, but also incredibly dangerous.
A particularly egregious example, that I wish people would address more often, is the use of the word "civilians" to describe people that are not whatever strain of police is using the term. "Civilians" refers to people within the general civil populace, as opposed to the military. The police (in all their various forms) are members of the civil society, and as such, civilians themselves.
Words have meaning, and those meanings matter. When we allow these subtle shifts in language, we normalize the militarization of police forces nationwide, but more than that, we reinforce the self-image of the police as separate from the rest of civil society. And history shows that when people view themselves as apart from civil society, they often see themselves unbeholden to the norms and ethics that govern civil society.
One can draw a pretty straight line from that to these guys cosplaying soldier, wearing full tactical gear, riding on MRAPs and HMMWVs, assault rifles on their shoulders like the movies, belt-fed automatic weapons mounted on turrets in the background for Kristi Noem's photo-ops. We, collectively, should have never let anyone get away with normalizing this from the second it started. Yet how many articles does one read in the press where no one ever bothers challenging a cop when they refer to the people that they've supposedly sworn to protect and serve as "civilians", as if they, themselves, are not?
To put it into sharper focus: the antonym of «civilian» here would be «combatant». The mentioned usage would seem to suggest that that is how they see themselves.
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I’ve had this contingent of the language police show up in my replies a few times now over the word “cosplay,” and look…
OK, I get it, I get the instinct to say “Don’t drag me into this!” and I applaud the effort to push fascists out of communities, yes to all that…
…and also we need to recognize that what ICE is doing absolutely •is• cosplay. The word means “costume play.” It refers to assembling and wearing costumes that are not necessarily functional, but show affinity for a particular subculture by reproducing characters from that subculture’s popular narratives.
ICE are cosplaying Call of Duty. That is an accurate description of what’s happening. (Listen to “Gear.”)
I make software and I make music. I don’t think either one of those things •should• be about violence. I don’t •want• them to be about violence. But both are used in the service of violence, like it or not. I shout the violence out whenever it shows up. But would be ridiculous for me to point at what Palantir does and say “That’s not software!” Unfortunately, it •is• software. To deny that would be beyond self-defeating; it would be irresponsible.
ICE •is• doing cosplay, and we hate it. It’s an insult to the cosplay subculture. It is an insult to the whole of humanity. Fascism creeps into all of our spheres, into every beloved craft and community, and the response is never to pretend it’s not there. The response is to drive it out.
@wildrikku
https://mastodon.gamedev.place/@wildrikku/115956545807535535@inthehands cosplay is an accurate term.
Doesn't mean people who cosplay in other contexts are bad.
But, these guys are pretending to be what they aren't. And are dressing as part of their pretense. Only they have guns and are told to use them. -
@inthehands as a veteran, I find the appropriation of military motifs by civil law enforcement extremely offensive, but also incredibly dangerous.
A particularly egregious example, that I wish people would address more often, is the use of the word "civilians" to describe people that are not whatever strain of police is using the term. "Civilians" refers to people within the general civil populace, as opposed to the military. The police (in all their various forms) are members of the civil society, and as such, civilians themselves.
Words have meaning, and those meanings matter. When we allow these subtle shifts in language, we normalize the militarization of police forces nationwide, but more than that, we reinforce the self-image of the police as separate from the rest of civil society. And history shows that when people view themselves as apart from civil society, they often see themselves unbeholden to the norms and ethics that govern civil society.
One can draw a pretty straight line from that to these guys cosplaying soldier, wearing full tactical gear, riding on MRAPs and HMMWVs, assault rifles on their shoulders like the movies, belt-fed automatic weapons mounted on turrets in the background for Kristi Noem's photo-ops. We, collectively, should have never let anyone get away with normalizing this from the second it started. Yet how many articles does one read in the press where no one ever bothers challenging a cop when they refer to the people that they've supposedly sworn to protect and serve as "civilians", as if they, themselves, are not?
@cross @inthehands
Jolly Good Ginger was in Minneapolis yelling at military-cosplaying #ICE goons about this very thing. "Are you veterans? Did you earn that uniform?" he shouted in their faces. "I did."It was so good to see a real soldier call these wannabes out.
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RE: https://hachyderm.io/@rationaldoge/115953632587673647
Police and military uniforms have converged on a “special forces” look. SNL mocked ICE for wearing camo: “Where did you think Minnesota is??” But that’s the •look•: camo, tactical gear. It is the look ICE officers crave: “This is so cool, like Call of Duty” one said. And now you can’t tell all the militaries and militarized police forces apart, to the point where they have to wear safety vests over camo. High-vis! Over camo! The irony.
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Hilariously, one of the infamous little stupidities of the GWoT-era US Army was the obsession with wearing reflective belts for safety in anything that could be considered less than perfect visibility conditions. No faster way to get yelled at by a senior enlisted leader than by not wearing your reflective belt (over your camouflage uniform) in a motor pool, or 10 seconds after mean nautical twilight. On a FOB in Afghanistan.
I bet they already had the reflective gear issued.
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@schwa
They’ve been at me in my replies repeatedly, and I have very few fucks left to give. -
@schwa @inthehands what a rude thing to say.
Edit: they either blocked me or deleted their post, so just to clarify, this was directed at Schwa for their rude comment, not Paul (whom I wholeheartedly support)
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I’ve had this contingent of the language police show up in my replies a few times now over the word “cosplay,” and look…
OK, I get it, I get the instinct to say “Don’t drag me into this!” and I applaud the effort to push fascists out of communities, yes to all that…
…and also we need to recognize that what ICE is doing absolutely •is• cosplay. The word means “costume play.” It refers to assembling and wearing costumes that are not necessarily functional, but show affinity for a particular subculture by reproducing characters from that subculture’s popular narratives.
ICE are cosplaying Call of Duty. That is an accurate description of what’s happening. (Listen to “Gear.”)
I make software and I make music. I don’t think either one of those things •should• be about violence. I don’t •want• them to be about violence. But both are used in the service of violence, like it or not. I shout the violence out whenever it shows up. But would be ridiculous for me to point at what Palantir does and say “That’s not software!” Unfortunately, it •is• software. To deny that would be beyond self-defeating; it would be irresponsible.
ICE •is• doing cosplay, and we hate it. It’s an insult to the cosplay subculture. It is an insult to the whole of humanity. Fascism creeps into all of our spheres, into every beloved craft and community, and the response is never to pretend it’s not there. The response is to drive it out.
@wildrikku
https://mastodon.gamedev.place/@wildrikku/115956545807535535@inthehands I'm not sure how many people are aware that even the much-feared SS was not an elite highly-trained military force. They were rather mediocre on the battlefield compared to the actual armed forces. What they were feared for was not their skill at warfare, but for what they did to the defeated and occupied peoples after the fighting was over.
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I’ve had this contingent of the language police show up in my replies a few times now over the word “cosplay,” and look…
OK, I get it, I get the instinct to say “Don’t drag me into this!” and I applaud the effort to push fascists out of communities, yes to all that…
…and also we need to recognize that what ICE is doing absolutely •is• cosplay. The word means “costume play.” It refers to assembling and wearing costumes that are not necessarily functional, but show affinity for a particular subculture by reproducing characters from that subculture’s popular narratives.
ICE are cosplaying Call of Duty. That is an accurate description of what’s happening. (Listen to “Gear.”)
I make software and I make music. I don’t think either one of those things •should• be about violence. I don’t •want• them to be about violence. But both are used in the service of violence, like it or not. I shout the violence out whenever it shows up. But would be ridiculous for me to point at what Palantir does and say “That’s not software!” Unfortunately, it •is• software. To deny that would be beyond self-defeating; it would be irresponsible.
ICE •is• doing cosplay, and we hate it. It’s an insult to the cosplay subculture. It is an insult to the whole of humanity. Fascism creeps into all of our spheres, into every beloved craft and community, and the response is never to pretend it’s not there. The response is to drive it out.
@wildrikku
https://mastodon.gamedev.place/@wildrikku/115956545807535535Very good point. Sorry the tone police and the how to use Mastodon police have nothing better to do than jump into your comments.
Kristi Noem, aka ICE Barbie, is the perfect example of cosplay. She will wear any outfit with all the accessories.
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@Nicovel0 @inthehands Greg Bovino's style has been compared to Ernst Rohm....
@Lazarou @inthehands oh? Why?
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@Lazarou @inthehands oh? Why?
@Nicovel0 @inthehands he loves it too....the sick bastard.
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@inthehands cosplay is an accurate term.
Doesn't mean people who cosplay in other contexts are bad.
But, these guys are pretending to be what they aren't. And are dressing as part of their pretense. Only they have guns and are told to use them.@colo_lee @inthehands hm. There may be a distinction worth making about these guys cosplaying as part of pretending to be what they aren’t, and people in other contexts cosplaying as an expression of who they are. But the word “cosplay” doesn’t make that distinction
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@cross
You definitely should listen to “Gear.”@cross
(And I should add, in case you’re leery of it: Gear is not at all some sort of breathless anti-military “scandal scandal scandal!!” hit piece you might expect, utterly the opposite. It paints a rich picture of military life that civilians — in the correct sense you laid out! — frequently do not know or understand. It’s full of military history and military life and military voices, and lays out all kinds of nuanced interrelationships between the fashion industry, the outdoor industry, and the military with a critical eye that that’s there to build understanding. Good stuff.) -
@colo_lee @inthehands hm. There may be a distinction worth making about these guys cosplaying as part of pretending to be what they aren’t, and people in other contexts cosplaying as an expression of who they are. But the word “cosplay” doesn’t make that distinction
@ShadSterling @colo_lee
I don’t think that distinction applies. They •are• expressing who they are: they are assembling the costumes of violence and of fascism. They sullying the beautiful practice of cosplay by using it to express something horrible. But the expression is •genuine•. If anything, I wish more people had taken it seriously sooner: through their fashion choices, through the self-expression of costume, they are sincerely telling us who they are. -
I’ve had this contingent of the language police show up in my replies a few times now over the word “cosplay,” and look…
OK, I get it, I get the instinct to say “Don’t drag me into this!” and I applaud the effort to push fascists out of communities, yes to all that…
…and also we need to recognize that what ICE is doing absolutely •is• cosplay. The word means “costume play.” It refers to assembling and wearing costumes that are not necessarily functional, but show affinity for a particular subculture by reproducing characters from that subculture’s popular narratives.
ICE are cosplaying Call of Duty. That is an accurate description of what’s happening. (Listen to “Gear.”)
I make software and I make music. I don’t think either one of those things •should• be about violence. I don’t •want• them to be about violence. But both are used in the service of violence, like it or not. I shout the violence out whenever it shows up. But would be ridiculous for me to point at what Palantir does and say “That’s not software!” Unfortunately, it •is• software. To deny that would be beyond self-defeating; it would be irresponsible.
ICE •is• doing cosplay, and we hate it. It’s an insult to the cosplay subculture. It is an insult to the whole of humanity. Fascism creeps into all of our spheres, into every beloved craft and community, and the response is never to pretend it’s not there. The response is to drive it out.
@wildrikku
https://mastodon.gamedev.place/@wildrikku/115956545807535535This is the SNL sketch I mentioned in the first post:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uA8Oury0a80
Right now, I’m finding this kind of “cringe-laugh” material therapeutic. To protect my own mental health, I’m having to pace my grieving — which sounds so strange, but that’s what’s going on. Laughter and critical analysis both are functioning as a kind of escape valve for me right now. So please, as someone from Minneapolis, please grieve and rage, yes, and also please give yourself permission to laugh.
