Travelling around Europe, I saw a lot of graffiti. Other than what I’ve already written, that this is one sign of Europe’s decline, I wanted to share a few thoughts about this.
Firstly I wanted to give credit where credit is due and point out that much of Europe’s graffiti is skillfully done. Though it is wrong to deface the property of others, there is no denying that some of those graffiti artists are talented. In fact, at times it is difficult to distinguish publicly commissioned art from graffiti.
Secondly, I do not believe that most of the graffiti is done by immigrants or their children. Due to the fact that it is found even in the most rural places, it seems likely that most of it is the work of indigenous Europeans. But here I will adopt the position of Richard London and Richard Smith in “Religion of Macho” and say that those young whites were inspired mainly by Africans. The mere presence of Africans, and the familiarity of black ghetto culture served as the impetus for graffiti. Here are a couple of examples that provide some support to this theory – but there are also isolated signs that some graffiti artists are for the preservation of Europe::
Though I may be wrong about the example above, it looks like a swipe at Africans.
If I were in charge of Europe, I would suggest that graffiti-lovers gather their resources and set up large surfaces for the purpose of showcasing their art. In the meantime, citizens would have the option of using their own surveillance equipment to catch vandals red-handed. When successful, and after shooting the vandal with a tranquilizer gun and bringing him in, the citizen would be eligible for a cash reward. The vandals would be subject to corporal punishment and public shaming. After the first offense, penalties would become more severe. There would be financial incentives for towns and cities to keep their areas clean of graffiti.
The formatting tools of WordPress, when it comes to inserting photos, are extremely frustrating. Has anybody else noticed this? It’s almost impossible to get photos, and their associated text, in their proper places.
Have you never been to Rome? Or Pompeii? Do you think immigrants wrote all the graffiti?
You write like an American.
There’s a huge difference between the ancient graffiti of Rome and what we have now. Ancient Roman graffiti was meant to be read and understood by the general populous. It was often political, romantic or social commentary and graffiti was the only way they had to reach a wider audience. Today’s graffiti, besides being much vaster in scale, is rarely of the above nature. Rather, it is meant to be understood only by a few – fellow gang (or whatever other type of group they belong to) members or simply to make a name for the individual. Seriously, how much of today’s graffiti do you actually understand?
I’m not talking about ancient rome. Do you think all the communist and fascist graffiti in modern rome was created by immigrants?
Why do you write like a self-parody of an ignorant American abroad?
Re: Davey,
Would you say most of the graffiti, in Italy, has a political message?
Where I hail from the single most common graffiti motif is the Celtic cross followed closely by the anarchist symbol and other anti-fa sillies.
Davey, what an aggressive and miserable little nitpick you are.
I had to remove his last comment; it was vulgar and abusive. Some people find it difficult to disagree without hurling personal insults and profanity. In his case, it was not even clear what he was trying to say. Perhaps he’s one of those graffiti artists.
Go to Croatia and you can find pro-Ustasha graffiti. But if you’re talking ‘art’ graffiti like the stuff depicted then yes, it is evident of decline. My current city’s full of it, at least in my side of town. A lot of it is SWPL graffiti though.
Graffiti is rife in Argentina and Chile. Many of their most prominent monuments and statues are absolutely plastered with it, I dont think I’ve seen it that bad in Europe. I get the impression that much of it is an anarchist Che Guevara style “overthrow the old order and replace it with….well, we’ll decide on that later.”
I like your suggestion of a hardline being taken against these vandals. They’re basically bullies who destroy public spaces.
I couldn’t help but chuckle a bit about the lamp post pic. I would say it IS most definitely a “swipe” at Africans…LOL
As a commenter above noted, South America is rife with graffiti, most of it incomprehensible gang stuff destroying all public spaces. I don’t think in Europe it is that bad yet, but it’s getting there. I think the problem is mostly lack of concern and punishment. When street graffiti starts being seen as an “art” instead of vandalism, really, what hope there is?
I lived in Italy and I don’t think most graffiti there is political, although part of it yes (mostly leftists or anarchists).
It is definitely vandalism – but it can also be art. There is no contradiction. Also, the fact that some of it is art does not justify its being used to deface the property of others. Even if I paint the Mona Lisa on somebody else’s wall, it is still a problem.
Perhaps I’m misinterpreted what you’re saying but your take on this, with all due respect, reminds me of a conversation I once had with an Orthodox Jewish woman in Israel. I had complimented somebody by stating that she looked like a movie star. The woman retorted by saying “movie stars are not ‘beautiful'”. What she meant was that they represent a decadent, corrupt culture and that culture is not beautiful. But, the way I saw it, the movie star can be both representative of a debased culture and, at the same time, be physically beautiful. I saw no benefit in denying what I thought was obvious. To do so only detracts from our credibility. Likewise, I can truthfully state that some black athletes are superb specimens of physical prowess and skill. At the same time, I can loath the culture and values that they represent.
Reality is more complex than black and white, good and evil. The black usually contains some white, the white usually contains some black. The good usually contains some evil and the evil usually contains some good. There’s always a bit of yin in the yang and a bit of yang in the yin.
JAY
OT someone drew an RIP Osama on the Orange County freeway.
I bet he was just trying to upset people. I wonder if he would try that stunt in New York City.
For my opinion on how to handle graffiti as well as dwi, drugs, shoplifting, prostitution and a host of other social problems, google “michael fay”.
I was embarrassed and disgusted by all the begging and pleading on his behalf. People should have told him to suck it up and take it like a man.