Us Versus Them continues to be one of our favorite brands here at ARISTOCRATS and it doesn’t change with their summer season. As usual Graham Nystrom (read our 5 minutes with Graham) explains the shirts the best so we will let him do it. The explanations go in order of the photos…
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Magnum Tank (Black… M-2XL) – $24
- The Magnum tee needs no description.
No One Left (White… M-2XL) – $28
- There are injustices in this world that are witnessed by some who do not feel that we should get involved. Whether restrained by fear of reprisal, a misguided justification to not get involved or simple apathy to another’s plight, a lack of compassion and concern for others erodes the protection communities provide against the oppression and violence.
The words are based around the structure of a poem spoken by German Pastor Martin Niemöller after WWII had ended, criticising the apathy of those who sat back and watched the Nazis exterminate different groups. We used a different set of subjects that reflects, a bit more accurately, the realities of today.
The text:
“When they came for the protesters, I was there, but I didn’t like to march, so I did nothing.
When they came for the activists, I heard them, but I didn’t agree with their cause, so I did nothing.
Then they came for me, and I screamed for help, but there was no one left to fight for me.”
Point is, don’t let differences between you and others overshadow the humanity that you both share. When you stand up for others, you stand up for yourself.
Can’t Fool the Youth (White… M-2XL) – $28
- Do you remember what you were doing when you were 12? Running around acting like fools thinking you had it all figured out? Some aren’t so lucky to have had a choice in the matter. Drawn into the conflicts of their elders, or stolen from their parents and indoctrinated into a life of violence, they are made to believe whatever is beneficial to the leaders of the conflicts. You see the same thing with kids being sucked into gang culture, and yet, surprisingly you’ll be hard pressed to find as much sympathy for a 12 year old with a TEC 9 in LA being tried as an adult as you would for a kid with an AK47 in Uganda or Nicaragua. It’s easier for people to be sympathetic if its not happening near them and that’s BS.
The phrase is meant to be a sarcastic jab at the notion that crimes of the youth are always fully understood by those that commit them, and if you’re going to pity one, and condemn the other, you’re a hypocrite.
Chopped (Heather Grey… M-2XL) – $28
- We’ve long been inspired by car club jackets from the 50’s and 60’s and the agressive, slightly offbeat and humorous logos that were the source of pride for each club.
With enough work and time anyone could pick up an old junk car and transform it into a piece of art. It allowed the people who didn’t have much to be able to stand on even ground with the lawyer down the street because nothing mattered but how cool your car was. The only thing holding anyone back was how much dedication they were willing to put into their sled, rod or custom.
The hurdles of social class fell when someone put on their club’s jacket and cruised their car down the bouldevard. It’s the same thing with skateboarding or graffiti. You put your hard work out there and no one can judge you on anything but that.
Capitalist Pigs (Black/White… M-2XL) – $36
- With all that’s going on with corporations lately, it’s become pretty fashionable to bash anyone out there looking to make a buck (we see you, anarchists!). And we get it, we really do. Globalization is the New World Order, and the International Monetary Fund is raping poor countries blind. Wall Street manipulated the market to make quick returns on their investments while the rest of us got screwed when their actions finally crashed the economy. BP skirted safety regulations to save money and we all know what happened next.
But you know what?
Capitalism only becomes evil when it decides to place profit over the well-being of people. There’s nothing greater than someone making honest money doing what they love – and we’ll rep that till the day we die.
