The Mises Community
An online community for fans of Austrian economics and libertarianism, featuring forums, user blogs, and more.

Tattoo idea: the war of ideas - be creative!

rated by 0 users
This post has 14 Replies | 7 Followers

Not Ranked
Posts 9
Points 375
i2idotorg Posted: Fri, Oct 24 2008 10:52 AM

Hey guys,

I am looking to get another tattoo and I've got an idea, but don't know how to visually represent it.  I want to get a half-sleeve with a visual depiction of the "war of ideas."  Problem is, I'm not sure how to represent this idea without automatically thinking about cartoonish versions of Mises and Hayek fighting Keynes and associates.  And although we are speaking of the endless battle of ideas here, I'd rather it not be a violent depiction.

So.... anyone have any thoughts on how to visually represent the endless struggle of ideas, of which we are all apart of?

Top 150 Contributor
Posts 187
Points 2,940

i2idotorg:

Hey guys,

I am looking to get another tattoo and I've got an idea, but don't know how to visually represent it.  I want to get a half-sleeve with a visual depiction of the "war of ideas."  Problem is, I'm not sure how to represent this idea without automatically thinking about cartoonish versions of Mises and Hayek fighting Keynes and associates.  And although we are speaking of the endless battle of ideas here, I'd rather it not be a violent depiction.

So.... anyone have any thoughts on how to visually represent the endless struggle of ideas, of which we are all apart of?

How about a tattoo of Bill Clinton being bent over and ramrodded by Karl Marx with Barry Obama drinking a beer and cheering him on?

  • | Post Points: 20
Top 500 Contributor
Male
Posts 113
Points 2,020
Remnant replied on Sat, Oct 25 2008 5:30 PM

I would see it more as a voyage of discovery with many pitfalls and distractions along the way - Jason and the Argonauts, perhaps with Human Action and For a New Liberty as the Golden Fleece.  (Perhaps, Keynes as those terrible sword fighting skeletons that wouldn't die in that 1960's film.) 

How you would get all that on your arm, I have no idea!

  • | Post Points: 5
Top 10 Contributor
Male
Posts 7,643
Points 132,750
MVP
SystemAdministrator

That is the funniest thing I have ever read on this forum.

 

If you find something evil that wobbles, push it. - Gary North

  • | Post Points: 20
Top 150 Contributor
Posts 187
Points 2,940

liberty student:

That is the funniest thing I have ever read on this forum.

 

 

Which one?

  • | Post Points: 20
Top 50 Contributor
Male
Posts 837
Points 13,655
MacFall replied on Mon, Oct 27 2008 7:32 PM

See, I'm great at coming up with creative stuff - but making it small and concise is not within my range of abilities. Give me a concept in one sentence, and I'll turn it into a 700-page novel. But give me a concept that encompasses all of history and is the major part of everything I care about, and I can't possibly express it in a single, still image.

Speaking of tattoos, though, I'm thinking of getting my avatar done between my shoulder blades. Possibly with my signature around or below it.

Pro Christo et Libertate integre!

  • | Post Points: 20
Top 75 Contributor
Male
Posts 446
Points 9,695
Rubén replied on Mon, Oct 27 2008 7:48 PM

Go offline, take a piece of paper and crayons, and do drawings as if you were a 5 year old kid.

Do about 10 to 20 of them, going from the simplest to the most complex.

Then scan one or two and post them here. Don't be shameful of your own art. I am sure we will be encouraging and come up with further suggestions. But you must come up with your own style first.

Art transcends ideology.

http://mises.org/Community/blogs/ruben

  • | Post Points: 5
Top 10 Contributor
Male
Posts 4,247
Points 65,050
ForumsAdministrator
Moderator
SystemAdministrator

Which one?

Click the "replied on" hyperlink in the upper-left corner of his post. It'll take you to the one he replied to (i.e. yours.)

-Jon

To darkness I condemn you...

  • | Post Points: 5
Top 100 Contributor
Male
Posts 304
Points 3,965
Solomon replied on Sat, Nov 1 2008 1:35 PM

i2idotorg:
Problem is, I'm not sure how to represent this idea without automatically thinking about cartoonish versions of Mises and Hayek fighting Keynes and associates. 

Lightsabers.

'Nuff said.

Diminishing Marginal Utility - IT'S THE LAW!

  • | Post Points: 20
Top 10 Contributor
Male
Posts 4,247
Points 65,050
ForumsAdministrator
Moderator
SystemAdministrator

Just please don't make the Austrians the Jedi... we're the true Sith Lords, not self-sacrificing sissies.

-Jon

To darkness I condemn you...

  • | Post Points: 5
Not Ranked
Posts 22
Points 305

 

okay, here's one I've been knocking around for a while....

There is a man in a business suit, with the head of a donkey. He's sitting on a commode, which is leaking. The puddle is colored with stars and stripes, brown, yellow, and blue. Out of the donkey's pocket is a check from Goldman Sachs. In the donkey's hand is a pennant, bearing the face of Barack Obama, whose skin is dyed green.

Facing him is is another man in a business suit, with the head of an elephant. He looks very stern, sitting behind a high-school principal's desk. Out of his pocket hangs a check from Goldman Sachs. In his hand is a pennant, bearing the face of John McCain, whose skin is dyed green. Next to the desk is a waste paper basket, where you can see a crinkled copy of the Constitution sticking out.

On the desk is a container of lipstick. Both donkey and elephant have fixed their gazes on the thing.

From under the desk, you can see a man's leg protruding, and maybe a bit of an elbow, as if the man in question has his face in the lap of elephant-man. The desk obscures the rest of him, so you can't quite tell what's going on. On the floor, next to that leg, is a pennant bearing the face of Bob Barr, whose face is dyed green.

Behind the elephant is a one-armed bandit. It's windows register "F", "E", "D".

Behind the scene is a window, through which you can see angry people waving dollars and throwing molotov cocktails, but no one in the room seems terribly interested. The lipstick issue, you see, still hasn't been resolved.

The caption reads, "Potty Before Principal".

Unfortunately, I think this might be the opposite from what you're looking for. It probably won't fit on your tattoo, either.

 

~jaq

  • | Post Points: 5
Top 150 Contributor
Male
Posts 211
Points 3,425

Since you already have tattoos it is probably useless to say this but all tattoos, except for the ones of basic shapes and single color, look like a paintball accident  after 20 years of sun, oxygen and gravity.

 

But go for the kind of tattoo that says: "At least he read interesting books in prison."

http://www.comebackalive.com/phpBB2 Travel, Adventure Travel, Arguments, Recipes.

  • | Post Points: 20
Top 500 Contributor
Posts 77
Points 1,345

probably wont last the test of time but i still love the slogan "Self Pwnership".

  • | Post Points: 20
Top 150 Contributor
Male
Posts 211
Points 3,425

alansmithee:

probably wont last the test of time but i still love the slogan "Self Pwnership".

 

I take back what I said before.  That would actually work on faded, saggy skin.

 

But you spelled "pawnshop" all wrong.

 

 

 

http://www.comebackalive.com/phpBB2 Travel, Adventure Travel, Arguments, Recipes.

  • | Post Points: 5
Not Ranked
Male
Posts 22
Points 755

Here are some pot-induced (the high's nearing its end though) suggestions:

1. Someone basking in light (preferrably just a face)

2. Handcuffs Breaking with two bloodied fists

3. Someone holding up a book while being shot in the head.

4. A monster holding up a twin-pan balance with one hand, while the other's holding a bloodied weapon or heads (refers to egalitarianism).

  • | Post Points: 5
Page 1 of 1 (15 items) | RSS

Ludwig von Mises Institute | 518 West Magnolia Avenue | Auburn, Alabama 36832-4528

Phone: 334.321.2100 · Fax: 334.321.2119

contact@Mises.org | webmaster | AOL-IM MainMises

Mises.org sitemap