Pork Magazine Has Stopped Printing Swastikas, Because Trump

It's a weird time to be a punk provocateur.

Since its founding in 2010, Pork, which distributes in Portland has made a habit of printing swastikas and other offensive imagery to antagonize "squares." That's lead to boycotts and angry comments whenever they're mentioned.

But we noticed something last week: The zine's web site no longer has an essay about why they print offensive imagery, and the latest issue is devoid of fascist and Nazi imagery.

Bossman Sean Äaberg tells us it's not the time, as the "national tone" has changed under Trump.

"I was raised in a hard left milieu, so I enjoy getting a rise out of the hard left…But I go for mild provocation," he says. "The intention is not to be over the top, it's mild. That's been the point the entire time. To bring up discussions of what do these things mean. But other discussions then that are more pressing right now."

Äaberg converted to Judaism after marrying his wife, who is Jewish, and says the swastikas were about confronting fear.

"From the Bay Area perspective, we thought the that the Northwest was this Nazi-ridden hellhole," he says. "When we moved up to Eugene we found that the reality had overcome that, to the extent that if you talk to Antifa or SHARPs, and they have had no one to beat up since the late 90s."

Now, it's Nazi punching time. So Pork will be swastika-free for the near future.

"My reasoning hasn't changed at all but the national circumstances have changed," he says. "I respond to what society needs at any given time. When we started, I felt like we needed to give balls back to Rock&Roll. Now, there's more need for nuance and when you have a government that's as ham-fisted as this one, it's not the right time."

The next issue of Pork has an "Afro-futurist tone."

"A different kind of leadership is necessary," Äaberg says.