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Well, here is my first post, and I'm sure I'm going to make troubles. That's my life.
I'm trying to post here those stamps that looks innaproppiate

TODAY for most people with a little common sense in general. I'm not talking about stamps with religion, war, politics or human rights topics.

I know "politically incorrect" is a very ambiguous term, but I'm trying to post here stamps which theme is not very well appreciated for EVERYBODY TODAY.

Well, giving an example, here is what I call politically inappropiate:



Fighting bulls is something that human beings don't need anymore, doesn't matter if it is part of a cultural heritage.

Another example:



The stamp is Scott 1043, well knowing like "Bustard hunt by plane". I do not understand yet if the bustard (Otis parda) was hunted by the same plane, by a hunter on the plane or what, but doesn't look nice. In fact, the bird shows a terrible face.

Another one:
I'm very sure that nobody (king, politic, or whatever) would like appear in a stamp killing whales (Scott 243):

What stamp issue is not politically incorrect? Somewhere. To some person.

You give spain as your location,

Even today, the Franco stamps are politically incorrect to royalists, just as the Carlos stamps are politically incorrect to republicans. Most flora and fauna stamps are politically incorrect to environmentalists. Hitler head stamps. Arab stamps depicting a dagger through Israel.

Where to draw the line?

Japan has no problems with the killing of whales

Political correctness is the problem not the solution. We cannot celebrate Xmas because non-christians may be offended so we now say Merry Holiday and Happy New Year.

Denying our history or our cultural base in the name of political correctness is a fraud

But that is only my opinion.

Here my troubles start, that's my life.
Let me say you are wrong. I said VERY clearly I did NOT mean politic, religion, war, or human rights in this thread. MY ENGLISH IS NOT SO BAD TO MISUNDERSTAND ME.
I DON'T WANT problems with Xmas, Japanesedelighters, Hitler-3Reichstamps, Muslims(not Arabs)-Judes-Catholics-whatever you believe.
I did NOT mention Franco, the dictator, as soon as I did not mention anothers ones, just to avoid political or ideologist troubles.
BUT, let me say, killing a bird from a plane is STUPID, doesn't matter if I'm spanish or you are prussian, catholic, monarchic or the same queen of all the queendom of great Britain and north Ireland and commonwealth..
The same with torture, killing and celebrating death of a bull, or a king's killing whale from a slave-propeller boat. That's what I tried this thread goes on: Stupid things, reflected on stamps. Here is another example:



AND LET ME SAY I AM THE FIRST TOBACCO SMOKER, AND, SHAME ON ME, I WILL SMOKE TILL I DIE

do not smoke, be happy

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CASACUDOR

and my opinion to !

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CASACUDOR

What do you smoke?

Huanga.

Afternoon Willie,

What an interesting thematic topic. So many stamps that could fall into that sort of category.

_________________
Warm Regards, Rob
If you have time, please visit my blog: http://sparetimecollector.blogspot.com/

Tabaco. What do you think?

Afternoon Robert.

Well, post'em.

My apologies Willie I had no intention to expand on your comment; only to express the view that almost every stamp depiction will be 'politically incorrect' to some viewers- even depictions of cigarette smoking.

One of the biggest problems with political correctness is judging historical matters by the mores of today.

Many profess upset at the bombing of Dresden towards the end of World War II. We know the war ended in May 1945 but in February 1945 the final outcome was unknown. The dropping of the first atomic bombs is similar.

Slavery happened, but most forget that the Europeans did not land from their ships and rush inland to round up slaves, they were supplied by other Africans.

In WWI deserters were shot, but if you were guaranteed a place in prison, thousands may well have chosen that instead, but we have a campaign for them to be pardoned retrospectively.

Most "history" is now (re)written by those of a left wing agenda, with an honourable exception of Niall Ferguson, whom I can recommend, particularly his work on the British Empire.

Well, if "left wing" means "analytical" as opposed to "cheerleading" then yes, maybe. Ferguson has his own point of view, but it isn't that unusual. The empire could have been a lot worse, yes, but there were a lot of unsavoury things about it too, and downplaying the latter to praise it is going to get you a lot of approval from people who would like to overlook the problems. Taking the problems into account is just writing about what happened, not rewriting history.

The Dresden firestorm was the intended effect that area bombing was intended to create. It was simply one of the few cases where it actually worked (Tokyo was another), and had little to do with the detailed progress of the war. Dresden itself had relatively little importance to the German war effort and the industrial areas weren't targeted (as Freeman Dyson who was with Bomber Command staff put it, it had rapidly become clear that the planes of the time couldn't reliably hit any target smaller than a city). By February 1945 victory was more a matter of when not if anyway.

It's certainly arguable that it took WW1 to get an understanding of the effects of "shell shock", but since there now is a better understanding, retrospective pardons are a logical suggestion. Deserters generally weren't shot in WW2, but hey, somehow the Allies managed to win that one too.

As for slavery, yes it's important to note that it piggybacked off an existing practice. The availability of (in effect) a mass export market added a layer of brutality all its own though, and even with the mores of the time there were a good number of people capable of noticing the ethical problems involved.

Claims of "political correctness" are usually a red herring ...

Curiosity! At one time I collected pipes and the various brands of tobacco smoked interested me.



As late as the 1980's I attended two slave auctions in the North Yemen. I expressed disbelief when I was told of then, and was then invited to go see, and if memory serves me right. There was a vessel intercepted in the Red sea a few years ago and found to have some hundreds of African children on board. All bound for slavery.

Huanga.

"Sportsmen" did the same thing in the Midwest USA in the late 1800s, when the trans-continental railway was built. They'd sit in the carriage with a rifle, taking shots at the buffalo on the plains.

It wasn't even hunting for food or trophy heads for the den, it was silly carnage, as they were on a moving train so the animals were left dead on the ground.

If there's any stamps showing tiger hunts in India they would be seen as politically incorrect nowadays as well.

_________________
Collecting Mongolia; Thailand; Indo-China; Mourning Covers; OHMS.
My online 'store': http://stampsfromaethelwulf.blogspot.com/

mozzerb

I think that your reply demonstrates clearly my first sentence.

Well, I'd say the whole original post demonstrates my last sentence. "Political correctness" is a complaint (often a silly one) about the views of today. Whiggish views of history are a separate issue.

Politically Incorrect?...

Perhaps...but I'm not a politician.

-FK

_________________
" It's getting downright re-goddamn-diculous"
-John Wayne

Maybe, but there are stamps showing this:

That's what I was talking about.

The irony in the notion of a nazi stamp being 'politically incorrect' when anyone with a bit of historical perspective can see that 'political correctness' is little more than thinly disguised nazism. BTW, I notice you didn't mention Stalin or Mao. I suppose that only rightist murderers earn the 'politically incorrect' badge of distinction.
PC may be 'political' but there is nothing 'correct' about it...it's just further conditioning of the sheeple and it seems to be succeeding quite well.
The best and quickest way to rid the earth of PC?...IGNORE it.

-FK

_________________
" It's getting downright re-goddamn-diculous"
-John Wayne

Well. I don't know, maybe my english is worst than I guess.
I said "I know "politically incorrect" is a very ambiguous term, but I'm trying to post here stamps which theme is not very well appreciated for EVERYBODY TODAY." and I said: I'm trying to post here those stamps that looks innaproppiate TODAY for most people with a little common sense in general. I'm not talking about stamps with religion, war, politics or human rights topics.

This includes nazism, bombing of Dresden, bombing of Tokio, bombing of Hiroshima, bombing of London, bombing of Nagasaki, bombing of Berlin, bombing of Hamburg, destroyn of Warsaw, killing of judes, killing of gipsies, killing of chineses, medical experiments on war prisioners, torture of prisioners, killing fields, indian extermination, slavery, woman domination, KuKuxKlan, Holly Inquisition, etc. etc. (Let me say I never saw a stamp about those)
I know those happened, and I know the right of everyone to think about in one or another way.
BUT I was talking about stamps stamps that looks innaproppiate TODAY for most people with a little common sense in general. And I thought that somebody killing a bird from a plane could be an inappropiate idea por anybody, doesn't matter if he is budist, muslim, catholic, baptist, comunist, liberal, maoist, creationist, or rock singer.

The best we can do is forget this thread and a moderator erase it.
Lets talk about stamps with flowers, babies or parfums.

Willie, with respect. Might I suggest that you rethink your use of the word; and use the word 'many'. Your use of the word 'most' implys everyone thinks as you do.

I for one find none of the stamps you have posted to be politically incorrect, in fact I find the Mexician stamps[By Fisherking]to be humourously productive. Perhaps the substituted word 'many' would be more accurate for your posts.

Huanga.

Willie, once you have started a thread, it will go where it goes. Political Correctness is still largely in the eye of the beholder, and can be different from country to country, and even person to person. If you don't find certain things Politically Incorrect, others may.

Stamps are a snapshot of the history of the day, and as such tell a fascinating story. It's not just your story, but the story for Stampboards members from over 100 different countries, with many hundred different perspectives.

I have followed this thread with interest, and it has all been on topic. You don't need to agree with others, but nor do you have the right to suggest that they must agree with you.

You have stated your viewpoint, others have stated theirs. That's what Bulletin Boards do.

Norm, Moderator.

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Geelong, VFA Premiers 1878, 1879, 1800, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, AFL Premiers 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011, .

The idea of being politically correct, or "PC", exploded in what, the 1990s? Suddenly everyone on all sides was so sensitive about word choices. The 'affected group' felt offended by the 'wrong' word. The 'user' of the term didn't want to step on toes.

Of course it goes back earlier. I think it was the 1970s at least that the "Eskimos" in the arctic said they wanted to be called "Inuit". Eskimo was a name applied to them by Europeans. Just as many states in Africa changed their name to something 'native' upon independence -- Gold Coast to Ghana for instance.

There was a thread here somewhere before that had a cover with a Cinderella ca. 1950s that said "Help Crippled Children". That's a word that's been consigned to the dustbin of "politically incorrect", in favour of "disabled"; just as "mental hospital" has replaced "lunatic asylum".

The terms used for people etc. reflect the attitudes of the time. Look at words used for African-Americans in the USA in the past, and how "wrong" those words are considered today. On the other hand, there is still a non-profit group called the "United Negro College Fund", and while we now have "First Nations People" in Canada, the government still conducts relations with them via the "Ministry of Indian Affairs".

So if stamps were issued at the time those words were 'OK', can you really imagine going around years later, gathering up every example in existence, to destroy them? No, just shake your head and think "Oh my, what were they thinking when they used those words?"

When looking at the past, things are viewed through a lens. The analogy to Ferguson, Nazism et al. is apropos.

I would say, Willie, that you and everyone else could post up a stamp and say "here is something I think is politically correct, because ...". People can agree or disagree with you, the whole idea here is to have discussion and share different viewpoints. The line is drawn at personal attacks or insults.

Going back to your opening, whale hunting is nowadays pretty widely condemned, but some countries still do it. Not to mention that it was once a huge industry--whale oil for lamps, and as a by-product, scrimshaw folk art carvings. The UN has come out against whale hunting, and there's a convention against it, but like most international treaties, its voluntary to sign up.

Just about anything could be taken as 'offensive' by someone. A stamp honouring a country's coal industry, someone could point at and say "coal-fired power plants are destroying the environment, its so wrong to honour that sort of thing". But then anti-nuclear activists would say the same about a stamp showing a nuclear power plant.

The USA planned a stamp showing a mushroom cloud as part of its WW2 anniversary commemoration. That was never issued in the end, and I'm sure 'most' people would agree it was pretty politically incorrect.

_________________
Collecting Mongolia; Thailand; Indo-China; Mourning Covers; OHMS.
My online 'store': http://stampsfromaethelwulf.blogspot.com/

Here you can see 'PC' doing it's worse:
http://now.msn.com/now/0529-racist-tube-jailed.aspx

-FK

_________________
" It's getting downright re-goddamn-diculous"
-John Wayne

I'm still wondering if the OP is expecting to arrive at some 'answer' or 'solution'. Indeed the practices of Bull Fighting and Whale Hunting (except for indigenous people who hunt for food) are antiquated, cruel and barbaric but what are we to do except preserve history in order to learn from it?
Does the OP propose that we as collectors reject or ignore such stamps as pictured? Should some Orwellian Big Brother send stormtroopers out to gather up all such stamps and burn them? Make it illegal to posess?
What will be next? All stamps issued by colonial powers?

-FK

_________________
" It's getting downright re-goddamn-diculous"
-John Wayne

no fisherking, I think the OP more or less wanted to make a themed presentation of stamps that might be considered as not PC...

this entire issue has been blown out of proportion and this thread is becoming a train wreck ..