Italian Lawmakers Want Ban On Fascist Stamps

http://www.linns.com/news/world-sta...utm_content=

Here we go again; the PC crowd never seems to give up trying to pull this stuff. It doesn't sound from the article like this has much of a chance to become law.

I hope it doesn't pass. Knowing ebay, they would probably ban the sale of all Italian stamps and covers.

Sidenote - Italy prohibits the importation of stamps, postcards and albums by mail. http://pe.usps.com/text/imm/il_008.htm Stamps are allowed for collectors if the shipment bears the customs form 2976.

I've been breaking that "law" for years.

Is it PC? Or are stamps, coins etc minor collateral damage in a measure designed to address the circulation of present-day material? I'm ambivalent about this debate. I don't see the point in renaming buildings at US colleges that were named after racists like Wilson and Calhoun. Or removing statues of Cecil Rhodes in Oxford. Better to confront the past than airbrush it. On the other hand, flags - whether that of the Third Reich or the Confederacy - strike me as powerful symbols that shouldn't be being waved.

No one could be a 'racist' until after 1902 since the word was not in use until them. And the confederate flag that is sometimes embraced today was not the design that was used by the majority of the Confederacy during the Civil War.

Point is that times change. If 200 years from now they discover that all criminals can be cured of their behavior with a change to brain chemistry, would anyone who currently supports the death penalty then be considered a murderer? The keys to the past unlock the future.
Don

One can't legislate good manners, nor can one fix wood rot with a simple coat of paint. To the contrary, images from a difficult past filled with injustice affords us ample opportunity to salute those who fought against ignorance and hate. I'd rather not hide things in the attic.

I think GeoffHa is right about present day material. We got married in Italy about 10 years ago, and while strolling around I was surprised to see a shop selling Mussolini wine with his face on the label.

This proposed ban sounds even more draconian than anything places like the USSR and the DDR had in the Cold War. In those countries you could legally possess Third Reich material, you just could not offer it for sale or exhibit it.

I made the post on the Linn's article under my other screen name 'Snick1946'.

I agree with GeoffHa. This is far different from flying a Confederate battle flag from your porch. Some people moved to our neighborhood last year and actually were doing that. I put a note in their mailbox suggesting they think about doing this but I did tell them it was their right if they wanted to. They stopped doing it.

I do not see how they could enforce such a ban. Are they going to open every package that enters the country and sort through the stamps? In a large assortment mix, they are bound to find a few that "offend" them. There are NO rights anywhere that protects someone from being offended. What is the matter with these crazy people?

Actually, I think that both Germany and Italy respectively ban certain Nazi and Fascist uniforms and insignia. It's not an issue of avoiding offence - it's to try to help to avoid recurrence of past horrors.

There is a dark side to taking 'politically correctness' too far and we are all sad witnesses to this today. Just as war combatants might use innocent assets (i.e. orphanage or hospital) as a shield those with violent ideologies can wrap themselves in a religion and then use political correctness for protection. If we have not learned this lesson when human lives are at stake, I have little hope that we will have enough sense to prevent legislation that bans certain stamps with the intent of being politically correct.

I could understand legislation that might address current (new) stamp issues with racist, Nazi, or Fascist type designs. But to try to retroactively eliminate them as historical artifacts has the effect of white-washing important past human events.
Don

The Italian postal service does have a tenacity to open mail, but not to look for contraband stamps. They just have sticky fingers.

The current proposed Italian law has nothing to do with PCness, but seems to be a misguided attempt to deal with the current political and social atmosphere that's occurring in Italy, Greece, Germany and other European countries. Current governments are trying to place countermeasures against the rise of neo-fascism and xenophobic far right political parties. Going after stamps will not ease the problems as I doubt the average hate group runs in philatelic circles. I doubt the Golden Dawn in Greece has a stamp bourse the third Sunday of ever month. Unfortunately stamps get caught up with the more powerful symbols like the flags. Hopefully, Italy and other countries address the more important economic and social issues that give rise to such groups at hand instead.

Not a philatelic link, but an article on the current affairs that give a background to why such a law banning fascist related stamps might be proposed - http://www.policy-network.net/pno_d...on+the+march

Battle, the link you provide gives a wonderful view of the simplistic thinking of those who would oppose conformity to a national 'culture.' One just bandies about the term 'neo-fascist' and, viola, the argument is made. I suspect that the authors of the proposed Italian bill have all gotten a moment of fame and warm handshakes all around. Perhaps it is a well-calculated step rather than one misguided?

Too bad the politicians in Europe are not addressing the problems of deflation, massive unemployment and underemployment in much of Europe caused by a dysfunctional currency that in reality benefits only one country. Fix the real problems and the phobic parties will go away.

Ah, if we only had Don 'n' Ted to deal with thise phobics ...

Geoff, Britain First isn't doing the job?

Its quite amazing how we perceive threats these days. Despite the fact that we have an Islamic fundamentalist movement that is causing havoc, untold misery and hardship in the Middle East and forays into the 'West' to cause panic and terror, some people, take us back 7 decades to deal with PC. Since fascism is being singled out due to its nationalistic and racist ideologies, then for the sake of PC, shouldn't the same be applied to the former Soviet Union? Turkey? Japan? And a host of other countries? It's interesting to note, that a lot of the older Italians, hold Mussolini in high esteem. The social changes he introduced to Italy resulted in education, hospitals and social welfare being readily available to the majority of Italians for the first time. Well, that's what I think anyway