Post by Johnny on Dec 21, 2005 5:22:44 GMT
I hope you don't think this is a politically-orientated post, cos it's not. It goes far beyond that - to an area where I am personally very, very concerned with the direction we are all heading.
As you know - Kitty and I sell military collectables on the internet with a lot of stuff being sold through our eBay shop.
When we first started, nearly five years ago - we didn't have a problem selling anything that we had. I must point out, that we are a legitimate business, and do not sell things that are dangerous, or illegal to sell under current UK law.
BUT - Under "European" rules and regulations - we began to receive warnings from eBay for the items we were selling.
About three years ago, a European court ruling brought in a law which meant people in France and Germany could not bid, and buy items that had nazi swastikas on. Now, on the face of it - let's accept this as being sensible, and lets accept the reasoning behind this.
OK.
But that ruling has now been extended much further.
We recently received a warning through eBay for selling a WW2 web rifle sling, because it was (in their terminology) a "firearms accessory". When I phoned up and asked them about that - they said, oh yes, that's a firearms accessory - because it's designed to got on a rifle.
When I asked whether a bayonet came under the same category - I was told "no". Funny, I replied - a bayonet is designed specifically to fit onto a rifle, so isn't that a "firearm accessory" too? Predictably, I got a bit of a silence at the other end of the phone, and no direct answer to that question, and at present thousands of bayonets are sold on ebay. But ................... if you sell an old WW2 dated "rifle sling" - you're looking for trouble!
In the past two months - we have had several people contact us from France, saying that they were "blocked" from viewing several of our eBay listings, because the listings contained words like "WW2" and "Gas Mask". Apparently, France has now put a block on anything related to WW2, and if the listing has got words which relate to that period of history - it is not available for citizens of that country to view.
Now, Let me ask you the million dollar question - Am I the only one to be deeply disturbed about this situation - where a country like France is trying to deny the fact that WW2 ever happened?
I find it shameful that "political correctness" has gone so far, and that we now accept this drip-fed nonsense without question. We now seem to resemble an Orwellian-type Totalitarian State, where history is becoming politicised, and people are becoming subtley brainwashed, and led like sheep in a direction mapped out by nameless, unaccountable "authorities".
Like I said - this is not a political post. I'm simply pointing out a very real danger that exists in today's society, and unfortunately most people cannot see it.
I leave you with a couple of questions: Firstly, Is it right for nameless, faceless, unelected, unaccountable people - to rewrite (and effectively deny) the history of WW2 ?, and secondly - what message does that send to our forebears (many of whom, like my parents, are still alive) - who suffered so much, and sacrificed so much during that period ?
I for one, are proud that they fought to liberate Europe from tyranny and oppression. It's such a shame that a new form of tyranny and oppresion is now slowly creeping back into our everyday lives!
As you know - Kitty and I sell military collectables on the internet with a lot of stuff being sold through our eBay shop.
When we first started, nearly five years ago - we didn't have a problem selling anything that we had. I must point out, that we are a legitimate business, and do not sell things that are dangerous, or illegal to sell under current UK law.
BUT - Under "European" rules and regulations - we began to receive warnings from eBay for the items we were selling.
About three years ago, a European court ruling brought in a law which meant people in France and Germany could not bid, and buy items that had nazi swastikas on. Now, on the face of it - let's accept this as being sensible, and lets accept the reasoning behind this.
OK.
But that ruling has now been extended much further.
We recently received a warning through eBay for selling a WW2 web rifle sling, because it was (in their terminology) a "firearms accessory". When I phoned up and asked them about that - they said, oh yes, that's a firearms accessory - because it's designed to got on a rifle.
When I asked whether a bayonet came under the same category - I was told "no". Funny, I replied - a bayonet is designed specifically to fit onto a rifle, so isn't that a "firearm accessory" too? Predictably, I got a bit of a silence at the other end of the phone, and no direct answer to that question, and at present thousands of bayonets are sold on ebay. But ................... if you sell an old WW2 dated "rifle sling" - you're looking for trouble!
In the past two months - we have had several people contact us from France, saying that they were "blocked" from viewing several of our eBay listings, because the listings contained words like "WW2" and "Gas Mask". Apparently, France has now put a block on anything related to WW2, and if the listing has got words which relate to that period of history - it is not available for citizens of that country to view.
Now, Let me ask you the million dollar question - Am I the only one to be deeply disturbed about this situation - where a country like France is trying to deny the fact that WW2 ever happened?
I find it shameful that "political correctness" has gone so far, and that we now accept this drip-fed nonsense without question. We now seem to resemble an Orwellian-type Totalitarian State, where history is becoming politicised, and people are becoming subtley brainwashed, and led like sheep in a direction mapped out by nameless, unaccountable "authorities".
Like I said - this is not a political post. I'm simply pointing out a very real danger that exists in today's society, and unfortunately most people cannot see it.
I leave you with a couple of questions: Firstly, Is it right for nameless, faceless, unelected, unaccountable people - to rewrite (and effectively deny) the history of WW2 ?, and secondly - what message does that send to our forebears (many of whom, like my parents, are still alive) - who suffered so much, and sacrificed so much during that period ?
I for one, are proud that they fought to liberate Europe from tyranny and oppression. It's such a shame that a new form of tyranny and oppresion is now slowly creeping back into our everyday lives!
