Post by Phil on Jun 17, 2024 16:51:38 GMT -5
I'll start by saying my intention is not to start a political debate or demean anyone's beliefs. I think you collect what you want, how you want and as much or as little as you want. It's your collection, you collect what interests you the way you want to. All I ask is that I receive the same treatment.
But something happened recently that has me thinking and I'd like to hear some input from fellow collectors.
Well, a few days I was on that online cesspool known as Reddit. I admit it's my guilty pleasure to surf there at times to check out some topics I'm interested in -- like Stamps. Yes, if you're not aware there is a very active sub-reddit for stamps and stamp collecting. Well I was looking there and someone posted a picture of an official German Stamp from 1944 that had a swastika on it - the 12 reichspfennig, Scott O98 to be exact. They thought it was cool and of course there was others who didn't think it was so cool. But there was one particular comment that got my attention. The commenter made the statement that, because of the symbolism behind the swastika, the brutality, genocide, anti-semitism and all that the image should be labeled NSFW - Not Safe For Work. In other words, a picture of a stamp with a swastika should be, in essence, censored. I didn't agree and I felt the necessity to respond and we did have a civil discussion about it - neither of our minds were changed but we at least did have some dialogue which was nice.
But what do you think? One of the interesting parts of my collection is the history behind the subjects on the stamps and events happening around the printing of the stamps. It may be bad, it may be good but it's history nonetheless. It happened and it cannot be changed regardless of our feelings about those events.
Ok, I'll stop there. I'll save any future comments for the upcoming discussion.
Do you feel your stamp collection - or someone else's stamp collection should be subject to another person's scrutiny? If there's some dark, sinister story that can be connected to a stamp and what's printed on it, is that grounds for removal from public view?
But something happened recently that has me thinking and I'd like to hear some input from fellow collectors.
Well, a few days I was on that online cesspool known as Reddit. I admit it's my guilty pleasure to surf there at times to check out some topics I'm interested in -- like Stamps. Yes, if you're not aware there is a very active sub-reddit for stamps and stamp collecting. Well I was looking there and someone posted a picture of an official German Stamp from 1944 that had a swastika on it - the 12 reichspfennig, Scott O98 to be exact. They thought it was cool and of course there was others who didn't think it was so cool. But there was one particular comment that got my attention. The commenter made the statement that, because of the symbolism behind the swastika, the brutality, genocide, anti-semitism and all that the image should be labeled NSFW - Not Safe For Work. In other words, a picture of a stamp with a swastika should be, in essence, censored. I didn't agree and I felt the necessity to respond and we did have a civil discussion about it - neither of our minds were changed but we at least did have some dialogue which was nice.
But what do you think? One of the interesting parts of my collection is the history behind the subjects on the stamps and events happening around the printing of the stamps. It may be bad, it may be good but it's history nonetheless. It happened and it cannot be changed regardless of our feelings about those events.
Ok, I'll stop there. I'll save any future comments for the upcoming discussion.
Do you feel your stamp collection - or someone else's stamp collection should be subject to another person's scrutiny? If there's some dark, sinister story that can be connected to a stamp and what's printed on it, is that grounds for removal from public view?
