Not quite understanding modern outrage

[Bob Womack]

A user on this board posted a WWII German item for sale and didn't post pics because the item had the swastika on it and he didn't want to offend. It is a kind gesture from the poster. But...

Over on a guitar forum that I frequent someone started a thread featuring vintage warplanes so I posted a picture and mentioned the THREE Focke Wulf FW190s that live down the road from me. The pic is of two of them in the WWII hangar from Cottbus, Germany, in which they reside.

residing

Within a short time a person posted, highly offended, saying he thought both the displaying of the flag and my posting of the picture with the flag were in extremely poor taste. Now, this picture was shot at a museum that houses many, many WWII aircraft (most flying) from the U.S., Britain, Germany, the U.S.S.R., and soon Italy.

What has happened to our culture when people can't handle history in the context of a museum?

Bob

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[Sentryduty]

Individuals like to claim outrage because they take enjoyment from it, and the attention that follows, it's just the way some people are. Someone in that case is failing to observe the context, spirit, and intent of the display before coming down on someone.

Personally, I have always thought that prop spinner design on the plane in the back is very neat, and I have been thinking about applying a similar scheme to one of my supercharger pullies.

[RASelkirk]

A lot of people out there re-writing history by omitting it completely. Sad days...

Russ

[HOOKED ON HISTORY]

[B]What has happened to our culture when people can't handle history in the context of a museum?

Bob [B]
"Those who are unable to learn from history are destined to repeate it"

[WarPig1976]

Tell said person to put his big boy pants on and shut up. If he's looking for a "safe space" history doesn't offer it whether he likes it or not. He's just spewing PC nonsense. It's all the rage nowadays, I refuse to play along.
I would be a "Bully" and remind the guy he's never won a fist fight and has never been with a women so why would anyone care what he thinks an see how he likes them apples. That's just me though.

[Eaglelord17]

Some people in my generation are weak individuals who take offence to everything. I have long since accepted that no matter what you do someone will take offence to it for whatever reason. That is there right, just as it is my right to do things they find offensive.

For example some of those same people who take 'offence' to the swastika don't take offence to Chinas flag or the Hammer and Sickle even though more people were killed in the name of 'equality' under those two symbols (or even one of them) than were killed due to people under the swastika. Its all about perspective and history is written by the victors. The more people research the more they will understand all these things other nations are demonized for has happened elsewhere (might be in a different time, but they still happened, in fact I can't think of a single culture or empire which didn't commit similar offences at some point in time). The British empire was built on genocide, the Americans wiped out whole tribes of aboriginals, the French Revolution killed thousands in the name of public safety, the Romans destroyed tons of cultures, etc. I could keep going all day.

The suppression of learning (which is becoming a serious issue) is resulting in uneducated 'educated' people who fail to understand why the world is the way it is and how it got to this point. Recently I had a horrible 'social learning' class, that the teacher knew a fair bit of the social issues attacking our society but he failed to understand how it got to that point. There were many points in time I had to EDUCATE the teacher (which isn't what I am spending my money on) as to why things were happening, as he didn't understand much of the history behind it all. All we can do is learn from from the past, and try to prevent it from happening in the future (though we are failing at the prevention part as Syria is showing us currently). Failure to learn from others mistakes means we are doomed to commit them ourselves.

Note I tried to keep the post non-political primarily showing how we get these offended people. If any point is excessively political please feel free to delete it or let me know and I can delete it.

[HOOKED ON HISTORY]

Keeping in the spirit ot the aviation nature of the OP.
Please fasten your seat belts and place your seats in the upright position. I think the ride is going to get bumpy now that the educated (indoctrinated) are in charge.
While I am acutely aware of the horror the swastika and other symbols represent purging the history associated with them will simply make it easier for the uneducated to fall for the same bananna in the tailpipe again (please see the film Beverly Hills Cop for explination of the bananna refrence.)

[Paul S.]

I'm not particularly fond of the North Vietnamese flag, or that of any Communist country. For that matter, I'm not fond of Lenin's picture or the Che Guevara shirts the Uni students cherish either, but I don't get 'cheesed off' every time I see one. The small minded subset of humanity that gets its knickers in a twist at the slightest infringement of political correctness needs a reality check.

With that, these, the aircraft and the flags, are simply historical relics much like an Egyptian chariot, a Greek Statue, Roman Gladius, a Viking long ship, or even the Tower of London and Dachau or Auschwitz. They are a part of our history and to deny history is to deny how we became who we are.


I'll add here that one of my ancestors, Sir Isaac Pennington, was a Lieutenant of the Tower before he became its prisoner and died there ~1666. The Tower doesn't offend me either.

[Seaspriter]

I'm not particularly fond of the North Vietnamese flag, or that of any Communist country. For that matter, I'm not fond of Lenin's picture or the Che Guevara shirts the Uni students cherish either, but I don't get 'cheesed off' every time I see one. The small minded subset of humanity that gets its knickers in a twist at the slightest infringement of political correctness needs a reality check.

With that, these, the aircraft and the flags, are simply historical relics much like an Egyptian chariot, a Greek Statue, Roman Gladius, a Viking long ship, or even the Tower of London and Dachau or Auschwitz. They are a part of our history and to deny history is to deny how we became who we are.

Well said Paul. My relatives fought the British in the Revolution (over civil rights), in the War of 1812 over the impressment (enforced slavery) of seamen, the American Civil War (over slavery), Germany in WWI (over aggression), Japan and Germany in WWII and then North Korea (over demonic predators), and then I in Vietnam (over Communist domination).

Today we are at peace with all these enemies (except North Korea). Being at peace means a level of reconciliation and an understanding (but never a denial) of the causes of war.

Every museum has to make choices about what to display, how to display it, and what should be communicated to the observer. Here in America there is still a deep controversy about flying the Confederate flag, which to some represents the same values the swastika means. Whenever I see either of these flags, I'm not offended; these just provide the opportunity to take the opposing view to what these flags represent -- to take the high road, an enlightened vision of the choices humanity has to make, a mission of courage to stand for human rights, and a testimony of those who were prepared to give their lives to a cause worthy of dying. That's why we celebrate Memorial Day today.

[Eaglelord17]

Well said Paul. My relatives fought the British in the Revolution (over civil rights)White slave owning colonists who refused to pay their fair taxes over a war they wished fought, in the War of 1812 over the impressment (enforced slavery) of seamen America trying to take over the whole of North America through Manifest Destiny, the American Civil War (over slavery) Political domination of the South leading to them wishing to succeed from the Union, Germany in WWI (over aggression) WWI was more a prevent empire building and trying to build a empire, realistically it wasn't Americas war, Japan and Germany in WWII Same reason as WWI, Germany Japan and Italy wanted a empire, other nations said no.
Today we are at peace with all these enemies (except North Korea). Being at peace means a level of reconciliation and an understanding (but never a denial) of the causes of war.

The understanding of what the causes of war are is changing. The farther we get from a conflicts the more we can actually analyze it in a unbiased manner. For example each one of the wars you listed can mostly be described in another way as it all depends on your view point. I will put in yellow in the quote what someone else might see them as. Some of the wars listed America was the aggressor, others America was attacked, overall though history is written by the victors and it takes centuries for the conflicts to be looked at from a unbiased standpoint (look at poor Napoleon for example, called the devil for over 100 years, finally no longer demonized to the same extent).