The Reality of the Message

I would like to think that the average american knows that the reality of communism = bad, and that crazy left wing groups had lots of fun in south america.
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Of course they don't. How many leftist drones do you see running around wearing a Che shirt? :P
And how many are still going "Support Hugo! Buy only Citgo! Down with Exxon Mobil!".... far too many.
 
The ability of Americans isn't in question here. We are constantly bombarded by these Hollywood types, lectured about what we should or shouldn't be doing. They have absolutely no hesitation when it comes to their opinions, and how important they are. Accordingly, they should have enough knowledge to make this sharing worthwhile. That would include Peru's long battle with the Sendero Luminosa, a Maoist guerilla movement. They weren't the usual anti-government rebel group that has lived and breathed in South America for centuries. Even Che didn't preach their theories.

The fact that they miss the mark so often when dealing with others should not be dismissed so lightly. If you expect me to listen to your opinion on sundry things, you'd better be capable of doing enough research to avoid embarrassing yourself over a handbag. You don't get a pass.:mad:
 
When I was in Uncle Sam's Yacht Club

We were prohibited (it's the military, they can do that) from wearing anything that might even possibly construed as political when on liberty in foreign lands.

It was a good idea, and as a civilian, I do the same.

I travel a lot for work, and I deal with a lot of different people. I wtach what I say and what I do, because I do not wish to give offense. PC? No, basic politeness.

What this woman did was rude. Plain and simple. She deserves every bit of criticism that she gets. If she'd pooped on the rug, it would be the same. What she does for a living doesn't make it any better, or any worse. It would have been rude for me, it would have been rude for the Pope, and it was rude for Ms. Diaz.

Being "anti-PC" doesn't give you permission to behave like a donkey, and it doesn't obligate you to defend others who do.

--Shannon
 
They have absolutely no hesitation when it comes to their opinions, and how important they are.
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So if you aren't going to give them a pass, you have to put more stock in their opinion.

Kind of an insane opinion, but that's what you said.
 
Well I do like the irony of Communist icons being sold by Capitalists as kitschy accessories. Lenin, Mao, et al must be spinning in their graves. :)

However, I think many of the consumers of this kitsch do so as a mushy expression of their Utopian ideals for the world. They do not understand what this stuff really meant because they are either not related to people who escaped Communism or have not talked with anyone who lived under Communism.

It's like wearing a Nazi armband to protest Communism.
 
There's another factor here too... She's a celebrity, and they often times are surrounded by PR people and stylists wherever they go, especially if they're going to another country. You would think that within this network of people paid to be aware of the celebrity's surroundings and everything else within their life that they would have picked up on all the aforementioned points and perhaps suggested against the Mao bag. Sure, the celebrities are dumb, but usually their helpers are pretty smart. Not this time :p
 
So if you aren't going to give them a pass, you have to put more stock in their opinion.
Kind of an insane opinion, but that's what you said.
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Now, that's the type of drivel that ruins good discussions. Where do you get the idea that expecting people who think that they know everything to....well....know everything, requires anyone to be forced to believe them. There is zero logic in that.

Try to keep up here. The only insane opinion lately passed was that one.:barf:
 
However, I think many of the consumers of this kitsch do so as a mushy expression of their Utopian ideals for the world. They do not understand what this stuff really meant because they are either not related to people who escaped Communism or have not talked with anyone who lived under Communism.
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Not when the symbols are dead. Lots of people have Soviet belt buckles and submarine clocks and such just because it's amusing to have a relic of a once-feared, now-dead empire as a bit of kitsch.

They're the capitalist equivalent of take-home war trophies.
 
They're the capitalist equivalent of take-home war trophies.
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I have a few myself. It's kind of humorous.

My uncle was flying a supply helicoptor when some Viet Cong took an RPG-7 to it. No body to recover there.

That argument is beside the point. The real point is going to foreign countries and making political statements. Not smart.
 
Well that is the problem Manedwolf the symbol may be dead in this country but in other countries the symbol is alive and well, and still has meaning.

Personally I believe one of her handlers made a bigger deal with the press than an actual offense was taken by the Pervuians. No press is bad press.

She and other celebrities are just dancing monkeys for our entertainment. Granted some of them are really talented dancing monkeys, but when it comes right down to it all the celebrities are good for are making us forget our real problems for a bit. But after a while those dancing monkeys forget they are just thier for our entertainment, take themselves more seriously just because they believe thier own hype and the yes men (and women) around them.

I wish people would remember they are just "dancing monkeys". Hell Paris Hilton can't even dance, as far as I can tell the only reason she is a celebrity is because she is a monkey.
 
Where do you get the idea that expecting people who think that they know everything to....well....know everything, requires anyone to be forced to believe them. There is zero logic in that.

Try to keep up here. The only insane opinion lately passed was that one.
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Insane because you want your cake and to eat it too. Why don't you just do what smart people do and ignore her opinions and actions completely?
 
I don't remember having anything to do with her opinions.

If seeing another Hollywood know-it-all hoisted on their petard is having my cake and eating it to, then that's what I'm doing. Not only that, but there's nothing that you can really say about it.

Please quote anything that I said that requires us to listen to the over-rated opinions of the Hollywood set? I simply found it amusing that they EXPECT people to listen to what they have to say, simply because of who they are. Conversely, when they screw up, there is nothing odd about refusing them a pass because they "didn't know any better." If you set yourseves up as experts on anything that you have an opinion on, then you set yourself up for ridicule when you blindly insult others.

Perhaps you'd have better luck bashing Bush, 'cause you aren't getting it here.
 
You don't need to add any wood to the fire explaining that celebrities opinions are pretty much worthless. The evidence is overwhelming.

It is the engaging in delight at seeing them commit a faux pas that makes a person small.

Just ignore them. Ignore their opinions.

My initial comment was that if you are going to put stock in the error as a malicious thing that they either think about themselves or have people to do the thinking for them, then political actions they take (or speeches they make) have at least as much thought (since they are deliberate). Maybe I wasn't clear.
 
Manedwolf, the symbol is dead to most Americans so it's lost practically all of its meaning. I don't think even that stuff stamped with Mao, hammers and sickles, solitary stars, etc is a Capitalist victory trophy. It's just a "that looks cool, I'll wear it/carry it" dynamic more than anything else.

Just like, for most of us, all those cheap Russian Mosin Nagants are fun rifles to shoot or collect. Never mind that they were used for evil and have the emblem of that evil stamped into them.

It means something to my father's side of the family though.
 
Yah, I got one of these from CTD, too. Mostly because the size and price are just right; and as a bit of a joke. With the same purchase I got the $8.00 range bag... also made in China but all black and without the august helmsman. In all seriousness, while I consider the bag a bit of taking-the-mickey-out-the-reds Chairman Mao was enormously destructive. The Peruvians are quite right to kick her tuckuss. Maybe I'll use the Mao bag to store 'The Black Book of Communism' and 'Little Red Book'. Or would that cause a matter/anti-matter implosion?
 
Correct, you weren't clear. I also feel that "engaging in delight over their faux pas" is something that is perfectly allowable, without any moral high ground pretensions. THEY certainly don't worry about it, so the reverse is also true. :)
 
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