eBay Trying to be Politically Correct !

[pierrelebel]

Every-so-often, we see individuals or businesses going overboard trying to be politically correct, trying not to offend anyone.

That attitude offends me.

Call a spade, a spade.

When looking on eBay.ca at the list of countries to get a shipping rate, eBay lists

Falkland Islands (British territory in the South Atlantic) as

Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas)

That is nonsense. Argentina went to war over rthe Islands and lost.  A recent referendum of the population of the Falkland voted overwhelmingly (99.8%) to stay British (only 3 residents voted against!).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falkland_Islands_sovereignty_referendum,_2013 

Why does eBay continue the charade?  

On the same list on eBay.ca, you will not find Burma (Myanmar) or Cuba or Vietnam. Why?  Because the US government does not like their leaders or politics!

That is stupid.  Canadians (myself included) have customers in those countries and we are free to ship whatever we want.

[bb_cool_stuff]

....have customers in those countries and we are free to ship whatever we want.

Have you shipped to those countries in the past Pierre ?

BTW, not being a wiseguy.

[pierrelebel]

Yes

[pierrelebel]

Looking back at the last twenty-five years in the worldwide mail order business, I can only recall one country I did not ship to and I really wish I did: the Vatican!

[prior-of-verity*shake-hands-with-your-devil]

What's the problem, the Spanish name for the islands?

As for the referendum, it was a joke because a large majority of the inhabitants of the islands are either of British birth or decent, so who would they vote for but to stay British. The Falklands is a memorial to the hideousness of British Colonialism that hurt, or destroyed the lives of so many innocent people in the world.

[bb_cool_stuff]

I think a lot of us would love to ship to Cuba.

They love concert & sports shirts.

They go absolutely crazy over baseball memorabilia.

Not sure if the have the money to spend though.

I.m sure Inuk could kick butt selling car parts there.

[rose-dee]

The Falklands is a memorial to the hideousness of British Colonialism that hurt, or destroyed the lives of so many innocent people in the world.

I tend to agree with you.  I don't mind if we're reminded there are other claims to the place.  Should we object to Ireland being referred to as "Eire"? 

Prior - Are you old enough to recall the coverage of the Falklands "war"?  If so, what was your reaction? 

To me, it was a David and Goliath scenario if ever there was one, except that David lost the contest.  Actually it was more of a bug-squishing expedition.

[ggsale27]

I agree with you Pierre. My wife sells stamps, and every time she tries to list stamps from Iran/Persia, she gets these insane messages telling her that she cannot sell them. She has found a work a round though, not great, but putting the listing up as just " stamps " allows her to list them. eBay needs to butt out of the political arena , and just let people run their businesses.

[pierrelebel]

" Should we object to Ireland being referred to as "Eire"? "

That is the point.

on eBay, Ireland is referred to as Ireland, not Ireland (Eire).

There is no logic to refer to the Falkland Islands as anything but the Falkland Islands.

[rose-dee]

On eBay, Ireland is referred to as Ireland, not Ireland (Eire).

There is no logic to refer to the Falkland Islands as anything but the Falkland Islands.

Unless perhaps you're an American company trying not to alienate both ethnicities? 

I expect there are many, many Spanish-speaking people in the U.S. who use eBay, who only refer to this piece of real estate as Islas Malvinas and might be offended were eBay to refer to it as the Falkland Islands.   

While it is true that Ireland is referred to as such on eBay, I was speaking generally about political correctness in naming places.  The country is called Eire on many platforms.  Again, it depends who is trying to appeal to whom. 

However, I do agree with you where countries such as Vietnam and Cuba are concerned.  Here it isn't a question of trying to be seen by the world as politically correct (which I wouldn't fault eBay for), but to fall into line with domestic policy and opinion. 

As Canadians using an American site, we're unfortunately stuck with the American view of who the good guys and bad guys are.  We may have, or want, customers in those places, but we're using their storefront to sell. 

[trikiliki]

Huh! I never actually thought about Cubans Ebaying. I haven't had a customer from Cuba yet. I think until only recently the general population was not even permitted unrestricted access to the internet. I had a friend that met a Cuban on vacation about 7 years ago and married him. During the 2 year course of the long distance part of the relationship, before he was able to immigrate, he had to get access to the internet at his aunts school; she was a college professor. He also had to establish a new email address every time he wanted to talk to her because they kept getting blocked. 

I also didn't realize they had an internationally recognized credit card or banking system to use for online shopping, or a proper inbound mail system to receive goods. I recall my friend was not able to just send things over to him in the mail and was not able to wire him money either. I guess a lot has changed there in such a short period of time!

[pierrelebel]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_in_Cuba 

[prior-of-verity*shake-hands-with-your-devil]

Should we object to Ireland being referred to as "Eire"? 

No, because that's it's true Irish name from the Irish language and comes from an ancient Irish goddess.

To me, it was a David and Goliath scenario if ever there was one, except that David lost the contest.  Actually it was more of a bug-squishing expedition.

I agree. To me it was Britain desperately flexing their muscle and feeling like their old selves again from the once most powerful nation on the planet to a becoming a lapdog for the USA. The Falklands was a nationalistic feel good moment. It's about the last one they have had.

There is no logic to refer to the Falkland Islands as anything but the Falkland Islands.

I don't see why it couldn't be referred to as both it's English name and it's Spanish name. But it's eBotch and that says volumes.