FYI for those who were not around back then, I believe "politically correct" is actually a term created by the left to apply to others on the left who were rigidly dogmatic in their thinking as opposed to intellectually inquisitive. It replaced the term "infantile leftism" - usually hurled at Maoists, Trotskyists, Leninists and the like by people of The New Left (Marcusians, Reichians, structuralists, etc) - in the late 60s and 70s, itself a phrase used by Lenin to impugn the intellectual shallowness of some fellow Bolsheviks (I believe the full sentence was that he would rather "sit down and do business with John D Rockefeller than hang around with a bunch of 'infantile leftists'".
The meaning of "politically correct" has since evolved as a consequence of our culture shifting so greatly as to make any discussion of Maoists seem quaint.
Well, what has this got to do with classic bikes, and bikes generally? If we indulge in generalities for just one more moment, I suppose one may generally say that some of us collect classic bikes for their trade value or for the nostalgia: maybe these people are inclined to hold conservative cultural and political views. Others are into them for New Age reasons - aerobic exercise, the zen of fixed wheel riding, etc, or for their ecological value - no carbon-based fuels are needed, and recycling at its finest: maybe we could generally say this group is liberal, whatever that word really means nowadays.
Suppose these 2 generalized groups - not necessarily accurately characterized and maybe overlapping more extensively than we realize, instead of recognizing their commonality in their shared hobby, held fast onto their particular world views of collecting and started to demonize the others motives for collecting?
Seems to me what we have here is an argument for tolerance and against name-calling and jokes at other's expense.
That is my sermon for the day, may you "Go In Peace and Love to Serve the Classic-biking Community".
:-)
Michael Lebron
NYC