It is probably an age thing!
I can understand the Welsh Political Twins antipathy towards the Poppy Symbol, but they are a lot younger than me. I was born 14 years after the end of WWII. The Cenotaphs in Dolgellau, Barmouth, Cilfynydd, Ludlow, Trawsfynydd and Minsterly don't just have names on them they have the names of real people who my parents and grandparents really grieved for, and for whom I still feel a duty of rememberance.
Y Prifardd Hedd Wyn, the Welsh language icon of War loss was my paternal grandfather's cousin. Wilfred Owen, probably the best English language War Poet, was my maternal grandmother's cousin. The words of these two relatives are still used and abused in remembrance.
Armistice Day / Remembrance Sunday is an emotional day for me. My family tree is full of names of fantastic people who I would have known had they not been butchered and damned in the two world wars. So I wear a poppy in respect and remembrance of them!
But think about it! What is poppy money for?
A Charity that supports disabled ex-service personnel!
Why do those who have served King and Country need to depend on charity for support?
Shouldn't the government that recruited them, conscripted them and deployed them pick up the tab for disabled service personnel?
The fact that I have to put a couple of quid into a charity box to buy a poppy, in order to ensure that disabled soldiers are looked after is a shameful reflection on the UK's policy of care for its war heroes!
The Poppy isn't a Symbol of Pride, it is a Symbol of Shame! Shame that a charity is doing what the government should have a moral duty to do!
You could say the same thing about the work of the RNLI - what is the alternative?
ReplyDeleteNot long ago the grieving parents of a youngsoldier killed in service were asked to pay back the wages he was paid after he died.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-15463464
Then you hear about families who are fighting the MOD not to discharge their severely maimed children from the army simply because the MOD do not want to pay for physiotherapy.
http://www.southyorkshiretimes.co.uk/news/brave_ben_wins_battle_to_stay_in_the_army_1_3901311
Or how about the veterans who suffered from all the nuclear tests and yet the MOD has spent millions defending itself from compensation?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14320465
Jean Paul Satre once said "When the rich wage war it's the poor who die".
I don't wear a poppy but I thank those who died in order to allow me that choice.
These days the poppy has little to do with remembrance, instead it's now cynically exploited as a symbol to glorify and "normalise" Blair/Bush/Cameron's illegal wars.
ReplyDelete100,000+ innocent Iraqi civilians were slaughtered for our "freedom", who remembers or gives a fuck about them.
What I don't understand is, the further away we get from the last world war (66 years and counting) the more the media seem to urge us to wear a red poppy.
ReplyDeleteI can't see how the deaths of conscripted soldiers in the trenches of the Great War equate with the (albeit tragic) deaths of volunteers in the British Army's illegal or immoral imperialistic conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.
ReplyDeleteRecent years have witnessed a greater emphasis on the trappings of 'remembrance' by government and the media, particularly the BBC. It fills the news for at least a fortnight before the actual event.
There does seem some kind of agenda.
We are a sick society when we only measure the deaths of our own people, who are sent out to kill others with all the modern weapons to hand, whilst barely mentioning, if at all, the destruction, devastation and havoc the British armed forces are wreaking.
The recent Libyan conflict illustrates this all too well. The RAF, we were told, was mobilised to protect civilians - but only those threatened by Gaaddafi - the rebels were allowed to kill with impunity and lay waste whole cities.
The sheer hypocrisy of those in government with an eye to exploit Libya's resources is beyond belief.
It's not surprising that the gap between the rich and poor has been widening in the UK, under governments of both parties.
We have a sham democracy.
Alwyn
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more about what the government should do for the boys and girls in the Armed Forces, but not the conclusion.
Our poppy remains a way of commemorating those who have given their lives, how is that shameful? You might as well argue that democracy is shameful because some chose to vote for a party that didn't adequately regulated bankers (or for that matter, for a party that called for further deregulation in the same period)
My interpretation of the recent OTT promotion of the poppy is this.
ReplyDeleteThe Fallen are not being remembered they are being exploited for blatantly political reasons.
1. The economy is going down the tubes.
2. There are sizeable minorities in England that feel alienated. These must be brought into the fold leaving only the 'extremists' on the outside.
3. Devolution. Wales is gaining more power but worse, Scotland could break away entirely.
This explains the splurge of 'Britishness', of promoting 'the shared history', 'the ties that bind', etc. With, of course, an element of bread and circuses to detract from current economic woes.
Expect more of the same next year with the Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics. But expect all the stops to be pulled in the run-up to the Scottish referendum.
My interpretation of the recent OTT promotion of the poppy is this.
ReplyDeleteThe Fallen are not being remembered they are being exploited for blatantly political reasons.
Yes Jac, that may well be the cynical truth, in the same way as Christmas is all about Santa and shopping. But some of us still celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ on Christmas Day, and some of us still grieve for members of our families on Armistice Day.
I agree, Alwyn. So we need to differentiate between the sincere on the one hand and the cynical on the other.
ReplyDeleteBTW, I've just learnt that in Scotland the poppy is different. It has four petals and no leaf. It seems that in just about everything Scotland already does things differently.
Same about the NHS the 'Big society' that is you and me are going to have to pay for everything, the question is, why are they still taxing us for services we are expected to pay for separately from the tax they already take ? I suppose Bankers have expensive tastes..... They way they treat men and women who give up their lives and well being for useless old farts like politicians defies belief and rational. Let then fight.
ReplyDeleteFew of those ho died in WW1 and WW2 'Gave' their lives. The were either conscripts or volunteers who had been duped by unionjackery, who had their lives cynically stolen.
ReplyDeleteI agree with most of the above - remembrance day is a chance to reflect on lives needlessly lost and the futility of war, but I also agree that it is being increasingly co-opted into a unionist conspiracy.