Remember This

Today is Remembrance Day, the day we originally kept to mourn those who lost their lives in WWI, then WWII, then all conflicts since.
The poppy appeal was set up as a charity, to raise money for injured soldiers who weren’t looked after by the same state that sent them abroad to fight.

It has often been called apolitical, as respect for soldiers, workers in uniform, dying or being maimed in muddy fields or dry, dusty deserts is something we all should take a moment to reflect on.
But over recent years it has come political, or more political, as raising funds in response to a government failure is political.

There are *still* ex-squaddies on the streets, there are even people pretending to be squaddies to garner sympathy. It’s wrong for a soldier to be abandoned by the state, but no more wrong than anyone who works, or has worked, to be without food, housing or enjoyment of their life.

The poppy has stopped being a symbol of respect for the fallen, but a symbol of the military. The current form on the BBC is to say “respect for those who lost their lives in wars, and those who are still fighting”. Fighting the enemies of Britain.

I wear a poppy and I have attended memorial services. During the minutes silence I think of the song “All Together Now” in my head and the beautiful image of workers refusing to fight and playing footie instead. Then I think of the orders brought in after the Christmas truce that refusing to fight and making friends with “the enemy” would result in death by firing squad.

Soldiers are mainly working class, joining the army is the best chance of getting a trade qualification, but the politicians who send them to war are not, they are mostly part of the ruling class.

We did not fight in Iraq to free it’s people from tyrrany, it was to allow access to oil fields. The unexpected result of destroying a stable country was the rise of ISIS, a globally hated terrorist group. Even Al Qaeda hate them.

Our military involvement in Syria further enabled them and led to an influx of refugees from the middle East to Europe.
Our leaders are using the army to create things a lot of people in our country do not want. The soldiers are just doing a job. Fighting so-called enemies of Britain, when our real enemies are those who send young lads to their deaths.

So wear a poppy, think of the horrors of war, but also think of why wars are fought and how our politicians’ wars benefit not us, but them, and how workers cooperating instead of fighting will be better for all of us.