Today, as I walk through an immense field of red poppies gently dancing in a breeze of ignorance, I look at all those people and wonder what’s going through their heads. They are wearing a flower this morning, wore a costume for Halloween and will probably have jeans on at work next Friday just because everybody else does it. So what? What about a meaning?
This being said, I don’t want to remember. I’m actually trying very hard to forget. To forget that Canada keeps getting involved in wars that don’t concern us; that our government keeps sending soldiers abroad to kill and get killed, for the sole purpose of playing the big boys war games.
Wars are not about freedom, they are about power. Who ever achieved freedom from a war fought on somebody else’s land? Now our soldiers are disposable puppets, but at least our modern army has become a professional one and being in the military is now a choice. So my heart goes to the families of those who died at war, whichever country or army they were from. But that’s where my remembrance ends.
Canada does not need an army of invasion slash foreign interference. The only way to justify an army is to protect one’s own soil. An army should not even own planes or ships with a range greater than its own borders. Soldiers should never have to fly away from home.
There is only one way to « remember » and honor the veterans: bring our troops home. Now. Once and for all.
Update - And one last thing. We can’t completely abolish the principle of an army either because let’s be honest, we are a fragile species. If it comes to one final face-off between mankind and our destabilized planet - because of a catastrophic sudden climate shift, a nuclear winter, an alien invasion or a cockroach take-over - the military will be our best line of defense. They are tougher, meaner, and they don’t complain. They just work. If only they could learn a thing or two from us, the non-weapon-bearing rest. And us from them.
« I don’t know brother. I don’t know that World War II could have been won without planes and boats reaching further than one’s own borders. And that was a war against Evil, that needed to be won.
Date of comment: 2006-11-11 16:11 •This being said, what the fuck are we doing in Afghanistan but playing in the US’s hands?
And see Rimbaud’s poem on Lulu’s page...coldly heartbreaking. »
« Just a reminder: WW2 resulted in a fistul of victorious nations becoming the world leaders in arms sales, two of which immediately launched into a cold war that pleagued mankind with the nuclear threat we know today.
Date of comment: 2006-11-11 18:22 •Having defeated Evil, the good guys - not to get bored - then started a series of fun satellite wars in poorer countries, to play with their toy guns and « remember » how to kill.
And as far as monsieur Rimbaud goes, yes, well written classic. But matching poetry and war is a sick combination that reminds me of drinking and driving. Looks fun, but it kills. Make your war appear poetic, even through the death of a young soldier, and some idealistic fool will want to fight it... »
« Sadly, nothing is simple as far as Evil is concerned.
Date of comment: 2006-11-11 18:55 •Talibans, Stalin, Hutus, Mao Tse Tung, Amin Dada, Pinochet, Saddam Hussein, Hitler, Pol Pot...
only a few of past, present and future
multiple faces of Evil.
Can we just watch and stay silent as long as Evil is not on our soil ?
Where does our responsability as human beings and brothers start and where does it end ? »
« « ... the willful ignorance of the people is the most powerful military weapon in the world. » (Quoted from http://matthewgood.org/champions-of-nothing/ ) »
Date of comment: 2006-11-11 18:58 •« I agree with this statement.
Date of comment: 2006-11-11 19:07 •We, as a whole, are such cowards and selfish human beings.
We need to awaken our hearts, there is so much love waiting to be experienced. »