It's always about money and power, never 'freedom' or 'democracy' or some other ludicrous concoction. Eisenhower had the temerity to call his part in WW2 a 'crusade in Europe'. Please. As long as the bankers and arms merchants get their pound of flesh, nothing else matters. I stopped wearing poppies decades ago, as for me it sort of represents the same mindless virtue signalling as wearing masks. Look at me, aren't I a good little citizen? Churchill actually said 'In war, the truth must be surrounded by a bodyguard of lies'. At least that old cynical alcoholic didn't mince his words.
Thank you for your thoughtful comment, Navyo. I agree It's all a terrible loss, and for me, the worst is that we are not able to 'evolve' to a place without war. This Groundhog Day quality. I hope that you enjoy the south of France, nonetheless ...
Thank you, Monika. Your description of cognitive dissonance really hit home. I'm currently in a small medieval town in the South of France where Rememberance Day was observed by stoic old men in uniform who fought for freedom. Holding this trilogy of perspectives you describe surely makes me, anyone, want to run and hide. But somehow, the emotion of the day it won over. The 'sacrifice' of so many young men - or slaughter as Sassoon rightly put it - for an ideal that was merely a cover for imperial power by more old men makes me angry as well as in mourning for all that needless loss.
And here we go again with our ridiculous and absurd warmongering in Ukraine. When will it end? is a question I frequently ask myself, knowing there is no answer.
I have a close friend who is German. When all this pandemia started, I wrote much about the resurgence of fascism. Why? she bemoaned. Can't we just let it rest? Why bring up the Germans again?? Her father was a soldier in the German army and had first-hand experience of it all. She grew up in the aftermath of it. I've experienced similar negation of the topic with other German friends. There's such a shame about it, even a denial.
Yet here we are going down a very similar road, with some of the heirs of actual Nazis at the helm. Hitler's Jahr Null is now reworked as the Great Reset. It's all enough to make one run and hide. Yet Rememberance Day is also about regret, about the needless slaughter of a generation in ritual human sacrifice. May it never be so again.
It's always about money and power, never 'freedom' or 'democracy' or some other ludicrous concoction. Eisenhower had the temerity to call his part in WW2 a 'crusade in Europe'. Please. As long as the bankers and arms merchants get their pound of flesh, nothing else matters. I stopped wearing poppies decades ago, as for me it sort of represents the same mindless virtue signalling as wearing masks. Look at me, aren't I a good little citizen? Churchill actually said 'In war, the truth must be surrounded by a bodyguard of lies'. At least that old cynical alcoholic didn't mince his words.
I stand corrected!
And I agree totally with the 'virtue signalling ' part. Too many people love it because they feel good about themselves without too much effort...
Thank you for your thoughtful comment, Navyo. I agree It's all a terrible loss, and for me, the worst is that we are not able to 'evolve' to a place without war. This Groundhog Day quality. I hope that you enjoy the south of France, nonetheless ...
Thank you, Monika. Your description of cognitive dissonance really hit home. I'm currently in a small medieval town in the South of France where Rememberance Day was observed by stoic old men in uniform who fought for freedom. Holding this trilogy of perspectives you describe surely makes me, anyone, want to run and hide. But somehow, the emotion of the day it won over. The 'sacrifice' of so many young men - or slaughter as Sassoon rightly put it - for an ideal that was merely a cover for imperial power by more old men makes me angry as well as in mourning for all that needless loss.
And here we go again with our ridiculous and absurd warmongering in Ukraine. When will it end? is a question I frequently ask myself, knowing there is no answer.
I have a close friend who is German. When all this pandemia started, I wrote much about the resurgence of fascism. Why? she bemoaned. Can't we just let it rest? Why bring up the Germans again?? Her father was a soldier in the German army and had first-hand experience of it all. She grew up in the aftermath of it. I've experienced similar negation of the topic with other German friends. There's such a shame about it, even a denial.
Yet here we are going down a very similar road, with some of the heirs of actual Nazis at the helm. Hitler's Jahr Null is now reworked as the Great Reset. It's all enough to make one run and hide. Yet Rememberance Day is also about regret, about the needless slaughter of a generation in ritual human sacrifice. May it never be so again.