November 11th is a problematic day for me. As a child attending independent religious schools in British Columbia, this day was majestic and somber. Visualizing death through violence was so intense for my kid imagination. The day was also exciting because it meant extra choir practices the week prior, the potential of a national anthem solo, and ducking class to rehearse for the ceremony. I loved the way the bright red poppy jumped off of my pressed oxford collar and navy vest. Days prior to the ceremony, we'd don extra poppies on our kilt pins until a teacher told us it wasn't suitable. For the ceremony, we pinned each other's poppies under our school crests on left lapel. We had to yank our Half Windsors up to the top button on this dignified occasion.
The ceremonies were haunting and strange. The blast of bagpipes pounding off gymnasium walls was anything but serene, though it served to drown out the chatter of children and stun us into solemnity. The pipes were evocative - I felt something visceral because my heart and ears shook during that seemingly endless drone.
Now I object to wearing the poppy, and when asked if I'd like one, I explain why I intend not to wear it. War is the most profitable commodity of our age. How tragic would this be to the soldiers who died "for our freedom" and now lie in Flanders fields?
My friends become defensive when I object to wearing the poppy. This isn't an off-the-cuff decision. I love the poppy. A sea of dark jackets with red decoration is so aesthetically pleasing, I want to paint it and sing. Further, a collection of human beings standing side by side in silence to commemorate the loss of life in defense of justice is possibly the most important reason for gathering I can think of.
The reason I can't participate in this commemoration runs deeper. Canadian history is full of blood, and we choose to celebrate a militarist victory instead of expressing remorse for our deliberate and systematic destruction of Aboriginal peoples in the name Manifest destiny - a cultural genocide that continues today with the murder of Aboriginal women on highways, in homes and in forests. If Armistice means stop fighting, why aren't we putting down our weapons? As C.L. Cook writes, "the concept of stopping that gravy train, if only for a single minute on the eleventh day of November, is something the war profiteers would rather no-one remember; it is not an acceptable concept. So instead, we remember the veterans, without whom this long and lucrative legacy of murder and misery made for magnificent profits for the few could not possibly be sustained."
We need to be critical about our choice to commemorate the last outpost of the lost Empire - our ceremonies and their grandiosity tell something critical about our values. I think it is easy to forget this as we go through the motions of annual tradition.
As I wrote in response to 9/11 anniversaries, I believe in the importance of commemoration. I believe in the vitality of collective public grief for fruitful cultural life. I think that moments dedicated to solemnity make the world a better, more empathetic place. The way we remember, though, is so rich for telling us what we deem worthy of meditation. Resisting the privileging of Remembrance Day over other days of commemoration is not a heartless and radical pursuit. It is recognition that Remembrance Day ceremonies, in conjunction with our militarist actions, mark a grave contradiction in our apparent preservation of freedom.
In grade school, the Grade 7 class traditionally recited Flanders Fields before the bagpiper receded. We raised our voices at, "We are the dead," and paused before quietly announcing, "Short days ago, we lived." What beautiful truth about the fragility of human life. As John McCrae's words leak through my brain upon the sight of poppies on bureaucrats, I insist upon hearing them for their true meaning.
"If ye break faith with us who die / we shall not sleep."
Wishing us all feelings of haunting as we recall the loss of life and our nation's unkept promises.
No soldier returns from combat thinking there is anything glorious in what he has done. More often than not he is racked with guilt over the atrocities he's had to participate in. I can't control the evil that would co-opt the symbolism of the poppy. But I can wear one and participate in the collective voice that cries "What have we done?"
ReplyDeleteFor fathers everywhere who endure the desperate fear for their children - that their lives will be long and meaningful - I wear a poppy.
For young boys who cried out for their lovers and wept in regret on their last breath, I wear a poppy.
For young girls who held the dying in their arms, trying to give them comfort in a godforsaken moment - lost love, lost dreams - I wear a poppy.
For mothers, whose very bodies remember their babies, their smell, their touch, the nurturing pouring out of their very bodies, their hopes and dreams for a better world - for them I wear a poppy.
Without soldiers, we are not a people; we are slaves. A soldier becomes a soldier to protect people, not to further an agenda written from a heart of greed. I can't control the evil that would commandeer this instinct. But I can wear a poppy for the soldier.
Thank you for this comment.
ReplyDeleteI hope that my post does not read as unsympathetic to the soldier. I think of portrayals of combatants in All Quiet on the Western Front, Maria's Lovers and even Across the Universe and have deep compassion for human beings in the throws of violence and death. Yesterday the Montreal Gazette published an article called "Movies about the personal wars after the world wars." As I scanned the list, I felt the importance of remembering the many dead.
As for "what have we done?" - I'd like it to become, "what are we doing?" Where is the acknowledgement on Remembrance Day of our complicity in certain bodies continuing to die? Parents still bury their children, lovers lose each other, children are forced to bear arms and civilians live in fear, yet these actions are justified on the basis of an "evil" out there that threatens our "good."
I remove my objections to Remembrance Day from the heart of the soldier. I believe wars are fueled by greed, and I believe the poppy, as a symbol of soldiers who have died in wartime, is imbricated with a kind of moral superiority that reproduces justifications for contemporary acts of war and eugenics.
I do not boycott the poppy by shaming those who wear it. I simply decide not to wear it because for me, it is too dirty a symbol to bear proudly.
Posted on behalf of my friend, Wesley. Thanks Wes!
ReplyDeleteIf and when I have kids, I'm going to be sure to tell them not to get an education. It just leads to complications.
Being rebellious, they'll probably ignore me anyway, or just assume I want them to pull their pants up and get a hair cut as well.
I've seen a number of arguments about poppies in the past few years. I've also further my education, which means I'm more conflicted. And I tend not to like people, so I gravitate towards opposing most arguments I come across, to the point of opposing both of two opposite views. I'm a mess, philosophically, is what I'm saying.
As for Amanda's argument over not wearing it, I'm a little unsure of why exactly that is. Because of the crappy stuff Canada and Canadian society has done to people on the short end of the socio-economic stick? Because war sucks balls but we keep having it anyway? If that's the case, it's not a bad reason, it just seems to be conflating two different things. Remember the victims of war, soldiers and civilians alike, is my understanding of the reason for the poppy. Honoring that shouldn't take away from being conscious of the unfilled promise of this country, or any other.
At the same time, I cringe when I hear self-righteous arguments like the good Mr. Tostig's. I'm sure it's heartfelt, but too often I get the impression that the piety invested in the "We Support Our Troops" slogans is a way to shut down debate. If you raise any questions about this, then you must hate soldiers or freedom or something. Without soldiers, we aren't slaves. That's too big a statement. We'd just be a country without an army, like Costa Rica. And not all soldiers become so to protect people. Some just want to fly jets or generally be a badass or get a pension. I know a bunch of soldiers, and they're still good people even if they don't take a Hollywood view of being a soldier.
I have two larger points. The first is the difference between individual incentives and the general good. If a conflict is actually not in the general good, but a soldier signs up with the best of intentions, which is to be honoured. How can that be separated? As the famous philosopher Adm. Ackbar said: "It's a trap!" Also, war is not the most profitable commodity of our age. It's the most expensive, and it always has been, but it doesn't turn a profit. It's only profitable for some, hence the difference in incentives.
The second is the difference between displays of support and actual means of support. It's a common thing now, though I suppose it always has been. I don't want to get into a debate about the current federal government, but they wrap themselves in the flag, then cut disability benefits for veterans. All the poppies in the world won't reverse that damage. Wearing a poppy is like an online campaign. It's easy and makes you feel good. If you actually cared about soldiers or civilians victims of war, you'd join the cause to get real disability benefits or support the Red Cross or something. Wearing a poppy makes the wearer feel good. I'm not convinced of it's benefit for others.