Nov 11: do we really remember?

November 15, 2024
First of all, about the poppies.
Every year, I buy a poppy and make my donation to the Legion, and within about an hour–what with seat belts and purses and backpacks–the poppy has disappeared, to be found a month or a year later on the floor of the car, or when I stab myself on it at the bottom of my reusable grocery bag. As a result, I look like I don’t remember or don’t care, when I actually do. Surely, there’s a better way to construct poppies and/or raise money for the Legion, although I suppose if the poppies are designed to fall off and disappear, we need to buy more of them. I’m not sure how I feel about this business model. Why not make them hardier, and wear them all the time?
          The important part, of course, is the remembering. On November 11, when the wreaths are laid and the bagpipes and last posts are played and we have moments of silence and speeches and elderly veterans, we are supposed to do two things: honour those who gave their lives or fought for our freedom, and remember the World Wars so that they never happen again. The hatred, the greed, the senseless loss of life and destruction of entire cities, entire populations, in the name of what? For what purpose? We are supposed to remember history, so that it won’t repeat itself. And yet, all around us, it feels eerily like the fingers of history are reaching up from the ground to grab our feet.

Remember Hitler? The man who thought he and his people (those who looked like him and shared his beliefs) could take over the world? He felt that anyone who was “other”–religion, colour, ability, sexual orientation–was dispensable. He felt he was above laws and moral codes. He was, at least initially, revered by some, hated by others, but dispensed with opposition quickly through bullying and terror. I wasn’t even alive, but I know how things played out. Don’t we all? Am I the only one who feels the darkness creeping back into our world?
          I thought we were done with countries invading and bombing each other, but clearly I was wrong. Russia/Ukraine, Israel/Palestine (now with Iran and Lebanon involved), plus conflicts in Africa and Asia which, as those with families involved point out, many of us don’t even know about (mea culpa). And yet, we laid the wreaths and played the reveille and said, we remember. But we don’t actually remember, or we would not live in a world which feels to be spiralling closer to actually entering global war once again.
         There’s a movement toward conservatism, individualism, extremism, and not just in North America. There’s a larger divide between the “haves” and the “have-nots”, the haves feeling smugly entitled, the have-nots feeling left out and forgotten. Canada has been known for opening its doors to those needing help, but now some lament the loss of cultural identity, despite living on land that for most of us, was not ours in the first place (another thing we should be remembering, not only on November 11 but all the time).
          Memory can be selective, so November 11 is there to remind us of the truth. Look what can happen, the ceremonies say, even as they celebrate the brave and the fallen. Look what can happen when egos run amok and we forget about the humanity of others. Also, look what we can do when we work together and care about each other. That’s what we need to focus on, I think: working together, caring for each other. Repeating over and over: Never again.