The Great War: Notes pt2
As for the Second World War, yes, I would have fought
- the same way that I would fight today if some group
of backward religious fundamentalists (Islamic,
Christian, whoever, they're all fascists) was
threatening to take away my rights of freedom of
speech and personal expression - but I wouldn't be
fighting for Tony Blair or the Queen or my country, I
would be fighting for ME, for the way of life I
believe to be right. The idea that some 50 years later
some repulsive cynical politician would be using my
death as a recruiting tool, to keep alive the myth of patriotism, to
tell children that they were wearing the poppy to honour my 'sacrifice',
would be revolting to me. In my opinion we are all just used by
governments, and if any better proof were needed, remember the first
Iraq war. Before the war started, John Major (Prime Minister at the
time) went out to the Middle East to have his photo taken with the
troops. He spoke of our 'great gratitude' for the job they were doing,
and of how 'we were all with them'. Once it was over, when the men and
women who had taken part in the conflict were coming home complaining of
a mystery illness, the same government didn't want to know. The job had
been done, they were now no longer needed and so became completely
expendable - and the Ministry of Defence certainly wasn't going to be
shelling out a fortune looking after them - 'no proof' they said, 'just
coincidence'. Regardless of whether there was proof or not, wouldn't the
man who had spoken of the country's 'great gratitude' not do something
for them, now that they in turn needed help? Of course not. And this is
not a party political point
- in 1997, when New Labour got into power, the answer
was the same - in short, 'piss off'. The last figure I
saw (and it was in a newspaper so I cannot be sure as
to it's veracity) was that over 490 people had died of
this non-existent 'Gulf War Syndrome' since the end of hostilities. To
then see those same leaders standing solemnly at the Cenotaph, the same
ones that sell weapons all around the world, the same ones that denied
those soldiers help, playing out the role of concerned and thoughtful
patriarchs laying their wreathes, is enough to make anyone puke.
Then we come on to the two minutes silence. I'm not a
sheep, I don't need some moron telling me what to
think about and when - after the Tsunami we had a
three minute silence - why? 'To remember the dead...'
Bollocks. My younger brother Pete was on the Thai
Island of Phuket when the Tsunami struck, and I spent
two hours on that Boxing Day morning thinking he must
be dead. Do you really think I needed some arsehole
telling me to stop whatever I was doing for three
minutes to think about it? Believe me, I'd thought
about it - I'm not a child, it's pathetic. The same
thing goes for the Remembrance Day silence - and now
we get it twice, once on November 11th, and then again
on Remembrance Sunday - thank you for your guidance,
but I'm an adult, I can choose for myself when I wish
to think about these things - and then I get people
frowning at me in the street because I choose not to
join in with this meaningless mass hypnotization. Ah,
but remember, keep the people stupid, you never know
when we might need them again...