Russell Cruse
  • Home
  • The Rothko Room
    • Writing The Rothko Room
    • The Rothko Room Characters
    • The Council
    • The Real Rothko Room
    • Rothko Room Covers
    • The Rothko Room Music
    • The Rothko Room Puzzles
    • Locations in The Rothko Room
    • Waifs & Strays >
      • Churchill
      • The Origin of The Council
      • The First Meeting of The Council
  • Books
    • Head Count
    • The Circling Song
  • Weblog
  • Comments
  • Ukulele Stuff
  • Weblog Selections

If You Come Across a Nest of Vipers, Don't Just Chuck Yourself In.

1/11/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
This is the time of year when my friend Kent and I have one of our more predictable rows.  For a number of years now, he has chosen to wear a white poppy as a way of expressing his pacifism and whilst, of course, I respect his view, the fact that I don’t agree with it is the cause of… well, conflict. 

A feature of the life-cycle of papaver rhoeas, the so-called field poppy, is the fact that it can lay dormant for decades in undisturbed soil, requiring the impact of a spade, a plough… or an 8” Howitzer shell.  Considering that some estimates put the number of shells of all sizes fired in World War I at well in excess of 1,000,000,000, it seems hardly surprising that sudden efflorescence of field poppies occurred on a grand scale and it was this that caught the imaginations of combatants throughout the Western Front.  Life from destruction; hope; resurrection.  A recognition that the horror would not go on forever.

It’s unsurprising that the Royal British Legion chose it as their symbol of remembrance in 1921.  The white poppy, however, did not turn up until 1933 as a rallying symbol for peace by the Women’s Co-operative Guild.  It was too close to the conflict for this well-meaning gesture to be appreciated by the veterans who, rightly or wrongly, viewed it as an affront to the sacrifices made by themselves and their comrades.  Valiant efforts were made on both sides to reconcile the differences; the wearing of both colours at Remembrance Day events was tried, as was the laying of wreaths of both red and white poppies but sadly, this particular conflict remained unresolved.  Waters were muddied further when many of those on the political left, proponents of the white poppy, realised that opposing fascism with pacifism was a bit of a non-starter and signed up for the International Brigades instead.  The eventual onslaught of Nazi Germany put paid to any lingering doubt that peace was any sort of option and left and right fought side by side for the next six years.

Since 1945, war has become something almost ubiquitous and it has been very difficult for the Peace Pledge Union – the organisation producing white poppies at present - to gain a great deal of popular support.  There is, and probably will be for many years to come, a knee-jerk reaction which kicks a choking cloud of abuse upon those who would wear one; which is why the nest of vipers that is the British press is waiting with bated breath to see what colour Jeremy Corbyn will wear at the Cenotaph this year.

 Like all the traps that becoming an Establishment figure has laid before Corbyn, this one has its roots in convention, tradition and history and is certainly not as simplistic as the tabloids would have their readers believe and I could cite my own attitude as illustration.  I have long been a student of the 1914-18 conflict and, like many such, no longer view the war as perhaps the general populace might, that is, merely the sacrifice of youth on the altar of hubris.   It was, of course, that but not “merely” that.  Space prevents a detailed analysis of why the war had to be fought but suffice it to say that to tell a veteran of that conflict that his sacrifice had been in vain would have been, (and was for many of them), the most egregious insult. And what purpose is served by insulting veterans of conflict?

Whatever our views on warfare, there can be little doubt that those at the sharp-end know more about it than most.  Traditionally, our front-line soldiers have been drawn from what might loosely be termed, the working classes.  Unlike the career officers who command them, the enlisted soldier is often there as a result of high unemployment (not a co-incidence) or lack of education (again, possibly, not a co-incidence).  In other words, whatever we may think of them, they are not the ones to blame.  And if veterans might be offended by the wearing of a white poppy, then perhaps it behoves us to swallow a little pride and put a lid on our self-righteousness for a few days.

As a staunch supporter of the Labour leader, my view is that, since the matter can and will be blown out of all proportion by the press, the wisest course of action would be to “render unto Caesar”, as it were.
His supporters are not likely to withdraw because of it but those not yet convinced – and we need them, of course – might. 

As a footnote, has anyone seen those sparkly poppies?  What the boiling hell do the people wearing them think they are doing?   Whatever it may be, a poppy is most definitely not a decorative accessory!
0 Comments
    Follow this blog

    RSS Feed

    UK Amazon Kindle Forum's group-authors-bookshelf book montage
    UK Amazon Kindle Forum 222 members
    Somewhere else for those who hang around on the official Amazon Kindle Forum to slouch around.

    Our group-authors-bookshelf shelf



    View this group on Goodreads »

    Archives

    November 2015
    August 2014
    May 2014
    March 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    June 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011

    Categories

    All
    A Clockwork Orange
    Alice Cooper
    American Literature
    Andrew Mitchell
    Anthony Burgess
    Blogging
    Book Cover
    Cover Design
    Crossword
    Eastwood
    Editing
    Emperor's New Clothes
    English
    English Language
    Films
    Frazier
    Gary Barlow
    Godfrey Bloom
    Homeless
    Homeless Man
    Homophones
    Internet Down
    John Farris
    Julian Fellowes
    Kelsey Grammer
    Language
    Left-Wing
    Literary Fiction
    Lord Mcalpine
    Mark Rothko
    Nomophilia
    Nomophobia
    Patrick O'Brian
    Pleb
    Politics
    Prejudice
    Pretentious
    Promoting Literature
    Publishing
    Raimi
    Reliance On Mobile Phones
    Richard Matheson
    Self-publishing
    Semiotics
    Spin
    Twitter
    Without The Internet
    Writing


Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.