On 12 Jan, 14:13, Eddy
wrote:
I totally agree with the objective "to commemorate The Fallen and our
Nation". *However, I don't believe that we do that adequately at present

(reluctant snip)

I agree with you entirely. I am younger than 50, but approaching it
fast. I grew up with my grand parents and therefore know about the 1st
and 2nd wars as if I had been there myself and coming from the south
west of France, I have lived with daily reminders of the conflicts. My
grand dad and 2 uncles were in the maquis. I have been surprised to
see my own children taking absolutely no interest, but then again
without me talking about it they wouldn't have known anything about
it, beside perhaps via books like Anne Frank and a handful of films,
if they're in colour!

I have recently realised that it isn't their fault. It is ours. We do
not go about it the right way. I have read an interesting article from
Resurgence No 246, which says that we are entering a 'social movement'
where even if so much is going wrong in our world, so much is also
going right. It says that a viable future isn't possible until the
past is faced objectively and communion is made with our errant
history ... ' we are the transgressors and we are the forgivers ... we
means all of us, everyone. What is the most harmful resides within us,
the accumulated wounds of the past, the sorrow, shame, deceit and
ignomity shared by every culture passed down to every person as surely
as DNA, a history of violence and greed'.

I've shared this with my kids and they took it so much more easily
than the facts of the two first world wars. I think they understood
this better because it's within an environmental shift, climate
change, an awareness of how critical social injustice is, which is the
actual wars they are experiencing, and they beleive in forgiveness.
Clearly the past wars are irrelevant to them - they are interested in
the future, in technology, in environmental science and social justice.