100 years on, and what have we learnt?

100 years on, and what have we learnt?

Over the last couple of days, I’ve heard people say “Have a happy ANZAC day!”, or just “happy ANZAC day!”, and it got me thinking about the true meaning of ANZAC day, and I’m sure that those people meant no disrespect to the memory of the ANZACS, as I mean no disrespect in these musings, but just wonder what those people are truly thinking about and are they;

• Remembering those that suffered and/or died?
• Remembering the sacrifices that the soldiers, sailors, airforce personel, doctors, nurses, and their families made?
• Remembering the sheer stupidity and futility of war?
• Remembering the millions of innocents caught up in a struggle, not of their making?
• Remembering that war is primarily a tool of the politically ambitious?
• Remembering that wars are started primarily as the result of lies and deceit, bigotry, racial, ethnic and/or religious  hatreds, or a combination of all of those, and not forgetting the main motivators of a hunger for power in the minds of a few, and the ultimate motivator of… GREED?
• Or when they say “Happy” ANZAC day, are they primarily thinking about the social event?

Cos to my mind there’s little to be “Happy” about, in remembering war!

And the truth is that, (and it’s a sad admission) I’m a bit ANZAC’ed out this year, and it’s not a reflection of any disrespect for the day, or its significance, but rather as a result of all the commercialism and coverage, in the media, that’s been going on for weeks if not months, and in the sickening and ongoing rhetoric  of our politicians.

And every time I see these bloody lying politicians waxing lyrical about the sacrifices of those that went before, while actively promoting involvement in more of the same, and at the same time demonising those that are displaced as a result of  wars, started and/or exacerbated primarily as a result of their own, or their predecessors, political and personal ambitions and ideologies, I just get angry.

I also wonder what those that went before would have thought of this current situation, where the very same politicians that are standing hand on heart and declaring “Lest we forget”, are using war and the threat of war, to diminish and in some cases throw out altogether, the very freedoms that “Those that went before” fought and died to preserve?

War is not and should not be a time of happy remembrance, and for most, I’m sure that it isn’t, and although I know that the ceremonies are very solemn events, as they should be, and many do try to remember the horror and futility of war, there seems to me to be an unprecedented level of gross hypocrisy attached to the so called “remembrance” of a failed battle, and the birth of a nation that, in the current political climate, seems hell bent on repeating the mistakes of the past!

I know that we should”Never forget”, and hope we never do, but in many respects, it appears that we have!

We should always remember, revere and respect those that fought for our nation, from all wars.  That fought for our hard won freedoms, and died in the pursuit of said freedoms

We should always remember the nobility of spirit and the sacrifices of those individuals that fought and selflessly sacrificed so much, to stand against the power hungry and the tyrannical , for the sake of the innocent, and those that could not defend themselves.

We should also remember that there are times when we have to fight for our country, and what we believe to be right.

But we should also remember the implications for those innocents caught up in a war that is not of their making, and over which they have little or no control.

We should and must also remember the stupidity and futility of war.

And the question in my mind is, with all the talk of remembrance at this time;

100 years on, and what have we really learnt?