On this day in 1939 Jews in Lodz Poland are ordered to wear the yellow star of David.
This piece was written, 1st July 1916 on the anniversary of the Battle of the Somme
Everyone who reads this will have had their lives shaped by European War, we do not know our relations who fought at Jutland and the Somme, but they were there. All of us have places empty at our tables because of it, cousins who were never born, sorrows that poisoned the lives of our parents and grandparents that lead into another horror, slowly, inexorably. It can happen again, it will happen again, unless we stop it. Us. You and me
We were betrayed then by a bankrupt political class and they are doing it again, before our eyes, these evil men who conflate their own ambitions with what is good for all us. Curse them all.
20,000 people died in one day at the Somme– almost the current population of Orkney.
We will stop our politicians doing this again. We are all types of the ordinary people – we are the farmers, the fishermen, the artisans, the writers, the people who work in coffee shops, the sick, the unemployed. We are the people who make up Britain, Scotland, England,
What this country is like is not up to these fools and idiots who govern from Westminster. It is up to us now. We are the people who really determine matters. If we offer a cup of tea, the country becomes friendly; a bed for the night, it becomes hospitable.
Every part of me wants Scottish Independence, more than ever. BUT I have lived in England for a long time. I have family, lovers, colleagues, decent people. I will not abandon them to the far right and to Fascism – and make no mistake, the Fascists are back and their fellow travellers.
How we enable them to come here and be safe matters. We created a Scottish Independence movement that is supported by the new Scots who have come here from England. We must go further. I don’t know how yet, but we must think about it on this anniversary of a day when 20,0000 people died.
The Battle of the Somme By Geoffrey Malins [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
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Here’s a story……………..
Years ago, when I lived in Aberystwyth, I knew some people who were putting on a play about a German concentration camp. One of the lads, playing a Nazi guard, in reality, in his real life, was one of those quivering people, scared of his own shadow. When he put on the Nazi uniform, however, he changed, totally. He became obnoxious and domineering. Not just when acting, in the play, but just when he had the uniform on. This was disconcerting, but also made me think of all those German soldiers who, possibly, would have lived their lives and never harmed anyone, if the war and the uniform and the acceptability of being horrid, hadn’t given them the chance to do so. Also, that it’s possibly the quivering ones, who are the worst, when given the chance, as they know they haven’t got much to them, and so, take the opportunity which a position of power gives them. The ‘Little Hitlers’ of the world. Those with real strength, knowledge, security in themselves, don’t need to do that stuff, it’s the inherently weak ones who need to bolster their ego and their insecurity, by using any position of power or influence which they can get.
Folk do tend to do what they’re told, by anyone in the ‘right’ position, or having the ‘right’ appearance. It’s up to people, not to do this – to think for themselves and to at least try to “Do as you would be done by.”
So much harm is done, by those frightened little people, who are constantly trying to prove that they’re right and they know best. Why do they behave in this way?
Because they’re quivering inside.
If they can’t see that, and at least try to get a grip and grow up, then it’s up to the rest of humanity, to stop them putting their personal madness into action.
And it’s now that we’re remembering those folk who did exactly that, all through time, not just recently.
I’ve had discussions with people who don’t like the whole ‘poppy appeal’ – they see it as glorifying war. I see it as remembering the people who did their best to try to make the world work better, and stop individual nutters from taking over and dictating our lives.
That’s who and what I think about, now. Not war, but those who try to end war. Sometimes they have to take part in it, to try to end it, for the rest of us.
Realistically, humans are not going to stop fighting each other – it appears to be part of what’s in us. So, we try to stop the worst ones, from doing their worst.
I say again – “Do as you would be done by.”