With apologies for voicing an opinion rather than linking an external article.
I am of the strong opinion that Remembrance Day had become at best grandstanding, and at worst, completely meaningless. There are phases tossed around like “Lest we Forget” or “Never Again”. But when Russia invaded Ukraine, we have effectively done the opposite (or very nearly).
Sure, we can send ammo so Ukranians can fight back, or host some of their forces for training. But the reality is, we are only marginally involved. We haven’t mobilized. We aren’t on war footing economically.
The root causes are many. But a combination of NATO’s article 5 protection only kicking in if we are attacked (rather than joining an already existing war), and the threat of nuclear retaliation, means we are paralyzed politically.
At a minimum: I would support direct involvement, whether that’s ramping up our own military, deploying specialists, reservists for minesweeping, stationing our own troops (meagre as they are) in Ukraine to directly support the fight. I would actually support much larger actions, including naval blockades or airspace closures but wholly understand that Canada cannot execute those on their own.
We cannot allow genocidal wars to be pressed in the modern world. And we should be doing everything we can about it. Right now, we’re doing barely more than nothing.
I agree with defending Ukraine but isn’t the point of “never again” is to not have another war?
No, it is specifically about not having another genocide. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Never_again
Let’s not water down the gravity of genocide. Hitting people with stray bullets is terrible but it’s a whole other level of fucked up when you round them all up and cut their limbs off with machetes because of their name or customs.
We cannot allow genocidal wars to be pressed in the modern world.
You’re aware of what’s going on in Gaza right?
I think in an increasingly multicultural Canada, the white-superiority, Eurocentric, colonialist values and perspectives that Remembrance Day conjures up feel outdated and oversimplified
Yes. And Ethiopia. And Sudan. And Myanmar. Doesn’t change the point dramatically, except that all of the above are usually framed as internal issues rather than external wars of aggression. There’s a legit conversation to be had about increasing peacekeeping forces to diffuse some other conflicts too.
That’s why I was so glad to see more feathers this year at the national ceremony. Honestly, even reconciliation aside it feels more familiar that way, and less like footage from somewhere in Europe.
The idea of a day to mark what happens when we let our guard down is good, but the implementation still needs to evolve.
Instead of spending billions on a war machine to try to solve a problem … spend billions on peaceful resolutions and negotiations.
And don’t tell me that you can’t, shouldn’t or don’t want to negotiate with Nazis, authoritarians or any other descriptor you use to demonize opponents. You are right, there are nasty, ugly, authoritarian leaders out there … but we still need to create platforms to talk to them to end hostilities.
The old cave man mentality of killing people or figuring out how to kill as many people as possible to make a point or win an argument is completely stupid.
If you invest in war … you will get a war.
If you invest in peace … you will get peace.
Millions died to remind us that war is no answer … yet we forget every year and still try to argue that killing people will solve problems.
Would the Nazis have come to power if the world’s wealthiest individuals, corporations and companies had not supported them or financed them? Check out political movements in the 1920s and 1930s and fascism and Nazism was a fairly acceptable movement at the time.
The Nazi Third Reich didn’t appear in a vacuum or come out of thin air, they were born out of the money and financing of wealthy backers who wanted them in power.
The wealthiest didn’t try to stop them until their pet project got out of hand and out of control.
Everyone likes to talk about who the Nazis ended up becoming … but no one ever likes to discuss where they came from and how they came to power.
Would the Nazis have come to power if the world’s wealthiest individuals, corporations and companies had not supported them or financed them?
You have a point, but how would you stop them from doing that?
That was called appeasement, and was tried. It helped lead to WW2.
There should always be a forum to talk. However, words must be backed by a big enough stick, and the resolve to use it. Otherwise those who respect the use of words will just be flattened by those who are happy to abuse the situation. Finding the balance of this is the biggest challenge we have as a species.
Assuming you are referring to Russia Vs Ukraine right now. Russia was using and abusing words, with no intent to match them with actions. If they truly wanted to come back to the table, they would be welcomed. The catch is, it would have to be backed with actions. Pull back to the original borders, and present the evidence they supposedly have of issues in Ukraine to the international community. Right now they appear to just be bullies, and are being treated as such.
appeasement and WW2
It’s a bit of a stretch to compare the lead up to WW2 to modern day politics. Back then news and information took days and weeks to reach people and everyone had a hard time figuring what was going on and leaders on any side could simultaneously use that fact to bend and break the truth.
It’s a bit harder to hide true intentions of what any side is attempting to do in an age of instant communication.
For the record, I have no love for Russia and it’s authoritarian regime … nor do I appreciate America and its war machine.
Reverse the situation in Ukraine and Russia and place Russian military forces in Mexico to ‘contain’ America … what do you think the reaction would be?
Everyone loves this argument but no one ever likes to acknowledge the double standard.
What exactly do you think the US is doing that’s the equivalent of Russia having troops in Mexico? Hell if I can figure it out.
You sure very much describing appeasement. Russian officials have repeatedly let slip their desire to go further into Europe. There is really no difference.
And I’m someone more sympathetic than most to Russia’s, “we had to do it,” argument.
Appeasement allowed the 3rd Reich to build the momentum it did. It was a nice idea, but failed when faced with actors who don’t act in good faith. Russian backed trolls online have be desperately pushing the “we should sit down and talk” card, without the accompanying “give back what Russia stole” part.
If America is launching an invasion of Mexico, without the concerted backing of the rest of the world, then it’s the right action to take. If someone breaks their fist on the shield you used to cover someone’s face, that’s on them. A policing action should be multinational, with clear, stated goals. Not 1 country imposing its views on its neighbour by force.
I’m also of the mindset that boots should be on the ground in Israel and Palestine, with orders to help de-escalate both sides. Unfortunately, that’s never going to happen in a useful way. It would have to be a coalition including significant Islamic elements to not immediately explode. The west has been stirring the pot FAR too much over the last 70 years for most Islamic countries to trust us now.
I fully agree, however, that the American military machine needs to be cooled WAY down. It’s become a beast set on devouring its host, along with everything else it can get its claws on. I’ve no idea how that could be achieved though.
To echo OP a bit, negotiate based on what? You can’t just “negotiate” aggression away if you have no leverage. A country with no military has no leverage.
Maybe you’re not a caveman, but plenty of people are, and being pacifists will get us killed.
Then you are bending the argument to extremes … I never said take your gun away to start talking.
In extreme situations when there is no longer any option, fighting may be necessary.
But if the world continually creates situations where everyone is led to only the option of death and war and especially when governments and industries and corporations can only understand that investing billions into a war machine is the only option anyone will consider … then we will only ever see death and destruction.
We’re no different with our mentality a thousand years ago … we just have better weapons now.
Well, I pretty much agree with that, then. NATO guidelines are to spend 2% of GDP on the military, and I think that’s reasonable. I’m certainly not suggesting >25% like some of the more militaristic nations in recent history.
spend billions on peaceful resolutions and negotiations.
Isn’t that the exact purpose of the UN?
The same body that, despite being members, is being completely ignored by at least half of the combatants in the various shooting wars that are currently in progress.
The same body that the many countries routinely try to discredit or ignore when it’s convenient.
.
I agree that diplomacy should be the way forward, but when aggressors actively ignore and try to subvert the entire process, then unfortunately responding to violence with violence becomes the tool of last resort.
That’s the point I was making … if the world decides to invest in war … chances are high that we will just get war
No one is spending billions on peace and everyone is surprised that there is no peace
You cannot invest in peace without also investing in war. Like someone else said, a country with no military is a country with no negotiating power.
War is the worst form of diplomacy, but can be the only solution if the other party has wholly unacceptable proposals. Given the ultimate choice Ukraine and others have is capitulation or war, what would you have them do? Keep in mind that the last time Ukraine was under Soviet rule, little things like Holodomor happened, so capitulation may not be the life-saving option you’d think it would be.
Everyone likes to refer to history 70 or 80 years ago … but ignore recent history from 10, 20 years ago when military forces were encroaching on Russian borders
I don’t like Russia or its authoritarian government … but Ukraine was a preventable conflict but the world chose instead to start and then act surprised that it happened.
Really? What steps could the international community have used? Which ones that they did use do you think were ineffectual? How do we force sovergien countries to be peaceful when they are beating the drums of war?
@ininewcrow I think the problem is when there is no one on the other side with whom it is possible to engage in reasonable discussion. When the leadership of one side have shown time & time again that they are dishonest, untrustworthy, & not even sufficiently well informed & self aware to know when their cause is struggling, let alone lost.
And when both sides see the other this way, & are unwilling to look at themselves, or to see similarities with the current enemy which might be used as a foundation for peace…
Philosophically, I am very attracted by what you are saying here. It is certainly something to hope for and not to give up on. We cannot completely ignore the evidence of history however.
Are you familiar with the name Neville Chamberlain and the phrase “Peace for our time”? Neville would be applauding your post. Many people believe his desire for peace allowed a lot of war, death, and suffering that could have been avoided.
The real world is complicated. What you want and what you must do are not always the same thing.
The appeasement that led up to WW2 is completely different to anything today.
The world was negotiating with an ultra right wing fanatical political movement that was expansionist with a lot of motivation … a small nation with no natural resources, no fuel and no land area. Coupled with an economy that was destroyed by a previous war and now based all their economy on the military and in expansion to new territory. Not to mention that the western nations supported this fanatical right wing movement at the start … the German war machine was partly funded, supported and assisted by British, American and other European corporations, leaders and even monarchies. Henry Ford is a prime example that supported Nazi Germany and even got an award from Hitler himself … they built Germany’s military trucks leading up to the war … not as Ford but as a newly created company called Opal. International industrial companies, chemical companies, civilian, military, medical and manufacturing companies all lined up to build the German war machine … even as they all knew that Germany was not allowed to build up their military again. Aircraft, ships, military equipment all built inside the most monitored nation in Europe after being blamed by the last war … and the allies turned a blind eye.
Modern Russia has none of these parallels … they don’t have a large enough or modern military (it pales in comparison to the Americans), they have abundant resources and they have more than enough land space. If they had wanted to expand, they would have done it long ago and they would have failed. The only thing the Russians have is nuclear weapons but its a useless weapon because once those are used … everyone loses. Wealthy oligarchs in Russia and everywhere else only have one motivation to not use nuclear weapons … money and finances … they all know that once nuclear weapons start destroying the world, it will take most or all of their imaginary wealth locked up on digital global finances. So everyone on all sides have the greatest motivation to not start nuclear war … greed.
Chamberlain’s appeasement was a false agreement with fascism even when they all knew they were making a deal with the devil who was building an army that everyone knew about (because they were building it with everyone).
Look at the dynamics of the war in Ukraine … Ukraine fights Russia using American funding and resources … without America, there is no war … which means America is fighting a proxy war with Russia. The Americans don’t mind this kind of conflict … they can use their hardware and money and no American lives will be lost … no one cares if Ukrainians die so the war will continue until enough Russians or Ukrainians die … or if America runs out of money.
Just because I’m a car history guy, I think you have some broken information about Opel.
The company predated Nazi Germany by a long shot as a general equipment manufacturer in the 1800s and was one of the biggest auto producers in the 1920s holding over 25% of the market. They were actually bought by General Motors (not Ford) in 1929.
Where you did get it right is the famous Brandenburg factory was funded partly by the Nazi government and to specifically make the Opel Blitz trucks. Which were at the time just a general work truck in high demand. But soon after GM lost control and the plant was used to exclusively make military trucks for the war. But this is the same for any factory at the time.
A lot of this can be explained by the US political attitude to Germany where they kept up positive diplomatic relationships up until the attacks in the Pacific. The large companies like GM didn’t have a direct reason to divest from their ties to Nazi regime, as they weren’t really denounced themselves and still an important trading partner. Their investors would have had protests on a change of course. For GM, Opel was a huge success at the time.
Of course cutting ties and divesting would have been the moral thing to do, but capitalism has no morals… Apple doesn’t mind making products in China today but sanctions on tech are already changing the course for companies like Nvidia, not without lots of protest by their leaders.
Also yes Henry Ford was idolized by Hitler and Ford didn’t mind that one bit.
I was just thinking about this, watching the ceremony. They’re covering it like it’s a royal wedding (Look at the crowd! What does this day mean to you, personally?), not a scheduled reminder that it could all happen again if we don’t learn from our mistakes.
As for Ukraine, they aren’t even asking for foreign troops so I’m more dovish than you I guess. But we should definitely keep sending them whatever they need, and not cut our military budget!!
I haven’t worn a poppy for years. Arguments can be made that WWI was an important part of Canadian history as it is essentially the start of our independence, and WWII is always framed as a battle against evil (although allied countries were mostly fighting to prevent invasions of territory, not against the holocaust. Canada turned away Jewish refugees during WWII after all). Remembering these wars for their historical significance is fine.
I really don’t see how any other wars or conflicts that Canadian soldiers have been sent to can be seen as heroic or deserving of honour. Year after year, Rememberance Day and the poppy are less about “Remember the sacrifices of WWI that lead to our independence and to end the atrocities commited by totalitarian governments in WWII” and more US-style hero worship of the military. A military that isn’t used for national defence or to defend the weak and innocent from evil but as a political tool to ensure natural resources from developing nations keep flowing into our ports. I get why it’s necessary, but I don’t think it should be glorified.
