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Dear Sust-Mar list, Nov. 4 I am sure that some people on this list will bristle at the idea of wearing white poppies for Remembrance Day. But my anti-militarist convictions are deeply connected to my environmental commitment and I know this is true for others too, so I want to tell you about the white poppy tradition, which is kind of taking off here in Canada this year. (I think it is safe to say thousands of people will be wearing them, and virtually every one has been homemade. I've been instrumental in getting this idea to take hold here in Canada and it has been exciting to see how others want to do their part to build a culture of peace, with this symbol as one of the ways we can do that.) First off, I should say that I wear a red poppy too, for I know and love some people for whom the red poppy has deep meaning. But I also have real problems with some of the conventional ways of celebrating Remembrance Day. On a superficial level, I am appalled by the waste! All those wreathes, so many that the wreath-laying ceremonies go on for HOURS. All those cardboard boxes! All of it eventually destined for the dump. At a deeper level, I cannot stay quiet as our culture passes on messages to our children that I feel are dangerous: eg. that we owe our freedoms to soldiers killing and dying for us. (Sure there is SOME truth in this. But I feel the best way for us to build democracy is to be involved as citizens and to struggle against lies and falsehood wherever we come up against them. One of the most significant places where we find lies and falsehood in our culture is connected to recent military involvements. (One need only remember the incubator baby story of the Gulf War, the military's deception and cover-up in the Somalia affair, the way Gulf War vets (and other military personnel) have been treated by their government, by us taxpayers who fund DND.) And in conventional Remebrance Day ceremonies, we leave some important stuff out. We are asked, "Would you die for your country?" but no one asks us if we'd KILL for our country. We are reminded of heroic sacrifices but no one speaks of the terribly unheroic things that happen when you have lots of people making money selling weapons all over the world and using them. Canada actually subsidizes arms sales overseas. This is disgusting, don't you think? If we are serious about "Never Again", surely we should at least stop selling arms. This being said, here is a letter-to-the-editor I recently wrote for local papers: ********************************************* Dear Editor, Nov. 1 White poppies for Remembrance Day? Why? Back in 1933, the Women's Co-operative Guild in England chose to wear white poppies to symbolize their commitment to work for peace and to end their complicity with militarism. The tradition is now here in Canada too. The WHITE POPPY CAMPAIGN got its official launch at the Voice of Women (VOW) annual general meeting in Toronto at the end of October. VOW member Terry Wolfwood explains that the end of the cold war has not ended war or military expansion and spending. She says," We have been in a constant state of war preparedness since the end of WW II. Governments have learned nothing from the suffering of millions from East Timor to Iraq to Yugoslavia. Canada participates in killing, not only by our active military involvement in USA's wars, but by supporting subsidized selling of arms and military equipment around the world. With little public knowledge or discussion Canada is now committed to a dangerous new expansion of war into space by USA military." Recent scandals in the Canadian military have prompted Sue Riordon, wife of Terry Riordon who died in April of Gulf War Syndrome, to compare the military to a cult. I want to do my part to encourage youth to think twice before signing up for this "cult" and to transform Canada's military into something useful. A group called HOMES NOT BOMBS has chosen November 12 to attempt a non-violent transformation of DND to a Housing Department. I wish them well! Let's rethink security. As Marya Nyland, who has been making and distributing white poppies this year, has said: "This is a great idea, anyone can make a white poppy and wear it. Together we tell others that "remembering is not enough", we must and we do work actively for peace." Sincerely, Jan Slakov Box 35, Weymouth, NS B0W 3T0 837-4980 <jslakov@tartannet.ns.ca> ******************************************************** If any of you want a white poppy, you can write to me, but that process takes time. Better to make your own. I make them out of boxboard with safety pins to hold them on; others use plastic or felt or? I like the fact that this tradition encourages people to invest time and care into their poppies, and it encourages diversity and using whatever resources happen to be at hand. all the best, Jan PS Back in 1997 I wrote and article for the Canadian Environmental Network on how damaging militarism is to the environment. (TIME magazine even called the US military "our #1 polluter".) Just one example: a bomber burns as much fuel in one or two hours as the average car uses in a year. I will gladly send a copy of the article to anyone who requests it. -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- The preceding message was posted on Sustainable Maritimes (sust-mar) -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- A word from our technicians ... Many subscribers have limited space for incoming email. Please remember to limit the SIZE of your message. Messages longer than 10K cannot be posted. 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