Remebrance Day - Is forgetting the issue?

Remembrance Day – then called Armistice Day – was started at the end of the “War to End War”, to commemorate the thousands of Canadians who lost their lives in the fight.

Two symbols came to represent that day: the poppy, from the poem “In Flanders’ Fields”, and the quote “Lest We Forget”.

Almost a hundred years, and numerous wars, later, we still see these symbols every November. But I have to ask whether the second, at least, is not out of date.

After WWI, people did not want to forget the loss of their fathers, husbands and sons, and they did not want others to forget, either. At that time the quote no doubt made those who saw it stop and comtemplate all they and their families had suffered.

But is it possible to forget – or remember – something which one never experienced? As there is no longer anyone left alive who went through this time, “Lest We Forget” no longer has any real meaning.

If we truly want to keep Remembrance Day as what it was intended to be, a commemoration of loss and a vow to handle things better in the future, then maybe we need to start with a new quote more meaningful to the people of today. Because each year I see it become less a recalling the horrors of war and more a celebration of the glory of our military. And that is exactly the opposite of what Remembrance Day should be.

How Kathy Died

My sister died yesterday.

To be more precise, she was my step-sister. The American daughter of my American step-father. This is extremely relevant, because I live in Canada, and Kathy lived in the United States.

She lived in Michigan, a state which never really recovered from the Great Recession of 2008. She had been unable to find a full-time job, and was working two part-time jobs instead. For those unfamiliar with the U.S. health care system, this meant that neither of her employers was required to provide her with health insurance.

True, under "Obamacare" she was still required to have insurance, but she could not afford it, and told her mother that it was cheaper to pay the fine than to pay for health insurance.

Twice in the last month she had suffered from chest pains. The second time she ended up in Emergency, and they did a few tests. They were going to do more, until she told them that she had no health insurance. The next day she checked herself out because she was afraid of the charges.

Less than a week later, she was dead.

Health care is not something that should be available to those who can afford it. Like fresh water, education and police protection it is a right to which everyone is entitled. The fact that my sister very possibly died in the richest country in the world because they think that universal health care is "socialist" makes me sick to my stomach.

I used to care about not insulting my American friends and family. Maybe I will again, but today I am saying: get your act together, people. Look after each other. Do better than this. Don't let anyone else die because of politics.