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Thoughts on the commemoration of Anzac Day : Comments
By Peter Wigg, published 20/4/2016I wish to question the current relevance of the commemoration, not wanting it to be an empty spectacle, or a celebration of war itself.
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Sure, no conscription for the Great War. But according to my wife's grandmother there were white feathers homing in on letter boxes where the male sons were still at home, in rural northern Victoria.
No conscription but the social pressure was on the boil. As well a lot went for the adventure. No jobs, a drab life in the sticks, and the stories which got back from those already in Egypt, ... The myth making these days do not apply the same pressure, but they condition the populace for blokes like Howard to be able to send our troops to Iraq to face their fate, with no oversight from the Parliament.
The myth making around ANZAC is probably no less harmful to our society than the myths which surrounded the manliness of smoking, and perhaps the goodness of sugar.
It might be a long bow, but it is the sort of mentality that would make some zealous Aussies to feel that it is all right to send a few would be-heroes to Lebanon to abduct those two Aussie/Lebanese kids