A. Nonymous: The Meaning of Remembrance Day

Another guest post by A. Nonymous. As always, the quote blocks are my interjections.

A reflection on Remembrance Day, and a lamentation for those who died in vain

I am a White, heterosexual Canadian man, just shy of 30 years old, born in Canada to parents who are now in their mid-60s. My parents and grandparents were also born here. The fathers of both of my parents served during the last World War, and were lucky enough to make it home by the end, and in good health. Many did not. I am not particularly special, in fact, I’d wager there are several million young people just like me, with relatives from the recent past who were a part of that tragic conflict, in the many places tainted by its horrors. Those people endured hell on earth, but they were certain that liberty and human dignity were their just cause; these principles were therefore instilled in their children (my parents) and their grandchildren (me). That is the natural order for most Canadians, or at least, it was for a long time. These days, I’d say the opposite is true.

As a child, I can recall our November 11^th tradition; myself, my sister, and my parents would all adorn ourselves with proper and respectful outfits, and make our way to the local cenotaph (or community hall). Rain, shine, snow, or otherwise, we would observe a solemn service, acknowledging the sacrifices made by our forebears, and the luxuries we had as a result. I can recall the veterans, though withered by their years, perhaps unable to walk, were always present; a living testament to the tragedy of the past, and a reminder to appreciate the painful fruits of their sacrifice. I recall, more than anything, the reaffirmation of their fight for freedom. As a child, I didn’t fully understand what they were referring to, but my parents did their best to help me comprehend the implication: We are free because of them, some people in other countries aren’t. We brought freedom to Europe, because the Germans had taken it away. Koreans (half of them, anyway) are free because we fought against the tyranny of communism. Did I understand things better? I did, I suppose, at least as much as a ten-year-old boy could reasonably be expected to. I understood that we were able to do things that people in other countries couldn’t, and that there was a human cost to that privilege. I understood that we were in a democracy, which was good, whereas others lived under communism, which was bad. I felt fortunate, despite having nothing to use as a comparison, at least until now.

There is something else I remember about Remembrance Day in the mid-2000s, something which I have only come to notice by comparing it to services I have attended in the last several years: On those brisk mornings in the mid-2000s, Remembrance Day was an appreciation of the sacrifice made by Canadians during war time, and it was observed by Canadians (or those who aspired to become one). Does that statement seem to be missing something? No, I wrote it that way deliberately. In those days, Canadian stood for something both tangible (a geographical place) and abstract (a set of shared values). There wasn’t a requirement to sub-divide us into X-Canadian or Y-Canadian, because the general term itself was a reasonable descriptor. There was also implied membership in, or deference to, the European Christian culture which pioneered this once great land. These days, Canadian means precisely nothing more than the regional code on your passport.

In 2018 and 2019, I attended Remembrance Day ceremonies at a small cenotaph in Edmonton, AB. The veterans were fewer as, after all, they aren’t getting any younger. The girl guides, Cadets, CAF members (there is a large base in Edmonton) and various other service clubs were present, not unlike the services I remembered as a child. So, what did I notice? I noticed what the government representatives mentioned. Whether they were city councilors or provincial yes-men, I can’t remember, nor does it matter. They were the first in a series of speeches, and they were most eager to mention, before anything else, how we were on aboriginal land. I suppose it is a sin in modern Canada to begin any ceremony without immediately dividing the attendees, and ensuring that some of them feel guilty for the crime of existing while White. They were also eager to mention the brave contributions of the LGBT+ community, or whatever the acronym was on that particular week. After all, some Canadians (a demographic of less than 5%) are more equal than others. The principal of the matter is this: from that moment onwards, the ceremony was not about Canadians remembering the sacrifice of Canadians as a unified people; It was now a dick measuring contest over which type of Canadian was most important, or which category was the most hard done by. The youngest people didn’t seem to notice anything was awry, but I could tell that the oldest among us weren’t enthusiastic about what they were hearing. If only they knew how bad things really are…

The distasteful changes to the Remembrance Day I recall as a child caused me to re-evaluate everything I believed, everything I had been taught, in a recursive examination of the foundational worldview I had been delivered throughout my life. It was as though I had noticed a rust spot on my car, and in repairing it, discovered a cascade of other problems with it. I won’t bore you with the details, but I will be addressing the concept of freedom, as it relates to Remembrance Day directly and inseparably. At this time (2018) I was, myself, starting to understand what the real meaning of freedom is, rather than simply assuming it’s a commodity we have that others don’t. What facets actually constitute freedom? Most of you likely haven’t thought about this in depth (nor had I, until recently) so I’ll point out some examples below:

-Freedom of speech

-Freedom of movement

-Freedom of (or from) worship

-Freedom of bodily autonomy

-Freedom from discrimination

I’m not an expert on freedom. Maybe I am missing some critical points, or maybe I could have worded it more eloquently. Frankly, I don’t care; I understand the principle of freedom to a reasonable degree, and I understand what it is not. Below, I will address these facets individually. I have included hyperlinks to additional material where I thought it relevant, but all of these complaints are grounded in fact and law.

Freedom of speech is not losing your job for saying inconvenient things, or even offensive things. Freedom of speech is not being ostracized for things your ancestors said. Freedom of speech is not going to jail for posts on Facebook, or fired for comments on a CBC article. Freedom of speech is not being censored, cast out, or arrested for stating factually correct information, or questioning the dubious claims of corporations or governments. The soy-guzzling college students in the audience will be thinking, “freedom of speech isn’t freedom from consequences, get with the times, asshole!”. Really? If that is your measuring stick, then North Koreans have freedom of speech. They can say anything they want, as long as they accept the consequence of being tortured for the rest of their life. If freedom of speech doesn’t imply freedom from certain consequences, then what in the hell is it good for?

How about freedom of movement? Freedom of movement isn’t being ordered to stay in your home except for work or grocery shopping. Freedom of movement isn’t being required to show papers when crossing provincial borders, or entering businesses, despite this being completely illegal. Freedom of movement isn’t being trapped in Canada based on medical status.

Well, then, let’s address freedom of worship. Freedom of worship isn’t having government goons interrupt a service to arrest people for violating unconstitutional mandates, despite interruption of worship being a federal criminal offence. Freedom of worship isn’t being forced to attend church through a video call while under de facto house arrest. Freedom of worship isn’t selective enforcement of unconstitutional mandates for certain faiths while ignoring the activities of others. Freedom of worship isn’t being compelled to repeat government narratives at worship, despite them being in violation of your faith, and scientifically questionable.

Freedom of bodily autonomy is, perhaps, a foreign term to many. It means, essentially, the freedom to choose what happens to your body, without fear of retaliation based on your decision. In fact, this is tied directly to the Nuremberg trials at the end of the last World War, and the subsequent code of informed consent regarding medical procedures. I think you already know where I’m going with this: Freedom of bodily autonomy is not coerced participation in medical experiments, where informed consent has not been given to participants. Freedom of bodily autonomy is not mandatory participation in said experiments as a condition of societal inclusion, nor is it enforcing said mandate despite that enforcement being in violation of federal, provincial, and international law. Freedom of bodily autonomy is not state-enforced donning of ineffective and potentially harmful muzzles.

Lastly, but perhaps most important, is freedom from discrimination. Freedom from discrimination is not government mandated priority hiring of certain demographics, based on immutable characteristics. Freedom from discrimination is not racist critical race theory being taught in public schools. Freedom from discrimination is not state-enforced assumption of guilt with regards to men in alleged domestic violence cases, nor is it misandrist family court systems which exist to extort and humiliate them. Freedom from discrimination is not endorsement and sponsorship of anti-White propaganda. Freedom from discrimination is not reduced prison sentences for women, compared to men, for the same crime. Freedom from discrimination is not mandatory provision of private medical information as a condition of patronship in a business, or as a condition of travel, despite violating federal and provincial privacy laws. Freedom from discrimination is not facing ostracism, unemployment, or even prison, based on skin colour or sex, when slightly questioning any of the above.

Do you think I am just another Straight© White® Male ™ who can’t accept that society has moved on? If so, please understand that I don’t give a shit what you think. Straight White men built this society, and continue to maintain it, despite their reviled status as third-class citizens. The complaints listed above are justified. I could write twenty more pages on the problems in this country, with detailed descriptions of their parameters. In fact, I could associate most of these problems to their likely culprits, but I’m not going to do that; most people aren’t ready for the truth and perhaps never will be, and truth is illegal in this (now shithole) country. But I digress, let’s return to the subject of liberty: The ancestors of people like myself engaged in a bloody nightmare in Europe, Asia, and/or elsewhere to defend these freedoms during the last World War. Allegedly. They did it again, in Korea, not five years afterwards. Our armed forces subsequently spent the next 40 years training and preparing to defend these freedoms against the red menace(s) on the other side of the world. Little did they know that, under a perfect coat of paint, these values were already rusting away in their backyards.

In a way, I am glad that most of our veterans from those distant wars have passed on. The ones who remain, if still lucid, must feel an unfathomable betrayal and disappointment when observing what has become of their country. If they fought for freedom abroad, how did their own homeland become a police state without so much as a single shot fired? How could their brothers’ martyrdom come to be in vain? Even more horrendous is a reconsideration of the true reasons for those bloodbaths long ago, and the unthinkable possibility that we were on the wrong side; Our history is being erased, our countries are filled with hostile invaders, our children are brainwashed in to hating and mutilating themselves, and we are second class citizens in our homelands, but at least we aren’t speaking German! In fact, Canada has now deteriorated to a point where those who fled the former Soviet Union are returning to their homeland. Like I said above, if only you knew how bad things really are…

This year, I don’t plan on attending a Remembrance Day ceremony. I can’t bear to think of the disappointment in the faces of the remaining elderly. I shudder at the thought of what rubbish the regime’s lackeys will taint the event with. More than anything else, I cannot tolerate an impotent acknowledgment of the liberty they allegedly fought for, while standing, muzzled, in a world where it no longer exists. No, this year, I will observe a solemn reflection in my own home. I will mourn the loss of those who died, but I will also mourn the loss of everything that they fought for.

I’ve actually got a very similar Remembrance Day story. This was back in 2017 or 2018, when I was still a trucker. I’d forgotten that it was Remembrance Day, and I was in a mall in Burnaby on my day off. It was an area that is astonishingly non-White, to the point where I’m not sure I saw a single other White Person walking about, with two exceptions.

In the middle of the mall was an extremely elderly and frail man, clearly a veteran, decked out in a military outfit. He was standing there, poppy on, surrounded with some WW2 paraphernalia. The exhibition had clearly been set up with some care, and the bewildered look on the vets face as he looked at the stream of coloured masses pass him by without a care in the world was extremely angering to me.

I couldn’t quite articulate what made me so angry, until I realized that the scene in front of him had been exactly what he had been drafted for. He was to potentially give his life in Europe just so that jew nationalists could flood his country with non-Whites. The juxtaposition between what he presumed he was fighting for, what he was propagandized into believing he was fighting for, and what he was actually fighting for was stark, and extremely rustling.

He was so frail that he’s probably dead as I write this. But as one last “fuck you,” from Der Schlomo, he got to enjoy, in his final years of life, a totally uncaring and hostile crowd who would sooner laugh at him than pay him any attention, let alone respect. All set to the backdrop of a soulless shopping mall. 

Anyway, happy Remembrance Day.