Lest we forget: A short Essay on November 11th.

Lest We Forget

Lest we Forget. Echoed around the globe by cold statues and towering monoliths for over 60 years, these words have begged civilized humanity to never again allow the human loss of life, the human suffering, the horror, of the 1st and 2nd world wars to repeat itself. These words have begged us to be vigilant, begged us to be watchful. And once a year, they have implored us most strongly to remember.

Yet, like everything else that is human, this remembrance has come to possess more dark than light. We gather, we bow our heads in solemn silence. And year after year, it becomes a little more perverted. The displays by the military on its way to the cenotaph become a little more flashy. The speeches, where once there were none, become oh so riddled with insinuation, with nationalist pride, with beseeching –no longer that humanity avoid the horror of the past through vigilance, through remembrance of what those millions fought and died for, but through activity. Through further senseless bloodshed.

Rather than a somber prayer for the lost, they seek to turn it into a dark glorification of the greater good that was fought for. Rather than a warning against a future, it has become a patriotic cry to FIGHT to protect against it. Lest we forget. But the world has already forgotten, has already suited up for the next major conflict. Humanity cannot finish its last war before it begins anew the next.

What was once a day to honor those who fought and died against their brethren, to protect us, the unborn, is now a cruel tool to create anew the horror that they died within.

Lest we forget. Lest we forget. Sometimes, the remembrance is the cause of the pain, of the suffering, not just for the one, but for the many. I no longer say “lest we forget”. Instead, in fear of the damage, of the pain, of the horrific weapon this memory can be in the hands of anyone, I say, “Lest we Remember.”