Remembrance

[andrewducker]

[Poll #1643254]
Context

Comments

[lizzie-and-ari.livejournal.com]

I would have bought a white one had I bought one at all. I always intend to, and then forget.

[hirez.livejournal.com]

[x] Bought a red one last week.

[andrewducker]

That should count as "bought a red one" - sorry, poll is just plain wrong for having the word "today" at the top of it. I revised it three times and missed that.

[anton-p-nym.livejournal.com]

Kept a red one from last year, and dropped off some change in the donation box this year.

-- Steve is reminded to drop off more change, as his last pocket-load didn't have very much.

[andrewhickey.livejournal.com]

Didn't buy one but that's just because I was unable to find a white poppy seller anywhere.

[a-pawson.livejournal.com]

I would have done, but haven't been anywhere that was selling them in the past week or so.

[fearmeforiampink]

I'd been planning and failing to for most of a week, then managed to find somewhere selling them in the back exit of the British Museum, which I was using as a shortcut. Got the last one too.

[heyokish.livejournal.com]

I would have bought and worn a red poppy--if I had been able to find one to buy. I've been trying to buy one for the past two weeks, with no joy.

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

I bought a red poppy (although previous years when I've not passed anyone selling one I haven't). I would probably have bought a white poppy as well had anyone been selling them.

[meaningrequired.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen anywhere selling them, but then I haven't been out much.

[kashandara.livejournal.com]

I bought a red one eventually, having given up trying to find anywhere offline selling white ones.

[lpetrazickis.livejournal.com]

I have not seen any white poppies for sale, and am sufficiently disorganized to not have bought a red poppy to paint white.

[nickys.livejournal.com]

You can buy them online, though only in multipacks (minimum size 5)
http://www.ppu.org.uk/poppy/

[eatsoylentgreen.livejournal.com]

I live in a country where everyone I know says I should support the troops.

And fact is, I think they support themselves just fine, after all, they have rifles. And I'm not sure they support me.

[draconid.livejournal.com]

I always mean to buy poppies, but keep forgetting, and then Remembrance Day sneaks up on me. To be fair, this year I've only seen them on sale in one place (mainly because I've been so busy at work I've not been to very many places).

I'd never seen/heard of the white ones before. If I ever see them, I think I'd buy them in preference.

[octopoid-horror.livejournal.com]

I don't feel the need to advertise my beliefs so, had I bought one (I usually do), I wouldn't have worn it.

[nickys.livejournal.com]

I had both.

[soon_lee]

Red Poppy Day in New Zealand is ANZAC Day.

Q:Do proceeds from sales of red & white poppies in Scotland (the UK) benefit the same institution? Reason I ask is because it wasn't the case in New Zealand which caused an uproar.

[rosamicula.livejournal.com]

Red poppy proceeds support the Royal British Legion which provides all manner of support and services to former service personnel and their families.

White poppy proceeds are distributed amongst a range of groups supposedly with the aim of educating for peace and petitioning for the reduction in the arms trade etc. It is impossibel to get a definitive list of causes, as by their pown admission, the Peace Pledge Union only list 'some' of these on their website. As recently as 2005, one of the causes they supported was the Socialist Worker's Party.

[soon_lee]

I would do both (red & white); they are not mutually exclusive.

But the hijacking aspect disturbs me as (Red) Poppy Day is a big part of the RSA's annual fundraising.

[rosamicula.livejournal.com]

I don't like teh hijacking either. If they sold e.g. a white paper dove badge on e.g. the anniversary of Hiroshima, and if the money went solely to education projects and supporting civilian victims of war and not to political parties I'd be much more inclined to support them..

[major-clanger.livejournal.com]

I've been trying to articulate for a while why the white poppy so upset me, and oddly enough it was the educational (if unpleasant) experience of RaceFail last year that made me understand what the issues were. One of them is what you refer to as 'hijacking' - it's cultural appropriation, taking a symbol that has a strong meaning for a culture or group and repurposing it for something else.

The other element is 'derailing' - trying to rewrite the argument on your own terms. The white poppy is a good example of this, because by making it a poppy, and then changing it to be white, the clear implication is that the red poppy is red to glorify war. Which is dishonest and insulting; the red poppy is red because poppies are red. If for some reason daffodils had grown in Flanders fields we'd be wearing little yellow flowers instead. The white poppy is a counter-argument to a position that does not exist, and by pretending that position does exist it insults and demeans poppy-wearers.

(For what it's worth, I am equally offended by any effort to impose poppy-wearing on people.)

[e-halmac.livejournal.com]

In Scotland the Poppy Appeal (formerly the Lord Haig Fund) is seperate from its English counterpart, and not to do with the RBL. It does much the same work - support, education, etc.
The poppies are made in Edinburgh by ex-servicemen - they have four leaves instead of two, and no leaf.

[soon_lee]

I was wrong: Poppy Day is the Friday before ANZAC Day.

[bohemiancoast.livejournal.com]

Red poppy, bought last week with fairly bad grace. They're pretty much compulsory at my level in my line of work; but I like to wear the little enamel lapel pins rather than the horrid paper poppies and I could not find one this year. I might go off to the poppy shop and buy one now for next year...

[e-halmac.livejournal.com]

I buy a poppy every year because I believe in the good work of Poppy Scotland.

[lilaanne.livejournal.com]

I bought a red poppy a couple of weeks ago and lost it. Bought another one on the day at school before the Remembrance ceremony at GWC. As someone mentioned below the white poppy stings of highjacking to me and I'd rather have another symbol of peace. Also, they are not mutually exclusive. I have a deep rooted pacifism but I still feel strongly the need to remember and honour the people that died. Now, the elitist tone of the ceremony we had at school is another matter - it was quite shocking to my socialist sensibilities.