The issue of poppy fascism

I thought it acceptable to break my weekly cycle by writing about something which infuriates me a lot, especially it being the time of year that it is. That issue is one of ‘poppy fascism’.

We are all familiar with the idea of Remembrance, quite obviously, and it is embedded into our lives each year, in the wonderful commemorations that I agree wholeheartedly with.

And the difficulty of writing about an issue such as this is that is very difficult not to offend people – for everyone has and is entitled to their own views on what is an extremely sensitive topic, given the millions of people whose family members have been affected in wars in the last century, the majority of the atrocities in the Two World Wars.

I’ll put this out there early for clarity, I choose not to wear the poppy. That is entirely due to personal opinion, as everyone has the right to, but it is not the main point that I want to make.

The thing that frustrates me more is what seems to have developed on social media nowadays – about this particular issue.  Reading the majority of comments about this issue, one would assume that it is a crime not to wear a poppy.

And obviously it isn’t.

Why then, does Nicole Scherzinger receive a huge backlash from fans for not appearing to wear a poppy on the X Factor? And why was Jon Snow, who actually first coined the term ‘poppy fascism’ criticised for not wearing one during a Channel 4 news broadcast in 2006?

And this is not discounting the abuse chucked at FIFA last year for not allowing the Home Nations to wear poppies on their shirts when playing football.

And to me it just seems oh so excessive.

Yes, it is a good way to remember the fallen. That I do agree with, for it is a symbol that we can recognise and wear with pride and say, ‘I am proud of what my ancestors fought for’. There is no shame in it, I completely recognise value of the poppy regardless of my views on it.

And even the point of poppy fascism is only a succinct minority. Many people rightly dismiss the whole subject as a wasteful one, ‘people can do what they want’.

But for this poppy fascism to even exist, in my opinion, is wrong.

We all claim to recognise the value of freedom. But this concept completely contradicts that supposed value. How can one wear a poppy and then immediately brand anyone who doesn’t as insensitive or uncaring? Surely that just defeats the point, people wear it to mainly commemorate the deaths of those who gave us the right to freedom of speech and expression in the first place.

It just goes to show the underlying effect of social media – 50 years ago it is clear that no celebrity could have been publicly chastised in the way that Scherzinger has been.

My views on this matter are completely irrelevant when attempting to come from an objective viewpoint, although it is nigh-on impossible to achieve this unbiased view. But I do have some general comments to make on it.

I don’t address the majority when saying this, but also there are other ways in which you can commemorate Remembrance. Wearing a poppy is not the be-all and end-all of the matter, the Remembrance is what is vital – those who have died to protect us, although we mustn’t glorify war.

Which for me is why it is necessary for us to put this war of words to bed (saying that is somewhat hypocritical you might argue, for all that I have just said) and let everyone commemorate Remembrance in their own way.

Let’s try to not tarnish Remembrance by using it to push our own agendas.

Let’s remember the fallen in our hearts, forever and always.