Letter: Why the fuss over commemorating start of war?
While in no way wishing to disrespect the memory of all those who died or the suffering of the families ripped apart by World War I, I cannot understand the fuss being made to commemorate its start.
I can understand celebrating the end of the war, any war because that was the point at which people stopped killing each other, but not the start.
What did all the death and suffering achieve anyway? The people of Europe were killing each other again 20 years later on the instructions of a different set of leaders.
Had the First World War brought about a real change in people's thinking, had the politicians thought to themselves, there is a better way we can use our young men and women rather than send them off to slaughter each other, it would be different.
At the end of the war, had all the nations thought: let's encourage our people to be productive and inventive, let's work to eradicate poverty, inequality, greed and selfishness. Let's each work to make our own particular nation be the best it can be. Celebrate the diversity of other nations and cultures rather than try and take them over and change them. Then the millions of deaths would have been worthwhile.
As it is people are still killing each other all over the world, the only difference being that they now have more efficient weapons, can kill from further away and more people at a time. The UK is being changed and taken over without any blood being shed because our politicians are bending over backwards to please other races and cultures. This is not what the millions died for in two world wars.
That to me is the saddest part. Sadly the wars being fought now are just a continuation of history. Perhaps it is inevitable that races will seek to subjugate others, force change where it is not wanted. It must be in our DNA. What a flawed species we are.
Marty Burrell
Cold Hatton
