Why are the younger generation not wearing poppies?

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I'm not young, and I've not worn one since I was in primary school. I don't think it achieves anything, and this national obsession with war and militarism that accompanies this time of year and hijacks remembrance is bleak and sort of perverse.

Incidentally, I had two grandfathers and a bunch of great uncles fight in the Second World War. One of my grandfathers was the social sec for his local RBL and he wasn't bothered about who did or didn't wear a poppy.

Reply 81

DOOODARS

Our school has prefect going around form time and lunchtime selling poppies and other poppy related stuff like keychains etc. I always buy something out of respect, but our schools currency is completely digital, so barely anyone has cash anymore, which is a big part of why people don’t give anything

Reply 82

ChaoticButterfly

Original post by Stiff Little Fingers

Pfft, only one poppy? How many forms did he have to fill in to join ISIS? Now this is maximum respects:

I raise you

https://twitter.com/MascotSilence/status/1193140302946586624

Reply 83

BlueSoybean

i feel no connection toward this so I've never felt inclined to wear a poppy or do a two minute silence.

Reply 84

davesantana

Original post by OR321

We can remember without wearing a Poppy ya know.......

sheesh 30 reps yea :biggrin:

Reply 85

username4499734

Original post by davesantana

sheesh 30 reps yea :biggrin:

Reply 86

iiiice-kreem-man

where can I buy a white one?

Reply 87

Stiff Little Fingers

Original post by ChaoticButterfly

I raise you

https://twitter.com/MascotSilence/status/1193140302946586624

I'm actually more enjoying the mascots featured there, like the cow that has seen things it can't unsee, and what ever that surrealist Lisa Simpson is supposed to be

Reply 88

username4347578

Well my school doesn’t give them to ya oh wait I meant sell. Those things cost like £2 over here! For fakes as well? No thank you buster. I’ll grieve and forever remember the war veterans and those who’ve suffered in my heart. End off

Reply 89

lucyclifford

I’m 17 and I wear my Poppy with pride!

(edited 4 years ago)

Reply 90

username4977980

Original post by lucyclifford

I’m 17 and I wear my Poppy with pride! I have a younger brother, aged 11, and after telling him that it’s disrespectful to not wear a poppy, he said ‘but it’s just a dumb idea, it’s not cool’ which annoyed me, because they just don’t care. It’s sad :frown:

Its not really disrespectful though. You don't need to wear a poppy to remember people who've died.

Reply 91

Stiff Little Fingers

Original post by lucyclifford

it’s disrespectful to not wear a poppy,

I mean, it's probably a lot more disrespectful to take sponsorship from PMCs like Lockheed Martin and to daub the Poppy on fighter jets, turning what was a vigil from those that served for the friends they lost in a war many of them detested into a celebration of the military, but sure.

Reply 92

N. Auditoré

Original post by lucyclifford

Just a little tea but *u can donate to military services and feel good about it without accepting a token as a reward to show to others you’re doing it, poppies aren’t relevant* I’ve made donations and I don’t have one🤷🏽*♂️

Reply 93

bones-mccoy

I didn't wear a poppy this year simple because I wanted a white one rather than a red one but couldn't find them being sold anywhere

Whatever your opinion on poppies, perhaps people should remember what they're supposed to represent rather than focusing on all this fake outrage over not every single person in the UK wearing one. It's perfectly feasible to pay your respects without wearing the poppy itself. Plenty of people donate to the British Leigon but don't take a poppy.

Reply 94

Drewski

Original post by OR321

Not really. I have 22 people that agree with me lmao, I’d say I’m in the right. :smile:

People agreed with Hitler...
Facetious point, I know, but you see what I'm trying to say.

I've been wearing a poppy, I was parading yesterday. Couldn't care less what other people do or don't do, regardless of their age. All this faux "I do x so if you don't I care more" is nonsense. Get over yourselves.

Also worth pointing out that as much as you might say "the young don't wear them", there were probably around 200,000 under 18s from all the various youth groups parading yesterday all over the country. All of whom would most likely have been wearing them.

(edited 4 years ago)

Reply 95

Kindred

It's totally possible to support and respect a cause without wearing a token. It's a very nice gesture and I think all the people who put time into making displays or even just finding a poppy to wear are brilliant. But it's not the only way to remember. Respect doesn't have to be waved around or pinned to your shirt.
As time goes on things like this become less directly relevant to people. Poppies are usually associated with the older wars (although I believe proceeds go to newer service people too) and there's far less of a connection between those events and younger generations. Pride is something that is directly affecting a lot of people right now so it makes sense that it and other things like it would get more in the way of obvious support. It doesn't mean people don't care about it or respect it, but it isn't necessarily something that's relevant enough to them to insight much support. There are a lot of other causes with or without days dedicated to them that people support. Very few involve a physical symbol. Nowadays rememberace in the physical sense (poppies, parades etc) is more of a tradition than anything else.
Also it does have quite a specific focus (British soldiers) while I think nowadays we've started to widen our view and think about historical events effecting people from countries other than our own. And if you're doing that then putting more effort into one specific aspect doesn't make as much sense.

Personally I've done a fair bit in the past for remembrance day, but now I tend to honour it less openly. I'll think about the significance, but I tend not to wear a poppy or make any obvious show of my support. I just don't feel like it's necessary. There's a lot of very valid causes and thigns to think about. I can't wear a pin for all of them and I think the thought and lesson learnt from it is far more important than the display. That's where my focus goes and I think it's quite dismissive to assume that people don't care just because they don't have some red paper pinned to their shirt.

Also even when I was doing more to actively support rememberace I wasn't always wearing a poppy. People change their clothes and sometimes they forget to move the poppy over, it falls of, gets hidden under a coat etc.

Do whatever feels right to you. Don't worry about what other people think. It's fine to think in private about thigns. It's fine to decorate your whole house in its honour. It's not fine to judge other people by one very small aspect of their lives.

Reply 96

username4499734

Original post by Drewski

yeah.... I think wearing a poppy and agreeing with hitter are two very different situations

Reply 97

Drewski

Original post by OR321

yeah.... I think wearing a poppy and agreeing with hitter are two very different situations

As do I, but I also think playing on the "people agree with me, ergo I must be right" angle is also pretty wrong.

(edited 4 years ago)

Reply 98

Morgies

listen literally the only reason i do not wear a poppy is because i can and will lose it. whether it be a pin or a paper one my main stim is flapping my hands this is inevitable