why do you wear a poppy?

Not for me.

So not just about remembrance of WW veterans then as some pp insist…

We all sleep soundly in our beds because people who would do violence on our behalf walk the night.

Those people deserve recognition, gratitude, remembrance and support. The poppy symbolises that publicly and rises money.

You can raise money for one set and remember the rest. Plus of course those veterans of wars since WW2 who came home needing help. Or the families of those killed in more recent conflicts who need support.

To donate to the British Legion charity, as a mark of respect and gratitude to those who suffered and died so that we didn't have to, and to remember my grandfathers (one evacuated from Dunkirk and promptly redeployed to Burma; the other who went over on D-Day, was in Operation Market Garden and finally was in the unit that liberated Bergen Belsen. Never slept again at night for the rest of his days after that.) - they deserve better than the donning of a paper flower once a year, but it's the best that I can do.

i dont wear a poppy but i do acknowledge remembrance Sunday and leave flowers at the graves of ww1 soldiers in my local cemetery

I'm also not British and have no familial connection to the UK. But jesus, you're either a bit dense, or being goady. It's hardly rocket science. Brits commemorate their fallen, those who sacrificed their lives for peace and freedom. Many, I presume, also have a personal connection - family members who fought and died/were in camps, etc. Well and the old 'those who cannot remember the past are bound to repeat it', I guess. How is this so very complicated, so you're unable to explain it to your kids?

Where I'm from, we also have remembrance days (multiple, for complicated historical reasons), although no special symbol like a poppy per se. Additionally, the russian symbol to 'celebrate the end of WWII' (Ribbon of Saint George) is banned in my country and any russian seen wearing it will be fined. For the simple reason that those fuckers occupied, tortured, raped and pillaged our country for a 100 years (50 years pre-WWII and 50 years post) and we, as a country, couldn't give two shits about their dead (serves them right, wish there were more) and their 'celebrations'. They call us ungrateful (to put it mildly, they call us fascists in reality), because they 'liberated us from the nazis'. Liberation russian-style: roll on with your tanks, 'liberate' and forget to leave for the next 50 years. They're 'liberating' Ukraine currently in just this very style.

The money raised by the sale of poppies to support current and former members of the armed forces. Not the safely long-dead ones who fought in ‘good wars’, and are frequently romanticised. They’re beyond the reach of money.

It’s to remember those who gave their lives to keep us safe. Most of those were ordinary people. Your insinuation that people who wear poppies are celebrating those who are “waging war” on others is completely missing the mark.

No, but I've been going annually since 2010, visit my great uncle's grave and I'm the twerp standing there with the most massive lump in my throat as the petals drift down.

In it's most basic, non-political sense, it is my thank you to him, a member of the family living in the freedom he sacrificed his life for.

I think if McCrae's poem had been about WW2 there would be less objection to that verse, as there is pretty widespread agreement that the fight against Nazism was essential, even in the context that war is always terrible. WW1 is from our viewpoint a tragic and pointless waste of young life on both sides that lead to nothing good. I don't think that is how many people, especially the bereaved, saw it in the spring of 1915 when it was written.

However, the poppy as a symbol of war isn't confined to that poem.

I can’t imagine being without an army, and that means ensuring those soldiers know their lives are valued, and will have support when needed, and will be remembered if they make the ultimate sacrifice.

I haven’t said anything about respect in my post to you.

It’s a fine line there. The military needs to look after its own people. It’s not okay that they don’t and spend the money on bombs instead.

Wearing a badge doesn't make you respectful. I pay my respects through my behaviour and actions. Most people who wear a poppy pin it to their coat. I don't want to have pins stuck in my clothing.

But by all means, I'm absolutely disrespectful. I volunteer with veterans year round so don't feel the need to pay lip service on one day.

Supporting current soldiers with needs which aren’t being met by the government. Or their families. It’s not supporting war. That’s just inaccurate, though I agree you can interpret McCrae’s poem in different ways.

I’m anti conflict too. Doesn’t stop me being sorry about people who have died in conflict though. And what exactly has a coat got to do with it?

As I said upthread different people see it differently and that should be okay. The problem is that it seems not to be okay.

I’ve no doubt they were trying to make the world a better place. If avoiding war was the lesson it’s one that wasn’t learned. Buying a poppy today literally means supporting current soldiers, not just remembering the sacrifice of the WWs.

I don't wear one. I'm anti conflict. I rarely wear a coat this time of year either.

I don't wish to be the "well akshully" person, but just on point of fact, Fawkes wasn't drawn and quartered. He jumped from the scaffold and broke his own neck to avoid it.

As you were.

@Procrastinatrixx yes that's very true - it is quite complicated.
The basics though of "tried to blow up parliament, failed, we celebrate that failure" is an easy description for a small child (which I think was what the OP was trying to teach to her young child).

Are you taking part in the Last Post Ceremony? I’ve done that twice, singing. So moving and, as you say, a honour and a privilege.

Poppy policing is a good phrase, less aggressive than poppy fascism. I’ll use that from now on. I told co-worker I wasn’t buying a poppy from her at reception because I don’t support military charities of any kind, which is true.
Shes now brought that up a few times, so perhaps saying Indisgaree with Poppy policing might get the message through her thick skull. And yes Gemma, that’s also why I didn’t sponsor your Helpf For Heroes thing either, if you’re reading this…

still not seeing why that’s not about fighting evil and making the world better. There is a literal element to ‘the foe’ as it was written during war, but that was quite specific. It’s not about having more wars.