I started a flamewar

I started my first flamewar with a tweet suggesting that the poppy appeal is propaganda. I caught this idea from an article Mark steel wrote in the Independent last week. In the 48 hours since it’s birth it has gained a full 45 comments on Facebook. My defense of my original tweet is reproduced here:

It seems I’ve kicked off a minor flame war. Nevertheless I’ll argue my ground.

1. In an ideal world an institution like the Royal British Legion wouldn’t exist. If a government starts a war, the soldiers who fight in that war are the government’s responsibility. This is the classic argument against all charities but it’s more relevant in this case because soldiers who fight in the name of a government should be cared for by that government.

2. The Royal British Legion does not condemn war, it commends it. To cite some examples, one of their slogans is “1914: The Glorious War”. In 2007 they went to the Falklands to celebrate the anniversary of the war. In one hand they remember (and idolise) the dead of an old war and in the other they support the current one with slogans like “Do your bit to support our brave boys”. The poppy appeal was set up by Field Marshal Haig who personally conducted the battle of Passchendaele in sending over 300,000 British soldiers to their deaths. It’s a militarist organisation set up by a warmonger which continues to glorify imperialism.

3. That a teacher promotes such an organisation in a school while holding out a collection box for money crosses a line and becomes unacceptable. Teachers lead by example; showing students images of soldiers and idolising them is tantamount to propaganda and I shan’t accept it. Nor shall I be pressured by my peers to support an organisation which promotes an illegal war.

It’s basically a condensed version of the original article and it presents all the points.
It was followed up by a comment pool which quickly turned to acid, I was scared of dipping my toe in case it got burnt. Here’s a choice pick of the most entertaining responses:

Before YOU TELL ME ABOUT PROPERGANDA I THINK YOU SHOULD THINK BEFORE YOU SPEAK. THEY ARE GREAT SOILDERS WHO ARE DOING THEIR BEST FOR OUR COUNTRY. YOU GO OUT THEIR AND SEE WHAT THEY ARE DOING. AFTER THAT YOU SAY THEIR CHARITY IS PROPERGANDA.

and

YOU OBVIOUSLY DONT UNDERSTAND WHAT IM STANDING FOR YOU UPTIGHT COCKSUCKING WANKER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

By that point it strayed outside of the argument that the Poppy Appeal was a militarist organisation and morphed into a general debate about the legitimacy of the western wars in the middle east. Thankfully (as one commenter pointed out) we never reached the extent of Godwin’s law, but we were getting close. For reference the conversation in full is here (warning: link redirects) and you’ll need to be my friend on Facebook to see it.