(About Pierre Purseigle: Marie Curie Research Fellow at Yale University and Trinity College Dublin (2013-2016). Associate Professor at the University of Warwick. President, International Society for First World Studies)

I don’t wear a poppy. I respect those who do and I know and appreciate the essential work that charities like the British Legion do all year around. Now of course, I am a left-wing academic and not even British; “typical EU migrant scum spitting on the graves of Britain’s squaddies” would no doubt eruct the Daily Express.

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Whether you believe that war is a legitimate instrument of policy or a criminal aberration does not matter. For we all share an overwhelming and rather shameful reluctance to confront the realities of war. Handing out white feathers or shouting “not in my name” does not really cut it in my view. These are rather easy positions to take and defend. But politics and indeed war are a much messier business. I don’t have any easy answer to offer and I struggle with these questions as much as anybody else. There is only so much that history can do for you.

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We know that the armed forces predominantly recruit among the working and lower-middle classes, from the very communities that the regressive policies of George Osborne and David Cameron have consistently undermined for over 5 years. We know that many returning veterans struggle to find employment; that many suffer from alcohol and drug abuse; that a significant number will be sleeping rough in the streets of Britain tonight. There is no quick and easy fix to the multitude of psychological, medical, and social problems that many veterans and their families still face today. Charity helps, but it is not enough. The state and the taxpayer must take their responsibility. It is all well and good to ask Premier League millionaires to wear a poppy every November. But why don’t we expect them or indeed other wealthy professionals and rentiers to pay more taxes to fund the national health service and colleges, job centers and universities?

http://ww1centenary.oucs.ox.ac.uk/memoryofwar/a-poppy-is-cheap-remembrance-and-solidarity-are-not/