In honour of Remembrance Day, I have decided to come out of my scholarly shell of solitude to share my yearly ritual of condemning the idiocy of war. I do not mourn specific people or even mull on specific conflicts. Instead, I listen to the following songs and cry. I cry for every soldier who died for a cause, because there should be no reason for that to ever happen. If people worldwide would stop being fuckwits who start conflicts that necessitate violent opposition, then there would be no need for violent opposition. This is not going to happen. Someone will always take advantage of the “weaknesses” (like compassion, pacifism, peace, and love) of others. I consider myself an existential humanist and desperately want to love humanity, but humanity rarely deserves my love. Yes, there are always examples of the good that give me hope, but they should be the norm rather than the exception.

I do not ask anyone to follow me in my private ritual (although the Youtube videos are below if you’re interested), but I do propose this challenge to everyone who stumbles upon this post: consciously go out of your way to do something good for someone everyday for the rest of November. Every single day. Hold a door, buy a classmate coffee, find a cause to support, give more compliments than you normally would, spread a positive attitude. Make that poppy you wear a constant reminder to spread kindness—kindness that, were it universal, would have made it unnecessary for that flower to become a symbol of mourning for the dead of war. These little deeds are not going to change the whole world, but they’ll change yours.

Playlist for 11:00 a.m. November 11th

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“A Pittance of Time” – Terry Kelly

“Universal Soldier” – Buffy Sainte-Marie

“And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda” – John McDermott

“Christmas in the Trenches” – John McDermott