50 years ago Algeria took its independence from France,
after a long terrible protracted war. 50 years sounds like a long
time, until you have lived them and then when you have lived them 50 years
sounds like the prelude to the rest of your life. France has been around a lot longer
than me and is now beyond such atrocities as Algeria. Algeria is not mentioned
much in France because we are still ashamed to this day, a million people
died for the right to govern their own country.
The previous owner of the house I live in was awarded
a medal for fighting the Germans in the first world war, the so called Great
War. It’s a funny thought because I sometimes think I hear his footsteps. If
you know anything of history you might know that the French did not contest the
game in the second world war, preferring to give up their liberty and fraternize
with the evil Hun, for the preservation of the city of Paris. Not all French
men did this some carried on and were called the Resistance. Both my wife’s
Granddads were such men. Anyway it’s
funny how you can disobey your countries orders and later be called a hero, but
you can also be shot for it by the same government. At my nearest cliff there
is a memorial to the Resistance who were ambushed and killed locally, I run by
and salute them occasionally. Anyway today I visited the local war memorial not
because I approve of Frances Wars, but because I was very sad about all the
people dying around the world for very little, or no reason. I live in France,
but I am a member of the world, and can’t believe that we are making the same
mistakes as Algeria again. So 50 years go by and it is as nothing, we just
change the venue for the game and now it is Afghanistan and Iraq. And for some,
humanity and reason fly out the window, and it just turns into recreational
violence, it’s just television, and entertainment.
