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today is 11/11 and that means that for most countries heavily involved in the western fronts of both ww1 and ww2 its a day of remembrance, ceremony and all that good stuff. thanking about those who gave it all to protect freedom and many other things. today was chosen as its the day the peace treaty between the the allies and the Germans was signed to mark the end of the western war of ww1. you probably know all this already and its not even the reason im making this post. im making it because of the hypocrisy shown by many Americans when observing this day compared to oohhhh lets say, 9/11. the weirdest part of all, america was one of the major contributors of manpower to the western front in both world wars ;/
im honestly not trying to shit too hard on any one person with this im merely showing the difference in how the 2 days are seen opposite sides of the Atlantic.
examples of american opinions on TL about 9/11
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/search.php?q=9/11&t=t&f=1&u=&gb=date&d=
multiple 2 line OP's, basically just a link to an outside page (even 1 posted by a mod hurrr) being completely acceptable because its about 9/11.
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=284775
wishing me a "happy 11/11/11" ok. ill remember to wish you a happy 9/11 next year?
many people have made quite objectionable "funny" remarks about the date being 11/11/11 today (every armistice day is 11/11/11 except the 11 is the hour)
and people being warned and banned in any thread about 9/11 for expressing any negative opinion on the US's approach to dealing with the grief that many Americans still feel, 10 years on from a relatively (compared to ww1) tiny event.
multiple games and films have also been released today to somehow cash in on the interesting date.
personally this doesnt bother me at all, people feel how they feel, if americans no longer care to remember this day from almost 90 years ago they dont have to. im just curious about the complete disconnect in american culture between 9/11 and 11/11
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In my city we celebrate 11/11 for the peace gained and to honor veterans, and 9/11 is a remembrance holiday for the lives lost in the event
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As an American I can say I don't care about either one. We have Veteran's Day.In my family (and most people I know) most holidays aren't really celebrated, with the exception of Christmas and Thanksgiving. Most holidays are just an extra day off for people I know. I don't think wishing people a happy 11/11/11 day is making fun of Veteran's Day or Armistice Day, it is more about the calender date 11/11/11 being unique...
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On November 12 2011 10:25 jupidar wrote:
As an American I can say I don't care about either one. I also did not even know about 11/11, do most people? In my family (and most people I know) most holidays aren't really celebrated, with the exception of Christmas and Thanksgiving. Most holidays are just an extra day off for people I know ;O
Actually I think most people do know about it.
we call it Veteran's Day here though :s
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Yeah I editted it, I should have said Armistice Day.
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You could feel a solemness in the air every Remembrance Day in the UK, not to mention the poppies on every suit and car.
But I guess the reasons for your observations 1) WWI didn't impact the USA as much, 2) it was overshadowed by WWII, 3) most of the WWI veterans have passed away, 4) there are basically no American films/TV/other broadcast art based on WWI, 5) 9/11 is an attack on innocents, not a war between armies, and 6) 9/11 is so very, very recent and has had a huge impact on American daily lives.
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Talk about misplaced enmity. The 11/11/11 thing isn't even about making fun of Armistice Day. It's just a quirky day on the calendar like Pi day, except it only happens once a century.
im just curious about the complete disconnect in american culture between 9/11 and 11/11
Hardly anyone is still alive who experienced WW1 firsthand. Armistice Day is a history lesson, whereas 9/11 is a memory. In America Armistice Day was replaced with Veterans Day, where all military veterans are remembered, not just the ones from WW1. Thus, many Americans don't even know the significance of the date or that the holiday's origins lie in WW1. WW1 also wasn't that big of a deal in American history in terms of long term impact, especially compared to WW2 and the Vietnam War. Hell, despite our successful intervention most Americans at the time viewed it as a mistake and we ended up being late to the game again 2 decades later.
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comparing a fresh wound with a scar is nothing but silly.
Not to mention that half the world puts all the significance of WW2 on May 9th.
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Okay, yeah, the 11th of November is armistice day. There are also only 365 days in the year. People find a lot more than 365 reasons a day might be of interest to map to those 365 days. 11/11/11 is a date that's a binary peculiarity. It should be obvious there might be more than one thing in our entire history that happened on some given date. Every day you wake up is probably the anniversary of dozens of important things just in the history of your own country. You doubtless don't take notice of most of them, and nearly none of them are cause for dropping everything you're doing.
And although it doesn't directly have purchase on the merits of your words, you might be better received if you took the little bit of extra effort to capitalize things.
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I understand your rationale however I believe you misunderstand why people are saying "happy 11/11/11." It's not to insult Armistice, Remembrance or Veteran's day, it's because today is 11/11/11 (potentially 11:11:11 too) and this date will only show once per century. It's cool to celebrate it, it just so happens to also be on the date remembering WWI (and II). However, I do still agree with the majority of your points. I don't know the numbers of English nor American soldiers dead in the WWs, but I know that 110,000 Canadians died in them so that the rest of us could be free, and I'm extremely grateful to them.
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An old saying is that one of the differences between Europe and America is that Europeans think that 100 miles is a long way and Americans think that 100 years is a long time. Even things that happened 40 years ago are considered ancient forgotten history here. American's don't remember the Cold war at all, the threat of nuclear annihilation, the fall of the Berlin wall, etc. It's not us trying to disrespect the legacy of WWI vets or what that war meant, its just not part of our culture anymore. 9/11 has already become something of a punchline here, and it too will soon fade into history if that makes you feel better.
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EPT
