It's a totally fair stance yours is +1.
I guess to me it's different, I already remember - it's something I studied & read up regularly - it's not something I'm going to forget.
I appreciate the sacrifices made & attempt to show that appreciation all year round by acting in a way they would feel the sacrifice wasn't in vein.
It may be a natural aversion to conformity - any social situation in which everybody is expected to act in exactly one specific way (with the threat of social condemnation if broken) is enough to make me feel uncomfortable with the practice - even if it is with the best of intentions.
Or may be that the element of 'free choice' is removed (due to the above social pressures), or maybe I'm just over-thinking it.
It's the same feeling I got when I had to go-to church as a child in prayer - the expectation to close your eyes & be silent - to follow the group make me feel uncomfortable.
To me, that makes loads more sense - spending time with loved ones & family fits better with the whole thing.
This will come across as rude, but i type it with the best of intentions. You sound completely ahildish. Instead of rebelling against a social act simply because it is social, try and use your imagination to understand what it is about.
The 1 minute is to remember each individual who selflessly gave their 1 life on this earth to protect the society that we now live in. They did this in horrific conditions and under poor leadership just to protect a society that they would never get to enjoy.
If you posess a strong enough imagination, try and imagine how you would feel in similar circumstances and the extraordinary courage it would take for you , as an individual, do make the sacrifice that those we remember made.
I cannot encourage you enough to ignore the social convention that you rebel against and try to imagine the individual pieces acts of immense courage that was required from every soldier involved in either world war.
Edit; you're right that our individual remembrance should extend past a short silence each year. Despite that, the social act conducted each year helps reinforce, in the simplest way, the importance of remembering.
You are right that many people today completely ignore and misunderstdand what the silence is for. Despite that, those that observe it in their hearts rather than their actions passively set an example that we will not forget.
