The PR Blog

I remember when Armistice Day was commemorated spontaneously, reverently and universally. As I approach my 91st birthday, I would like to share my thoughts with you about the 11th day of the 11th month at the 11th hour. 

As a kid at state (primary) school we were taught about the sacrifice of the soldiers who died in the war to end all wars and assembled at 11.00am to salute the flag, the Union Jack, and have 2 minutes silence with heads bowed. 

The Union Jack ceased to be the official flag of Australia in 1954 when the Flags Act was enacted, designating the Australian Blue Ensign as the national flag. Prior to this, the Union Jack was considered the national flag for about 50 years after Australia's federation in 1901.

But this was in the 1940’s when there were many veterans of WW1 still among us.

The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month was instilled into us with the utmost reverence and seriousness.

When I was young, I had the honour of voting in my first election.  It was in New Zealand back in the 1970's when there were two parties that most people voted for. Right or Left, I voted for neither. I cast my vote for a thing called Social Credit. 

Now don't confuse this with the modern perception  of China's Social Credit system..... in fact the two could not be more different. In fact, the very name that was chosen was something that gave it a bad reputation before it ever really got off the ground. 

The Social Credit system, proposed by C.H. Douglas in the 1920s, aimed to solve a common economic problem: people often don’t have enough money to buy everything businesses produce, which leads to waste and financial hardship. Douglas’s solution involved giving everyone a basic income, called a “National Dividend,” and adjusting prices to make goods more affordable. By putting money directly into people’s hands and controlling the money supply through government rather than banks, Social Credit envisioned a fairer, more stable economy without taking away individual freedom or relying heavily on taxes.

You see, back then, I actually trusted my government to do the right thing.

Was  I right or wrong? I will never know. I have voted staunchly conservative in every election since then. Was it the folly of youth? But my young ideological brain rather liked the idea and I have obviously become far more cynical since those heady days of youth. 

E.D. Butler (1916–2006) was an influential Australian nationalist and founder of the Australian League of Rights, known for his opposition to international financial power and his advocacy for national sovereignty.