“All that is solid melts into air, all that is Holy is profaned.”

Should one need to illustrate the veracity of Karl Marx’s famous quote in the Communist Manifesto, one need to look no further that the current day hollow spectacle of ANZAC.

What was once and for several decades a moment to solemnly reflect upon the overwhelming human cost of 20th century wars of imperialist aggression is now a sordid spectacle of inebriated consumerism and opportunistic jingoism.

The pious symbol of the Aussie Digger has been co-opted by the titans of hospitality (pub and club operators) to promote two-up, TV sport and drinking.

Mainstream media — of all stripes — swoon over pictures of alleged mass murderer Ben Roberts-Smith in his army battle fatigues and far-right politicians and influencers strive to raise his status as a celebrity.

Let’s face it; we’ve fallen a long way from acknowledging the sanctity of the lives lost at Gallipoli, the Somme and Kokoda.

It should not surprise anyone that a day of sacred reflection has devolved into the denuded phenomenon we see on ANZAC day today.

The symbolism of the ANZAC legend from the very start has always obfuscated and minimised the truth of the 20th century wars.

Behind the solemn-looking Aussie Digger, with slouch hat and lowered head, are hundreds of thousands of working-class men and women who died in bloody battles over imperialist spoils.

Hoodwinked by politicians with racist propaganda and false promises of (ethno-nationalist) glory, they willingly signed on to fight workers of other capitalist nations and die.

The ANZAC legend speaks of individual heroism and glory, but gives little........

© Green Left Weekly