I was driving a couple of friends home from a concert a couple of weeks ago. It was about midnight, and we were stopped at a red light at a desolate intersection. There were no over cars except mine.

My friend Murray asks “Why don’t you just go? I go through this red light all the time. There’s no cameras and rarely any cops here. You won’t get caught.”

I told him, “I’m not afraid to get caught. It’s the law. It’s gonna change any second now and I’m in no rush. “

It was true. I don’t follow the law out of fear of getting caught. If I did, then I’d have no problem killing someone if I knew I wouldn’t get caught. We semi-argued about this for a couple of minutes, but I never did go through that red light.

At the time, I couldn’t exactly articulate why I believed this to be right. Maybe it was because I was so physically exhausted and sweaty from the concert, that sweat was mixing with my brain juices to make me stupid. This does happen by the way, I am a scientist.

Thinking about Remembrance day made me realize some things about this somewhat innate urge to follow the law, and then a few things clicked. I think that our lives are so plush and easy compared to those of third world countries that sometimes we forget how privileged we are to a point where we do things just for the sake of doing things. I think we follow the law, not out of fear, but out of respect. Respect for the system that keeps social order, that allows us to live freely, the system that our soldiers fight and die for.

Remembrance day shouldn’t just be about wearing a poppy on your chest for a week. It shouldn’t just be about having a moment of silence at 11 am. Remembrance day shouldn’t even be a singular day out of the year. Whether it be subconsciously or not, it should be a constant reminder that our purpose in life is nonexistent without the freedom that we strive to preserve.