May Day, Continued

 

Today's May Day.

If you're curious about the origins of May Day, read here. It may well be the most ancient religious festival worldwide - primarily a homage to fertility goddesses as well as the renewal of life that we see in the spring time.

In more modern times, May Day is significant as the original labor day, and is tied with the struggle by organized labor movements to get the 8-hour work day that many of us take for granted recognized today. A number of years ago, I read John Ross' book Murdered By Capitalism, in which the author discussed the labor movement in US history. In that book, I was reminded that by the middle of the 20th century May 1 was officially designated "Law Day" - making us unique in that we're supposed to celebrate those who smashed organized efforts to improve labor conditions. Then again, there are always those on the US and elsewhere who will use this occasion to use the specter of communism as a bogeyman, even if most of us just want a fair shake after decades of stagnating during the neoliberal era. 

As I mentioned in my previous post today, this day is often marked by protests, and the US is no exception. This year seems to be one of those years where May Day protests in the US will be well-attended, even on a day when many of us cannot get time off of work. And it is important that we do what we can to put pressure on a government that clearly does not have our interests in mind, but rather is actively working against our interests to make some billionaires more obscenely wealthy at our expense. Remember that many of us have not seen our wages keep up with inflation and we are saddled with a White House and Congress who truly want to make it more difficult for organized labor, or even simply being able to access the benefits we worked for (e.g., Social Security). In other words, yes, we need to push back more now than ever.