I motion that we postpone this discussion until after the upcoming US Labor Day has passed.
Second.
No, it’s the 4th this year
*sigh* Someone has to say that every labor day. When are we going to be able to talk about this?
After Labor Day
I get where this comes from (look up why USA and Canada celebrate Labor Day rather than International Worker’s Day) but it’s just symbolism, a frivolous issue. Pushing frivolous issues reinforces one of the negative perceptions of the American left common among both centrist Americans and international leftists. People want healthcare, vacation days, material improvements. Not a debate over when a national holiday is.
Everytime an American on the left does this, they just set back their own cause. It’s enough to make you believe a conspiracy theory of some powers on the right actively encouraging it.
I have no doubt in my mind a portion of the American left is undercover idiots trying to discredit the American left.
At least I hope so.
You make it sound like the American left pushes a lot of symbolic issues. Which ones are you thinking of?
Hot take: the American left loses on the material issues because it has lost on solidarity, symbolism, ideology. Don’t you know that healthcare and vacation days will “hurt the economy”? There are many poor working class people who still oppose Obamacare even though they directly benefit from it. The material gains matter a lot less if people reject the ideas behind them.
I’m not sure if the timing of Labor Day is important, but I wouldn’t underestimate the power of symbols.
well its seeming to me that when it comes to things that will actually unite the US left, they fall right back to red-scare.
I’m having a hard time parsing your sentence. Who is the “they” in the main clause?
sorry, not a native speaker
i meant the left, and how in the US, it seems even the left believes the red scare propaganda
Why not have two holidays? ‘Labor day’ like we do now on the first Monday in September AND ‘Labour day’ on May 1 like the rest of the world. Workers deserve at least two holidays dedicated to them.
We’ve had one, yes. What about second labor day? -Pippin
Celebrate “us labor day” like normal and then “international labor day” in May. Easy.
No one wants fewer days off anyway. What could be more in the spirit of celebrating workers?
Like May 1? How about April 28?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workers’_Memorial_Day
That leaves a huge gap in holidays between July 4th and Thanksgiving. No thanks.
Would be great if we could just take off all of August like Europe does.
It’s really so engrained in the culture it would have to be replaced by end-of-the-summer-cookout-day.
True story.
As a warehouse worker in the US, I say it doesn’t matter since Labor Day has gradually become “Work normal hours but earn 1.5x pay for it day”.
That’s 50% better than a normal day!
Who are You, Who are so Wise in the Ways of Science?
Sir Bedivere the wise, my liege!
My wife is a nurse and has pretty much the same deal. Which is a mixed blessing
What!? I’m getting time and a nuthin
No, just like soccer is not called football here. Sometimes things are different in other places.
Unacceptable. Different thing bad!
For the last time. That other thing is: Hand. Egg.
No, that’s too close to Memorial Day. And without Labor Day being in September the gap between July 4th and Thanksgiving is too wide to not have a holiday where the majority of workers get time off from work
It’s not just about time off or celebrating. It’s more about sales, special events, traveling, eating out, getting gas, airline tickets, hotel rooms, etc, etc. In other words, stimulating the economy on a regular basis.
In Italy we have Liberation day on April 25th and labor day on 1st May and nobody ever complained. You celebrate certain days in specific dates for a reason, not because they fit nicely with other holidays
A lot of American systems are very broken, including our vacation opportunities from work. We get significantly less paid time off compared to most European countries and it can be nice to have them spread out so that there is a chance you get the day off (not all companies here recognize things like labor day anyway).
There’s been proposals that 9/11 become a federal holiday. That would probably fill the gap between Labor Day and Veterans Day. Speaking of Veterans Day, it’s about two weeks before Thanksgiving, yet both are federal holidays. May 1st wouldn’t be too close to Memorial Day by comparison.
I absolutely disagree with making 9/11 a holiday.
It’s time to get the fuck over 9/11
That’s a terrible idea. Who thinks the best way to honor those killed is to make it a holiday?
What exactly do you think Memorial Day is? Heck it’s even an aspect of Labor Day.
People who died for a cause, defending their country. There’s a bit of a difference to those who unexpectedly died in an terrorist attack. A holiday honoring victims? I don’t really get it.
Right, so then what’s your take on Memorial Day?
Some “holidays” are days of honor and remembrance, not celebration the way Independence Day (July 4th) is. Veteran’s Day honors those who signed their name on the line saying they’d lay down their lives in defense of the country. It’s not a celebration, per se, but an honor.
like the rest of the world?
I am a confused Canadian
Ditto New Zealander
Pipe down up there hat.
May 1st is too early in the year to stop wearing white.
Particularly since outdoor fuckin’ starts on the First of May.
Quality
Is there some place in the US where people actually follow that rule?
The one about wearing white after labor day, or the one about outdoor fuckin’?
White after labor day.
I absolutely get the appeal of outdoor fucking.
Outdoor fucking? Is that some code for abolishing workers rights?
It’s from a song:
I don’t rrally care when or if we have labor day as an official holiday. Seems like a pointless token gesture, considering the lack of labor rights and protections in the US.
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Nope. But we should make Worker’s Day a federal holiday on May 1st
May Day is already a holiday isn’t it?
It’s celebrated by some, but it’s not a federal holiday.
Yes but keep the September day as another holiday for workers. Maybe one to celebrate living workers and one for those who died to get us worker protections, like we have Veterans Day and Memorial Day both.
Why does it matter when different countries have different holidays?
I prefer it on a Monday so that I get a long weekend. If it’s a specific date all of the time, then if get a random day off in the middle of the week instead which I don’t care about. I always prefer to extend my weekend instead.
I actually really dislike that Thanksgiving in the US is always on Thursday. It means I can’t travel very far to see family because I always work the day immediately before and after Thanksgiving. So I just have a random day off in the middle of the week.
No, we don’t know why this date was chosen and don’t much care. Memorial Day is the symbolic start of summer fun and Labor Day is the symbolic end. It’s a great bookmark for kids summer vacation (even if many schools start earlier now) for anyone with a cottage, or even scheduling a vacation.
Having a holiday as the “last hurrah” of summer is more important than which date it falls on. Plus we get all the conservatives on our side by saying May 1 is not ‘murican, it’s international, even commie
Edit: I never knew May 1 had an American origin, nor that the first Monday in September was chosen for convenient timing of holidays
We should add May 1st as an additional federal holiday to celebrate labor. We have too many holidays dedicated to the feds celebrating themselves. Surely we can drop at least one to celebrate workers more than we currently do.
