In my previous article, A New Calendar, I noted that the holidays chosen by the federal government are bad ones. This article is a rehash of that material without the other information about time and so forth.
The information about time has been updated and moved to Time for A Modern World.
There are 10 federal holidays per year plus an "Inauguration Day" once every 4 years. Most of these holidays are arbitrary, but serve to keep federal offices closed. Keeping federal offices closed is important because it saves the government money.
Columbus Day, Martin Luther King Day, and Washington's Birthday celebrate the accomplishments of individuals. They were good people who did important things, but there are other people who did things just as important.
Columbus Day should be replaced by Explorers' Day, which celebrates all kinds of exploration. It would include Columbus sailing to the Americas (albeit after the Vikings already had), but it would also include space exploration. Schoolchildren could learn not only about Columbus but about other famous explorers as well for Explorers' Day.
Martin Luther King Day should be replaced by some kind of Ethnic Diversity Day. You can't have an Ethnic Diversity Day without mentioning Martin Luther King Jr., but now you can mention Rosa Parks as well.
Washington's Birthday should be, and usually is, replaced by Presidents' Day.
Christmas is a 100% Christian holiday, even though religious nuts complain that they keep buying junk for eachother. All religious holidays must be eliminated because of the separation of state and religion.
Thanksgiving is kind of a fake Christian holiday created in the early days of the European invasion of America. Aside from being pseudo-religious, it is insulting to some Native Americans and serves little purpose. It should be eliminated.
These 2 holidays should be replaced by non-religious holidays. Religious individuals can use their vacation days for days that are holidays in their particular religions. That's what non-Christians already do.
Instead of celebrating Christmas, it would make more sense to celebrate the Winter Solstice. That's a date that means something to everyone. It is also likely that the date for Christmas was chosen to replace Winter Solstice festivals. It may seem strange to celebrate the coldest and shortest day of the year, but that's what has been done historically. The Winter Solstice occurs on December 22 (though the exact date might change if the calendar is altered as suggested in Time for A Modern World).
Thanksgiving should be replaced by Earth Day. Earth Day already exists on April 22.
Presently, January contains 2 holidays: New Year's and Martin Luther King Day (or Ethnic Diversity Day. November also contains 2 holidays: Veterans Day and Thanksgiving (or Environmental Action Day). November even has a "bonus" holiday in the form of Election Day, but that's not an actual federal holiday. March, April, June, and August have no holidays at all.
With the November Thanksgiving replaced by the April Earth Day, April and November each will have 1. Placing Ethnic Diversity Day on August 15 would mean that January and August each have 1 holiday. This only leaves March and June without holidays.
Government employees shouldn't be paid holiday pay. This is a waste of money. Government employees pay taxes too, so they are, in a way, paying themselves for time in which they aren't working.
Much the same goes for employees at regular corporations, though the problem is less important.
Copyright (C) 2009 Steven Fletcher. All rights reserved.
