May Day, May Day

I'm back from the Izu Peninsula.  Later, I'll post some photos of the sublime, grisly, and wabi-sabi things I encountered,  but for now here's some more Rummel: a May Day meditation one of the most murderous phenomenons in human history: The Red Plague.  It's part of a series of  essays on communism in remembrance of May Day offered by a great blog, Catallarchy.

I haven't made my way through all the essays, but again, I'm impressed by Rummels.  Why isn't he better known?  Why haven't reviews of his books been published in the New York Times?  Must be a vast, left-wing conspiracy.

Comments

[KB]

For those of you who would like to learn something about 'real' history and May Day you can find it here:
http://www.powertech.no/anarchy/mayday.html

"May 1st, International Workers' Day, commemorates the historic struggle of working people throughout the world((((Hence, the vast majority of the poopulation of the world. Probably about 99.99999% of the people)))), and is recognized in most countries.(((The civilized countries anyway))) The United States of America and Canada are among the exceptions.(((Wonder why?))) This despite the fact that the holiday began in the 1880s in the USA, linked to the battle for the eight-hour day, and the Chicago anarchists."

Yes, fighting for workers rights is a terrible thing. Working people are to have no rights. What kind of rights should they have? I mean, all they do is...well...all the work. The built the country. They build the houses, buildings, and bridges. The do just about everything if you really think about it. What we really need is a 'Management Day' because without managers and bosses, I mean...well....no...the work would still get done because they're sure as hell not going to do it by themselves. Hmmmm? It's almost as if these 'workers rights' radicals thought they should no longer be slaves and actually do something about it.(((Remember, these efforts began LONG before Marxism and European communism became the fashionable scare words, and are as American as apple pie.))) The nerve. They could have just done the conservative thing and been content "With workers being forced to work ten, twelve, and fourteen hours a day". But fortunately, "support for the eight-hour movement grew rapidly." But I have an idea. Just to save the anti-May Day people from having to be hypocrites why don't they go back to working 10, 12, 14 hour days?KB

See, there are at least some civilized folks in the U.S.KB

"In the months prior to May 1, 1886, thousands of workers, organized and unorganized, members of the organization Knights of Labor and of the federation, were drawn into the struggle. Chicago was the main center of the agitation for a shorter day. The anarchists were in the forefront of the Central Labor Union of Chicago , which consisted of 22 unions in 1886, among them the seven largest in the city."

Notice just who was at the forefront of the fight for more civilized working conditions. And those who enjoy the benefits for which they fought now have the nerve to spit in their faces. Now that's appreciation. I know I prefer longer working hours, less pay, fewer benefits, less power, greater servility, less time with my family, and on and on....Why not just go directly back to slavery? That where the opponents of May Day would have us do. Anyway, no need to worry. The authorities seemed to have a plan to keep everything under control, as they had during the great Railroad strikes:

"During the Railroad strikes of 1877, the workers had been violently attacked by the police and the United States Army. A similar tactic of state terrorism was prepared by the bureaucracy to fight the eight-hour movement."

Anyway, take heed. There's nothing to fear. History will be written by the depraved who exercise power in such a way so as to make sure that the meaning of May Day may eventually disappear. It's just as if the slave owners were trying to write history out of the history books.

"It is not surprising that the state, business leaders, mainstream union officials, and the media would want to hide the true history of May Day. In its attempt to erase the history and significance of May Day, the United States government declared May 1st to be "Law Day", and gave the workers instead Labor Day, the first Monday of September - a holiday devoid of any historical significance."

And having holidays devoid of any historical significance is what it's all about. Pretty soon we'll probably be celebrating FOX News Day instead of Martin Luther King Day. Just another triumph of democracy.KB