May 1 is coming up in a couple of weeks, and I plan to make another post on my Facebook wall that day, this too in the spirit of subversive optimism. I plan to post another picture from my balcony, this time with as many flowers as possible. If I can get my stepdaughter in on this, I'll have her stand next to them like a May Queen. This may not sound very subversive, and that would be correct because the battle for May 1 has already been won. But there was a time when May 1 was attempted captured by communists, and it's well worth a celebration that it failed.
May 1 has always been about spring, fertility, hope and joy, so it was a bold move by the communists to attempt to capture it and turn it into International Worker's Day. It must have been depressing to see how many went along with this insult to history and religion, especially in countries where the move looked primed for success. However, the move failed, and the way that it failed is well worth a closer look.
I grew up in Norway which unlike Swede has no May Day traditions of note. It was therefore abundantly clear what politicians had in mind when May 1 was declared a national holiday. It was to celebrate labour in the spirit of Marx. People needed a day off to go out and demand even more totalitarian measures than was already in place. But things didn't pan out quite as the politicians had liked. After some initial excitement among left leaning people, the annual parades faded in vigour. Most people remained at home. Why get up early to walk like sheep in the streets when spring is in the air and there's a garden or balcony to tend to?
May 1 soon transformed from a day dedicated to labour to a day dedicated to gardening. Most people in Norway have either a garden or a patio, and these are largely neglected during winter. With spring coming late, a day off around May 1 was perfect for tidying up and putting things in order for summer. What was originally meant as a day to honour Marx turned into a day very much in the spirit of traditional May Day celebrations, only more private.
The declaration of May 1 as a national holiday has been a complete disaster as far as Marxism is concerned. Very rarely have I come across anyone celebrating the day in the spirit of Marx, and when I have, I've always had the same uneasy feeling about the encounter as I have when I meet overly zealous Christians. I want to tell them to relax, calm down, and enjoy life.
To me, May 1 has always been a celebration of private property, private life, and the freedom to be left alone, the exact opposite of what was originally intended.
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| Queen Guinevere's Maying |
By John Collier - Own work, Public Domain, Link
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