Martin Luther King Day
I am still against this holiday. I see no point in it. It's very un-American to me to honor a single man with an official holiday. I would strongly favor a day devoted to celebrating civil liberties, in which Dr. King would probably form a central place of honor along with other champions of civil liberties (Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Eric S. Raymond ... ;-), but a day devoted to the man is nonsensical to me, and much moreso a whole monument devoted to him in the Mall at Washington D.C.
Last time I posted about this, I went into some detail about why holidays devoted to men are bad ideas. Nothing has changed, except that I am reminded of my dissastisfaction since the Day is tomorrow.
Arizona and New Hampshire -- two of our most liberty-loving states -- in fact call it Civil Rights Day. I prefer "civil liberties" because the term is generally broader, but "civil rights" works too. In Utah they call it Human Rights Day, which I dislike because of the political implications: "human rights" generally refers to leftwing international political ideology, despite the fact that all of us want to protect human rights.
Did you know MLK Day was originally promoted as a holiday promoting King's work with trade unions? Rep. Conyers even first introduced the idea in Congress for such a purpose. When that strategy failed miserably, they dropped it.
MLK Day was a stupid idea, and remains so. I know it's not popular to say such a thing, for fear of being branded a racist, so it's a good thing I don't care what anyone thinks about me, else this might not get said! Repeatedly!
Last time I posted about this, I went into some detail about why holidays devoted to men are bad ideas. Nothing has changed, except that I am reminded of my dissastisfaction since the Day is tomorrow.
Arizona and New Hampshire -- two of our most liberty-loving states -- in fact call it Civil Rights Day. I prefer "civil liberties" because the term is generally broader, but "civil rights" works too. In Utah they call it Human Rights Day, which I dislike because of the political implications: "human rights" generally refers to leftwing international political ideology, despite the fact that all of us want to protect human rights.
Did you know MLK Day was originally promoted as a holiday promoting King's work with trade unions? Rep. Conyers even first introduced the idea in Congress for such a purpose. When that strategy failed miserably, they dropped it.
MLK Day was a stupid idea, and remains so. I know it's not popular to say such a thing, for fear of being branded a racist, so it's a good thing I don't care what anyone thinks about me, else this might not get said! Repeatedly!
"It is the common fate of the indolent to see their rights become a prey to the active. The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance; which condition if he break, servitude is at once the consequence of his crime and the punishment of his guilt."
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