Nationalistic Holidays

[The Intransigent Faction]

So with the big jingoism fests that are Canada Day and the 4th of July coming up, I was curious as to how some of you handle it all. I always seem to get drawn into the same argument with family about why being "proud to be Canadian" is pretty fucking stupid, but internationalism is a concept that just seems to escape them. Is it worth reasoning with people who say "I'm proud to be Canadian/American", and if so how can it be done effectively?
Aside from that, how do you pass the time? Flag burnings?

[Red Rabbit]

I usually just ignore it. The 4th of July is the same as any other day for me... Except louder.

[The Intransigent Faction]

I usually just ignore it. The 4th of July is the same as any other day for me... Except louder.

Yeah. My dog is no fan of fireworks...it's an evening of non-stop barking.

[Deicide]

When English people are driving around with England flags sticking out of their car windows or have England flags draped from the windows of their homes, I pompously gloat in my self-perceived superiority because I'm an internationalist and a cosmopolitan.

I haven't been to Lithuania for a significant amount of time, so I've been lucky enough to avoid the nationalist nonsense that comes with the holidays.

[Tim Cornelis]

We have a monarchistic holiday in the Netherlands, which is also fairly nationalistic, but in appearance only. Though I suspect the Dutch people of being the least nationalist people.

Because we celebrate the monarchy, 'alternative' counter-culture like folk organise various "anti-Queen's Day" festivities. I suppose one could organise "Anti-American" or "anti-Canadian" parties.

[Book O'Dead]

It's the only holiday in the United States of America worth celebrating, IMHO.

It celebrates a revolution.

[Hexen]

It celebrates a revolution.

A Bourgeois Revolution actually to be more accurate.

[Book O'Dead]

A Bourgeois Revolution actually to be more accurate.

A revolution nonetheless.

Every revolution has something to teach us and something to admire!

[Offbeat]

Ugh, we had to put up with a jubilee recently. Did you get any of that over in Canada?

[The Intransigent Faction]

Ugh, we had to put up with a jubilee recently. Did you get any of that over in Canada?

Probably not to the same degree as England, but yeah, a little. Harper definitely has a monarchy fetish.


Every revolution has something to teach us and something to admire!

Even if this is true, do we need all the crap that comes with July 4th to learn from past revolutions? I should hope not.

[PC LOAD LETTER]

We have a monarchistic holiday in the Netherlands, which is also fairly nationalistic, but in appearance only. Though I suspect the Dutch people of being the least nationalist people.

Because we celebrate the monarchy, 'alternative' counter-culture like folk organise various "anti-Queen's Day" festivities. I suppose one could organise "Anti-American" or "anti-Canadian" parties.
As a resident of the south, if I did that I might get shot

Well, maybe not where I live now, but where I'm from I would get jumped at the very least.

[Comrade Jandar]

I proudly go to my small town's 4th of July Festivities sporting my hammer and sickle shirt. Fuck nationalism and patriotism.

[Comrade Jandar]

As a resident of the south, if I did that I might get shot

Well, maybe not where I live now, but where I'm from I would get jumped at the very least.

Luckily people are so stupid they don't even recognize what the symbol on my shirt is.

[roy]

being in the north pole during christmas is the worst. those guys think they run the world.

[Prometeo liberado]

4th of July is the best Jerry, the best! I get paid time and a half and have a fool proof excuse to avoid the family!:laugh:

[Ostrinski]

I always kinda thought fireworks were cool and all when I was younger with the lights and sounds and shit but the festivities of July 4th are just lame imo.

Plus fireworks scare the living shit out of my dog, she turns five this year and every single year she goes in the bathtub on 4th of July.

[electrostal]

I don't bother myself with that, it's just a good excuse for more beer.

[The Idler]

Take a socialist flag.

[Landsharks eat metal]

As a resident of the south, if I did that I might get shot

Well, maybe not where I live now, but where I'm from I would get jumped at the very least.

Yeah, I know what you're talking about, as I'm from a part of the north that some people seem to be convinced is actually the Deep South for some reason... :confused:

Personally, I unhappily partake in all the activities that come with July 4th because usually I can at least get some ice cream or something out of it. I usually hide my displeasure because I'm so fucking tired of getting lectured all the time by my parents.

[ВАЛТЕР]

I refuse to celebrate any nationalist holidays. I only celebrate New Years and May Day.

Everything else can fuck off. I sometimes hear a bunch of bullshit about how "How can you disrespect the nation? blah blah" I hear that pretty often here, to which I usually say: "fuck the nation it hasn't done shit for me or you".

[PC LOAD LETTER]

Yeah, I know what you're talking about, as I'm from a part of the north that some people seem to be convinced is actually the Deep South for some reason... :confused:

Personally, I unhappily partake in all the activities that come with July 4th because usually I can at least get some ice cream or something out of it. I usually hide my displeasure because I'm so fucking tired of getting lectured all the time by my parents.
You must live in Pennsyltucky

[Zav]

I don't celebrate any nationalistic holidays anymore. When I was younger I celebrated one honoring the founding of my micronation (it had flags, motorized cardboard tanks, various ceremonies like knightings and christening of military vessels, and was eerily reminiscent of the DPRK's parades.) but I never cared about any American ones. Now the only holidays I celebrate are May Day and Yule.

[Deicide]

If there's girls, friends, liquor, and other substances, then fuck it, I'll celebrate. Purely for the social situation.

[Quail]

We usually organise "anti" whatever parties instead. We had a bbq on the jubilee weekend and hung an "off with their heads" banner over a statue of queen victoria.

[Deicide]

We usually organise "anti" whatever parties instead. We had a bbq on the jubilee weekend and hung an "off with their heads" banner over a statue of queen victoria.

Oh wow, what a dangerous bunch of subversive rebels ;)

[Jimmie Higgins]

So with the big jingoism fests that are Canada Day and the 4th of July coming up, I was curious as to how some of you handle it all. I always seem to get drawn into the same argument with family about why being "proud to be Canadian" is pretty fucking stupid, but internationalism is a concept that just seems to escape them. Is it worth reasoning with people who say "I'm proud to be Canadian/American", and if so how can it be done effectively?
Aside from that, how do you pass the time? Flag burnings?

Well for the most part in the US, local 4th of July events are much more about fireworks, hot-dogs, and beer than real nationalistic sentiments... get more of that on Memorial Day. Mostly it's just the politicians and media that get patriotic - most other people want to get drunk.

If it falls on a weekend, I might have an anti-american party which would basically be the same party everyone else has but without the flags - unless we decide to throw one on the grill after we eat our hot dogs.

[shinjuku dori]

North Korean flag out the apartment window!

[Ocean Seal]

So with the big jingoism fests that are Canada Day and the 4th of July coming up, I was curious as to how some of you handle it all. I always seem to get drawn into the same argument with family about why being "proud to be Canadian" is pretty fucking stupid, but internationalism is a concept that just seems to escape them. Is it worth reasoning with people who say "I'm proud to be Canadian/American", and if so how can it be done effectively?
Aside from that, how do you pass the time? Flag burnings?

Yo I just eat burgers and hotdogs, and I don't really talk about internationalism. I save that and flag burning of when the US does some particularly fucked up shit, not during their jerkfest. Anyway free food and a day off.

[Comrade Trollface]

I don't know about you guys, but whatever else I do on he 4th, I'll definitely be putting on my tricorn hat, puffy shirt and knee britches. If its cool enough that night, I'll be putting on my hose too. Britches and hose, britches and hose. Nothing I love more than britches and hose.

People having the day off or getting time and a half is always a reason to celebrate, so I might be attending a nice leftist BBQ if there's one being held. Then I'll gawk at the fireworks, because why not? So I probably don't share the politics of the folks setting them off. Doesn't make it any less pleasant to watch them go off on a fine summer night. I mean its not like Lenin said that you have to be a stodgy humorless bore to get into communist heaven after you finally keel over from an acute fireworks deficit (that deadly affliction!) at age 40.

[Agent Ducky]

I see the 4th of July as a celebration of America's #1 cultural value: blowing shit up.
We declared our independence from England, and reinforced this by blowing shit up. As a country we love to blow shit up in other countries. Every summer we flock to the movie theatres to watch shit be blown up in IMAX 3D.
And so, on the anniversary of our country's independence, we celebrate by blowing shit up.
But yeah, this year I'm going to an Occupy/IWW leftist thing on July 4th so that should be fun...

[PC LOAD LETTER]

I see the 4th of July as a celebration of America's #1 cultural value: blowing shit up.
We declared our independence from England, and reinforced this by blowing shit up. As a country we love to blow shit up in other countries. Every summer we flock to the movie theatres to watch shit be blown up in IMAX 3D.
And so, on the anniversary of our country's independence, we celebrate by blowing shit up.
But yeah, this year I'm going to an Occupy/IWW leftist thing on July 4th so that should be fun...
:scared:

[Rocky Rococo]

I celebrate the people's holiday, Ground Hog's Day, which comes completely free of sanction by church or state.

[Tim Finnegan]

We have St. Andrew's Day here, but it's not really a big deal. There's some silly business involving the priority of flags and you get a day off, but even that's pretty new. (Basically, the SNP realised "shit, if we're going to be a country, we need some sort of national holiday" and set about trying to construct despite nobody outside of the party having a single fuck to give.) There's also Burns' Night, which in theory involves a formal dinner, but in practice most people don't put any more effort than having haggis for tea, if that.

In practice, the closest thing we have to a national holiday is Hogmany, the Scottish tradition of New Year's Eve, which is national only in a very loose sense, most of the traditions being local in their specific forms, and in their general forms being shared with a lot of Ireland and Northern England. The only really "national" thing about is watching Hogmanay Live and signing "Auld Lang Syne", and as I'm sure you're aware the latter is a fairly international custom by this point. So that's all right then.

[Agent Ducky]

:scared:

I meant fireworks, not propaganda by the deed. :laugh:
What is it with you people?

....Now I'm imagining myself at an Anarchist Cookout, Anarchist Cookbook style.
YOU GONE AND GAVE ME IDEAS :blink:

[Comrade Trollface]

4th of July is more about propaganda by the weed anyway.

[Welshy]

I drink beer and eat grilled food. Also I go to see fire works and eat elephant ears at the park. Just because i hate the nationalism doesn't mean I can't enjoy the good parts.

[Lobotomy]

people around me don't actually talk about american history or patriotism on the 4th of july. I just treat it like a fun day where I get to eat hot dogs and drink beer and light fireworks. I think it's fun.

[Ned Kelly]

Australia Day can get fucked, celebrates the day the Brits arrived and commenced the genocide of the Aboriginal people. Dancing on hundreds of thousands of graves.

[bcbm]

our big fireworks thing was on saturday i sat on a dock and drank beer with my friends and sang along to some of the song they played in the montage and then got more drunk and went home. on the actual fourth i have the day off work but get paid anyway and am going to go swimming with some friends.

[homegrown terror]

As a resident of the south, if I did that I might get shot

Well, maybe not where I live now, but where I'm from I would get jumped at the very least.

i was going to try to organise a "4th of july flag burning" but other concerns that come with being a dirt-poor parent had to take precedence :(

[Igor]

Finns don't really party on the national holiday we have. It's pretty much just a day and quite easy to ignore, because there's not a lot of stuff to ignore, besides it being a day off etc. Last year it kind of sucked though because they decided to held the annual military parade in my city and the traffic in the centre was off limits and I couldn't get to a bus because tanks were rolling all over town. :(

[Dennis the 'Bloody Peasant']

Same day as any other but with more bunting and crap on TV...I feel no kinship with my fellow UK inhabitants so all holidays of that kind just pass me by.

[Nox]

The Twelfth is coming up soon. I don't think it's celebrated much in England and Wales but it's a huge celebration in Northern Ireland and apparently Scotland too. It commemorates William of Orange's victory at the Battle of the Boyne and thus the prevention of a Catholic takeover of the British Isles. I'd say it's very nationalistic.

[Tim Finnegan]

In the case of the Twelfth, we should really just spare the euphemisms and describe it as what it is: racist.

[citizen of industry]

If the holiday gets me a day off work, it's good. If it doesn't, it's bad. The flags and fireworks don't mean a thing. If the holiday results in good food, I enjoy it. I take May Day off and lose money, that's my holiday. There isn't any good food, just marching, but the flags have meaning.

[homegrown terror]

If the holiday gets me a day off work, it's good. If it doesn't, it's bad. The flags and fireworks don't mean a thing. If the holiday results in good food, I enjoy it. I take May Day off and lose money, that's my holiday. There isn't any good food, just marching, but the flags have meaning.

"traditions" can always change. why not start bringing good food to may day marches, start a new tradition.