The actual national abolition of slavery was on December 6, 1865, when the Thirteenth Amendment got enough ratifications, or December 18, when it was announced. One of these days would be a better choice for a NATIONAL Emancipation Day than Juneteenth, which applied only to Texas and bordering states.
The obvious answer for another national holiday is Patriots Day in April. First off, MA and ME already celebrate it. Second, it falls in that long stretch between President’s Day and Memorial Day. Third, there is already a historic national event with all the pageantry that occurs - the Boston Marathon!
Juneteenth should indeed by a holiday in Texas, but December 6, the day the Thirteenth Amendment got enough ratifications, or December 18, when it was proclaimed, would be better as NATIONAL holidays. Kentucky and Delaware had legal slaves right up to the end, six months after June 19! And, celebrating Emancipation during the Christmas season would be not inappropriate.
This was mentioned in only one comment below, surprisingly, but Golden Week in Japan is pretty good. Basically, it's a period with a handful of federal holidays that everybody gets, and everyone (at least with white collar jobs, not sure how it impacts other segments of the population) pretty much ends up taking the whole week (unless they're super busy with work, naturally, in which case they tend to work the non-official days).
I think this is a really nice idea - you just sort of mandate in everybody getting at least one vacation week a year.
It's also a HUGE tourism boost within Japan, with families taking trips etc.
What you want to do ideally is create more 3 day weekends, that bolsters some existing tradition of normie family civil society. The 2 lowest hanging fruit here would be to make new holidays for the day after Halloween, and the Monday after the super bowl. Unfortunately these are both cold-weather dates, and our existing holiday schedule is already too tilted towards the winter. Also, people are in denial about election day- if you made that tuesday a holiday many people would use it for a 4 day out of town family trip, and thus it would actually likely reduce voting. (You want mail voting instead)
So we need some summer holidays. The most obvious choice would be to make May 1 New Americans day, and then we recognize mothers day and fathers day. Maybe create a childrens day in august. With the summer calendar a little more built out I think day after halloween and some kind of ‘games day’ for the day after the super bowl make sense. Some will complain about any kind of implicit endorsement of the NFL but I think politically it would be helpful for Dems to be embracing anything normie & mainstream like the superbowl at this point. You’d probably see more regional family travel to watch the big game together and then hangout & return home with the Monday off, and there could become a civic tradition of pick-up recreational sports for all ages on Games Day.
Canada has had this turn into actual political issues a few times now, with politicians running to create a contrived holiday to fill in gaps in the calendar. In BC in 2011 Christy Clark was elected leader of the Liberal Party, and thus provincial premier, in part on a promise to implement a February statutory holiday, which became 'Family Day'. Now there's a holiday about every month except March and June.
I don’t understand the push for more holidays. Personally I’d abolish all holidays and just add 6 days off to everyone’s vacation count. This way it will be up to personal choice to decide when to have a vacation and we won’t have a period in late December where all work grinds to a halt needlessly.
As for coordination problems - if someone is not willing to take a vacation in sync with yourself, do they really want to spend time with you? I’d argue no. So getting rid of Christmas would strengthen genuine relationships while weakening pointless superficial ones.
That the two go-home-to-family holidays are a month apart is super dumb. It was really dumb in college, when there were like 3 weeks between trips home.
We've long decided that none of my out of town relatives come into town on Thanksgiving, and they trade it off with a long visit here on some non-regular part of the summer. Works really well.
This is why I have grown to love the Civic Holiday as it is celebrated in Ontario. The first Monday in August is widely observed as a holiday. Why it it a holiday? *Because people should have a holiday in August*, that's why. There are various municipalities that give it a more specific name - Terry Fox Day or whatever - but mostly it's *just a holiday*. I like referring to it as the Seinfeld of holidays, because it's a holiday about nothing. You don't actually need a holiday to commemorate something - you just need the day off! Which is particularly true in the United States, where until very recently there was only one national holiday in the entire summer months - the time people most want a holiday. Give them a holiday in early August. What for? For having time off in early August!
Amusingly, it's not even a statutory holiday in Ontario! (Or Alberta, Manitoba, or Nova Scotia, where it's Heritage Day, Terry Fox Day, and Natal Day, respectively. But it is a statutory holiday in BC, SK, and NB, along with NU and NWT....)
Because of Matt's whole point in this piece, as I understand it, which was to point out the benefits of *shared* holidays - that even unemployed people are happier when the people *around* them all have the day off (as on the weekend). Just giving people more vacation days would certainly be a good thing in the US, but having more actual holidays in common has a value beyond that.
The actual national abolition of slavery was on December 6, 1865, when the Thirteenth Amendment got enough ratifications, or December 18, when it was announced. One of these days would be a better choice for a NATIONAL Emancipation Day than Juneteenth, which applied only to Texas and bordering states.
Easter should be a federally recognized holiday. We've got Christmas why not Easter? Give people that Monday off.
The obvious answer for another national holiday is Patriots Day in April. First off, MA and ME already celebrate it. Second, it falls in that long stretch between President’s Day and Memorial Day. Third, there is already a historic national event with all the pageantry that occurs - the Boston Marathon!
Juneteenth should indeed by a holiday in Texas, but December 6, the day the Thirteenth Amendment got enough ratifications, or December 18, when it was proclaimed, would be better as NATIONAL holidays. Kentucky and Delaware had legal slaves right up to the end, six months after June 19! And, celebrating Emancipation during the Christmas season would be not inappropriate.
Bah humbug!
This was mentioned in only one comment below, surprisingly, but Golden Week in Japan is pretty good. Basically, it's a period with a handful of federal holidays that everybody gets, and everyone (at least with white collar jobs, not sure how it impacts other segments of the population) pretty much ends up taking the whole week (unless they're super busy with work, naturally, in which case they tend to work the non-official days).
I think this is a really nice idea - you just sort of mandate in everybody getting at least one vacation week a year.
It's also a HUGE tourism boost within Japan, with families taking trips etc.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Week_(Japan)
Move New Year's Day to the Spring Equinox (observed :)) The Persians got this one right.
There are already a bunch of federal holidays that most private sector workers do not get off, much less get off with pay.
Creating more holidays is fine, but let's be real that the primary beneficiaries will be government workers and banking.
What you want to do ideally is create more 3 day weekends, that bolsters some existing tradition of normie family civil society. The 2 lowest hanging fruit here would be to make new holidays for the day after Halloween, and the Monday after the super bowl. Unfortunately these are both cold-weather dates, and our existing holiday schedule is already too tilted towards the winter. Also, people are in denial about election day- if you made that tuesday a holiday many people would use it for a 4 day out of town family trip, and thus it would actually likely reduce voting. (You want mail voting instead)
So we need some summer holidays. The most obvious choice would be to make May 1 New Americans day, and then we recognize mothers day and fathers day. Maybe create a childrens day in august. With the summer calendar a little more built out I think day after halloween and some kind of ‘games day’ for the day after the super bowl make sense. Some will complain about any kind of implicit endorsement of the NFL but I think politically it would be helpful for Dems to be embracing anything normie & mainstream like the superbowl at this point. You’d probably see more regional family travel to watch the big game together and then hangout & return home with the Monday off, and there could become a civic tradition of pick-up recreational sports for all ages on Games Day.
If you are an office worker enjoying your day off you expect the stores and restaurants to be open. Sounds like a class divide issue.
Canada has had this turn into actual political issues a few times now, with politicians running to create a contrived holiday to fill in gaps in the calendar. In BC in 2011 Christy Clark was elected leader of the Liberal Party, and thus provincial premier, in part on a promise to implement a February statutory holiday, which became 'Family Day'. Now there's a holiday about every month except March and June.
Completing the calendar really should be done IMO
I don’t understand the push for more holidays. Personally I’d abolish all holidays and just add 6 days off to everyone’s vacation count. This way it will be up to personal choice to decide when to have a vacation and we won’t have a period in late December where all work grinds to a halt needlessly.
As for coordination problems - if someone is not willing to take a vacation in sync with yourself, do they really want to spend time with you? I’d argue no. So getting rid of Christmas would strengthen genuine relationships while weakening pointless superficial ones.
the coordination issue is not just 'me' and 'my family' or 'my friends'
It's 'me', 'my family', 'my friends', and 'their employers'
If people genuinely want to see you and you genuinely want to see them, you'll make it work. If you don't... well, good riddance then.
That the two go-home-to-family holidays are a month apart is super dumb. It was really dumb in college, when there were like 3 weeks between trips home.
Spread 'em out. And add more.
We've long decided that none of my out of town relatives come into town on Thanksgiving, and they trade it off with a long visit here on some non-regular part of the summer. Works really well.
Women Suffrage Day (19th Amendment) was
August 18, 1920. Make that a holiday for August.
I wholeheartedly agree.
This is why I have grown to love the Civic Holiday as it is celebrated in Ontario. The first Monday in August is widely observed as a holiday. Why it it a holiday? *Because people should have a holiday in August*, that's why. There are various municipalities that give it a more specific name - Terry Fox Day or whatever - but mostly it's *just a holiday*. I like referring to it as the Seinfeld of holidays, because it's a holiday about nothing. You don't actually need a holiday to commemorate something - you just need the day off! Which is particularly true in the United States, where until very recently there was only one national holiday in the entire summer months - the time people most want a holiday. Give them a holiday in early August. What for? For having time off in early August!
Amusingly, it's not even a statutory holiday in Ontario! (Or Alberta, Manitoba, or Nova Scotia, where it's Heritage Day, Terry Fox Day, and Natal Day, respectively. But it is a statutory holiday in BC, SK, and NB, along with NU and NWT....)
Why not just… take the day off? Doesn’t have to be an official holiday, you just need a personal choice.
Because of Matt's whole point in this piece, as I understand it, which was to point out the benefits of *shared* holidays - that even unemployed people are happier when the people *around* them all have the day off (as on the weekend). Just giving people more vacation days would certainly be a good thing in the US, but having more actual holidays in common has a value beyond that.
That's the idea the gift and card industry should have thought about instead of Love Day.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eygsGzLX07A