May 1st

May 1st

This day used to have a lot of meaning for me. It would participate in the May Day parades all the time when I was in Germany. The May Day parades were organized by the Deutsche Gewerkschaft Bund—the German Union that comprised all the unions of German working/middle class. At these parade organized by the German Unions I did not see any German flags at all. It was about workers not national symbols; the parades were about the problems and their solutions. This meant a lot to me because on this day there is nothing about nations or national problems and their representation. It is purely a day when working or middle class present its problems excluding any other problems or interest.

Today or lately on May Day parades in many countries that participants also carry their national flags along with their banners to protest the government. This is a contradiction for me. Or at least the idea of May Day parade I think of was or still is that ethnicity or nationhood of people is not the issue. This is not something that one celebrates with something that represents ethnicity. On the contrary, it is clearly about interest that should go beyond the national interest and support the right of working men and women. My thoughts might be from my socialist times; but I stick to them.

Have a happy May 1st!