Societal remnants

There are some of you who are bothered by absolute statements; that is, statements that appear to mean "this and nothing other". For example, when I say, "We have no society anymore." It's not that I actually mean that there is nothing even resembling a society, rather, whatever we have is of such little importance and draws so little attention, that we might as well not have one, for what we do try to hold onto doesn't seem to count.

I suppose there are any number of reasons for this ... not my statements, but how we deal with those few social aspects that we seem to have left. I'm fortunate in that most of the people I know have some kind of family (siblings or cousins, the odd aunt or uncle somewhere not too far away, perhaps even one or both of our parents still alive), but many people I know live far enough away from their "home" that family get-togethers are often reserved for one of the big holidays, generally Thanksgiving or Christmas. For the rest of the year, we're pretty much just on own own. Of course, I also know a few people who don't get along with even what little family they have. I find that sad, though, but I will admit that blood ties are no antidote to sphincteriety (that is, simply being an asshole, an all-too-common malaise).

When we look at the year, we find that it is fairly artificially constructed anymore. In the USA, for example, there is a Monday holiday in January (MLK Day), February (President's Day), May (Memorial Day), September (Labor Day) and October (Columbus Day). None of these, it should be noted has anything to do with anything natural, no seasonal or time-of-year events. Easter has lost its meaning most places (Good Friday is often a half-workday), the same applies to Christmas (Eve). Thanksgiving is something of a harvest festival, so it's placement in November is reasonable, even if it conflicts with Veteran's Day, but it was just set there, and so that leaves only New Year's Day as a real seasonal holiday, for it marks the beginning of the year.

Though the holidays in Germany vary a little (May is always a big month because that's generally when Pentecost (whose Monday is work-free), Ascension Day and Corpus Christi (both of which are always on Thursdays) occur. We also get Good Friday and Easter Monday off, but unlike some places, if variable-day holidays (e.g. New Year's Eve and Day, May Day, German Unification (Oct. 3), All Saint's, and Christmas) fall on a weekend, for example, there's no compensation at work; you simply have the holiday on the weekend. Here, however, the Church Year plays a dominant role, but the selection of this or that day to be celebrated or designated as a holiday is fairly arbitrary, as it is elsewhere.

When the weather's nice, we have barbecues and picnics and family outings on such days, and if we're lucky, and the extended family is in the vicinity, we may even manage a short visit to one of the relatives. On the whole, though, holidays have become more or less a mere counterpart to work.

We have holidays of our own making, and too many people don't even know why anymore. There's nothing natural about that. Our years, our lives are just sort of made up.