I lost sight of the purpose, myself, many years back. Is this a day in which to honor women who raise children, change diapers, and clean out the mule poop? Is it a day to honor women who do all the above AND maintain a job outside the home? Is it something to honor the unions? [They seem to be most associated with "labor", right?] WHAT IS labor, anyway? I'm guessing that it's not the "labor" associated with childbirth. Is it the person who changes your oil, or is it the CEO of the company who EMPLOYS the person who changes your oil? I dunno.

Labor Day

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), September 02, 2001

Answers

Labor Day has no real content, because it is an ersatz replacement for the real thing.

Labor Day was invented to replace May Day as the day for workers' solidarity, because May Day has always been too internationalist and too socialist - two traits that make "good Americans" squeamish. Labor leaders went along with this substitution mainly because they wanted to distance the American labor movement from communism, which they knew was the political kiss of death in the USA, and - what the heck - it's a conveniently situated three day weekend!

So, we get an empty holiday to go to the beach or to barbecue in the backyard. It's fun, which is good, but it did succeed in scrubbing all political content out of the celebration - which was the whole point.

-- Little Nipper (canis@minor.net), September 02, 2001.

In the most recent decade, executive pay has risen 571 percent; worker pay scarcely bettered inflation. Even last year, as the economy soured, the captains of our corporations profited. Their pay rose by 18 percent; those who worked for them averaged 3 percent increases.

Hmmmmm, so this disparity occurred over the Clinton years? Maybe this phoney champion of the common man will donate a few million from his multi-million book deal to the common man.

-- Lars (lars@indy.net), September 02, 2001.

It IS interesting that we have this holiday while other countries don't.

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), September 02, 2001.

It's an excuse to spend an extra day dove hunting.

-- Carlos (riffraff@cybertime.net), September 02, 2001.

Anita, what's the deal with the link to the NYT registration?

-- Lars (lars@indy.net), September 03, 2001.

Anita, what's the deal with the link to the NYT registration?

LOL. Sorry, Lars. I'm sure I ran across an article pertinent to this discussion, but didn't notice that it was from the Times. Even if I were to find it again today, I wouldn't want to go through the LABOR of cutting and pasting it.

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), September 03, 2001.

I'm already registered. I like their arts, business, science and general news sections. I like Safire except he is too pro Israel.

Their editorials suck.

-- Lars (lars@indy.net), September 03, 2001.

Their editorials suck.

Is this to say that they're too liberal for your taste? I doubt that whatever it was I found leaned too far either way.

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), September 03, 2001.

Yes, not only are they too Liberal but they are too wimpy. I'll take my Liberalism with a little hair on it, please.

I don't know what you posted Anita. All I got was a registration page.

As I said, I like the NYT for many things: their movie reviews; their Tuesday Science section; their Business section; the Sunday magazine.

-- Lars (lars@indy.net), September 03, 2001.

I'll take my Liberalism with a little hair on it, please.

Is that a Neanderthal thing?

Seriously, Lars, I understand the audience on this forum and really DO try to present links to things that won't be TOO, TOO controversial. [BTW, MY liberalism has no hair, either.]

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), September 03, 2001.