In last week's column, I said government had made up a new holiday and superimposed it over Easter. I suggested this may have been done as an intentional slap in the face to a major segment of the population. Intended to provoke a reaction.
I was wrong.
Government made up that holiday-- or official declaration-- and set the annual date for it back in 2009. The only reason I heard about it this year was because it coincided with Easter, which generated the outrage that then caught my attention. This outrage was based on a mistaken perception.
The perception was wrong, but the effect this perception had was real. I saw it and heard it from real people.
Now that I know this holiday wasn't something new, I'm neither outraged nor excited. Just add this one to the long list of holidays and government declarations I will continue to ignore.
If a holiday isn't centered around a solstice or an equinox, a planting or a harvest, or some event from the distant past I consider noteworthy, I don't care about it. Groundhog Day, and the goofiness surrounding it, is the exception. I especially dislike all holidays government makes up to memorialize a person or to recognize a group. All of them. I don't care how long some of those government holidays have been around, they feel artificial and forced and I don't care about them. I never celebrate Presidents' Day.
These manufactured "holidays" seem manipulative. Every made-up government holiday smells like a sneaky attempt to buy votes. Prove me wrong. This is my perception, just as it was the common perception this year that government had intentionally made up a new holiday to supersede a traditional holiday.
For better or worse, in every case, perception beats reality. At least, in the effect it has on people.
Just look at the effect belief in government as a legitimate, concrete entity has on people. They build monuments to it, in the form of office buildings. They give up life, liberty, and property because of this mistaken perception. Worse, they'll violently take life, liberty, and property away from others based on it. They sacrifice individuals to this false god. It's disgusting.
Do your best to make sure your perceptions match reality. You'll still sometimes make mistakes, as will I, but this way you'll never end up on the side of the bad guys.
