PrintMay 1, 2008
Why May Day?
Why did American Thinker choose May 1st, the international socialist holiday, to ask for funds? The question raised is legitimate. A couple of thoughts:
At least a millennium before Marx was born, May Day was a venerable Northern European celebration of the end of the long winter season. But in the 19th century, May Day was appropriated by socialists to become a celebration of labor and the glories of socialism. A bit later, Mayday, a corruption of the French term m'aider (‘help me"), became a radio distress call.
In a sense, all three meanings make it appropriate for American Thinker to launch our drive today. In a sense, our winter has come to an end. We are opposed to socialism and its descendant communism, which still represent genuine threats to the welfare of mankind. And we need to say "help us" to survive, thrive, and grow.
