This Sunday, as most of you reading this probably already know, marked the anniversary of the 1886 General Strike for an eight hour work day (8 for rest, 8 for work, 8 for recreation), and the subsequent Haymarket Massacre in Chicago, and the wrongful execution of 4 strikers accused of throwing dynamite. May 1st, May Day or International Workers' day is the commemoration of the struggles and victories of organized labor and all of those who seek liberation and economic and social justice.
Before it became a day to celebrate workers' struggles, May the First was Beltane, a Gaelic festival that, as most other spring festivals, celebrated fertility and rebirth. Call me delusional, but I like to think this is no coincidence.
Every worker victory is a rebirth. Every victory for social and economic justice and every stepping stone toward democratic liberation and egalitarianism is a small step toward rebirth. Every person who comes to find class consciousness is part of a collective, spiritual reawakening that will allow a new period of equality to grow from the ashes of the old power structures.
That's all very lofty sounding but you get the idea. Now more than ever are these things evident. Government attacks on organized labor, right wing austerity measures, supremacy of the banks and steps toward plutocratic totalitarianism have been met by increased involvement by workers' rights and democracy advocates, as well as increased support for them. The occupation in Wisconsin, the US/UK Uncut Movements, the demonstrations and riots all over Europe from Ireland to Greece, The Walks for Choice and countless other demonstrations of the people's will are evidence of a new world rising from beneath our own that just needs a few more people to push it.
This past May Day, rallies in L.A, Chicago, Santa Rosa, Honduras, Turkey, Venezuela and several other places showed their support for general progress, or protested Anti-Immigration laws and Anti-Labor laws - all demonstrating increasing popular support for change.
I am as convinced as ever that revolutionists do not make a revolution. The people make the revolution, the revolutionists only help it along. Their role is educating the masses, promoting the strikes and protests, and letting democracy take care of the rest.
