Why Easter?
Is it a “racist” holiday? Should it be cancelled in the interests of meeting our governments’ DEI objectives?
My wife asked an interesting question this morning.
“Why do Canada’s ‘woke’ governments still celebrate Easter with a paid day off for all of their employees? Their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies seem to have built-in biases that favour the followers of the Christian faith at the expense of everyone else who pays taxes and expects government services during those holidays. Isn’t this the very definition of ‘racism’?
Yes, I don’t doubt that all public servants, regardless of their faith, welcome any excuse for a work holiday. Every private sector worker, however, spends a portion of each day working to pay their tax obligations so that those government workers can enjoy a day off (note: the average Canadian remits over 50% of annual earnings to all levels of government each year and most of these funds go towards paying for wages and benefits).
What would Tracelyn Cornelius say?
Are Easter holidays a form of “systemic racism?” .
Ms. Cornelius is anti-racism communications manager in the University of Waterloo’s central communications unit and a PhD student in the Sustainability Management program in the School of Environment, Enterprise and Development (SEED). The ‘Go Mommy’ article describes her academic journey. The University, SEED, and Tracelyn’s salary and bursaries are funded by taxpayers ostensively ‘to serve the greater good’. Are private sector workers included in her definition of ‘the greater good’ or are they simply the means to an end?
WOKE does not compute.
I am a University of Waterloo graduate (class of ‘75) and a Causasian man with no pronoun identifiers except those I have known for seven decades as “mister”, “male” and “he/him”. Fortunately, retired after 43 years of employment and savings, to live self-sustainably. The word “sustainable” meant something very different before the climate change and social justice zealots shape-shifted it into a new meaning with political dimensions. ‘Self-reliant’, ‘personal responsibility’, the individual freedom to make informed choices to enable a self-reliant present and future would have been my understanding of the word prior to the year 2000.
“Progressive” is another word that has acquired new dimensions of meaning since the days of my youth. Was I naive, misinformed or simply out of touch with the trend towards larger governments which wielded bigger sticks to coralle the Canadian public into a form of ‘group think’? Was the longterm goal of ‘the state’ to transform Canadian society into the widespread state-dependency that exists today in 2023?
As the Fourth Industrial Revolution continues to slither into every corner of our lives, will Artificial Intelligence be the force that completes our transition to a society that replaces “shareholder capitalism” is with digital “stakeholder capitalism” - a paradigm from which there is no escape?
Can I opt out before its too late?
There are many things in which our governments invest that I would not support with tax payments if given the choice? As a longtime Advocate for Less Government, I believe that there are some core and essential services that government can provide at a minimal and affordable level. However, all levels of government have waded into deeper waters that are sinking our national lifeboats with too much unnecessary cargo. I would gladly defund all of the current Woke initiatives if I could and, thereby, encourage a long term reduction in the size, cost and scope of authority of ‘the state’.
“The greater good” is a mythical being, not a flesh and blood human being who goes to work, raises a family, and tries to save for a ‘self-reliant” retirement without depending on a state that gets closer to becoming a national train wreck with every annual government budget announcement.
I have much more to say on this topic in ‘Digital Direct Democracy - A Libertarian Antidote to Digital Communism’. It's a 33-page “citizen white paper” that you can find on Amazon in Kindle format.
PS. I am not anti-Easter. I am anti-discrimination imposed and funded by the state.
An interesting question and one the advocates for separation of church and state would surely share. Personally , I love Easter and I value the history and traditions of our country, so I’m for keeping the Holliday. I wouldn’t call it racists tho, as Christianity isn’t a race. & unless you celebrate Jesus resurrection - Easter can be considered a pagan Holliday too. & , it also coincides with Passover & Ramadan , it covers a lot of bases. I say keep it & people can use the days off to do as they will. And , if you choose to open your busines to take advantage of the festive shoppers ...that should be allowed too, but I’d like to see it not compulsory for employees. Employers should have to option to open but workers should have the option of at least one extra day off. That’s my 2 cents.
An interesting question. In Kitchener, Ontario, there is a movement to remove a statue of Queen Victoria. I wonder if the supporters and enablers of that movement are willing to give up the paid holiday in May as well?