We are a Society of Silly Celebrations

About a month ago, President Trump signed executive orders that rolled back protections for transgender people and terminated diversity, equity, and inclusion programs within the federal government. 

The first order declares that the federal government would recognize only two sexes based on whether people are born with eggs or sperm, rather than chromosomes. However, the American Medical Association and American Psychiatric Association hold that gender is a spectrum, not a binary structure consisting only of males and females.

The second order I want to discuss is the one that stops DEI programs in federal agencies. Businesses including Walmart, McDonalds, and Meta, have rolled back their diversity policies since the election. Federal agencies are also pausing DEI programs and putting a pause on observing DEI-related celebrations. 

On January 28th, the Defense Department’s Intelligence Agency issued a memo that explained they are working to implement these executive orders. This memo was first posted on X by independent journalist Ken Klippenstein. There are 11 “special observances” that employees are no longer supposed to recognize or celebrate with office activities or events. These are the 11 observances:

• Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Birthday 

• Black History Month

• Women’s History Month 

• Holocaust Day/Days of Remembrance 

• Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month

• Pride Month 

• Juneteenth 

• Women’s Equality Day 

• National Hispanic Heritage Month 

• National Disability Employment Awareness Month 

• National American Indian Heritage Month 

It should be noted that the ban does not impact federal holidays which are Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Birthday and Juneteenth. There are 9 other federal holidays including New Year’s Day, Washington’s Birthday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans’ Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day.

Silly Celebrations 

New Year’s Day was declared a federal holiday in June 1870. July 4th didn’t even become a federal holiday until 1938. Labor Day was established in 1894. This proves my point that we are just a society of silly celebrations and use every excuse to spend money on throwing parties. 

I have already published multiple podcast episodes on multiple silly celebrations including New Year’s Eve celebrations in Times Square and Groundhog Day craziness in Pennsylvania. I’ve even talked about a parade where people dress up as a scary German creature named Krampus. 

What I’ve learned from most of these podcast episodes is that most American celebrations stem from pagan rituals that were stolen and modified by Christians who then brought them to America when they immigrated in the 16th through 19th centuries. Halloween is another one of these holidays. 

Halloween has roots in the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, a pagan religious celebration that welcomes the harvest at the end of summer. People would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghosts. In the eighth century, Pope Gregory III designated November 1 as a time to honor saints. Soon after, All Saints Day came to incorporate some of the traditions of Samhain. The evening before All Saints Day was known as All Hallows Eve, which later became Halloween. The U.S. began celebrating Halloween in the 19th century when Irish and Scottish immigrants brought the holiday traditions over with them. 

Saint Patrick’s Day is another holiday filled with silly, over-the-top celebrations in America. Saint Patrick was originally celebrated for bringing Christianity to Ireland in the fifth century. The first St. Patrick’s Day parade was held in NYC in 1762. The New York City Parade is the oldest and largest St. Patrick’s Day Parade in the world. The parade is held annually on March 17th at precisely 11:00 AM in honor of St. Patrick. The parade route goes up Fifth Avenue beginning at East 44th Street and ending at East 79th Street. Approximately 150,000 people march in the parade which draws about 2 million spectators. 

Macy’s started their Thanksgiving Day parade to show off the “World’s Largest Store” which was a 1 million square foot retail space in New York. They wanted to show off the store before the holiday season so people would shop there. It had nothing to do with Thanksgiving at all, but they wanted to get people in the mood for Christmas. In the mood for spending money for Christmas. 

The first Macy’s Day parade was on November 27, 1924. Every year, the parade is seen by more than 3.5 million people in New York and 50 million people at home. 

Mardi Gras is another big celebration with a very famous parade route. Mardi Gras originated as a French Catholic tradition and was first celebrated in America in a tiny settlement called Fort Louis de la Mobile in 1703. By the 1730s, Mardi Gras was celebrated openly in New Orleans, but not with the parades we know today. In the early 1740s, Louisiana's governor, the Marquis de Vaudreuil, established elegant society balls, which became the model for the New Orleans Mardi Gras balls of today.

The earliest reference to Mardi Gras "Carnival" appears in a 1781 report to the Spanish colonial governing body. That year, the Perseverance Benevolent & Mutual Aid Association was the first of hundreds of clubs and carnival organizations formed in New Orleans. By the late 1830s, New Orleans held street processions of people in masks with carriages and horseback riders to celebrate Mardi Gras. Over 1.5 million people attend Mardi Gras celebrations in New Orleans every year. 

I know it’s not celebrated with a parade but we have to discuss how we have a holiday called Flag Day which celebrates the fact that Congress approved the design of the American flag. Both President Wilson, in 1916, and President Coolidge, in 1927, issued proclamations asking for June 14 to be observed as the National Flag Day. But it wasn't until August 3, 1949, that Congress approved the national observance, and President Truman signed it into law.

I have a 2025 planner that lists every holiday you could think of. One too many times I would go to create my to-do list and see a silly holiday that I should be celebrating. 

Here are just some of the silly ones listed in my planner: National Compliment Day on January 24th; Send a Card to a Friend Day on February 7th; National Margarita Day on February 22nd; National Flower Day on March 21st; World Laughter Day on May 4th; National Pizza Party Day on May 16th; National Pina Colada Day on July 17th; National Just Because Day on August 27th; Collect Rocks Day on September 16th; National Coffee Day on September 29th; Do Something Nice Day on October 5th; World Mental Health Day on October 10th; World Kindness Day on November 13th; and National Cake Day on November 26th. 

Celebration is the Backbone of Society 

Most of those silly holidays were probably created by some entrepreneur who wanted to sell more of whatever they were making. Except for Collect Rocks Day which was celebrated for the first time in 2015 to celebrate the earth and geology. Technically, it was celebrated in 1969 when Apollo 11 astronauts brought back the first samples of lunar rocks. 

But, most of these holidays are just silly celebrations and an excuse to spend money. Because after all consumerism thrives on silly celebrations. It also relies heavily on big holidays like those celebrated throughout November and December. Before the 1800s, the holiday season was a time for the less fortunate to receive food and accommodations from the wealthy while celebrating in the streets. New York aristocrats then started encouraging celebrations at home and encouraged people to give gifts to children only. 

Once advertisements became popular, there was a rise in consumerism, and retailers and toy manufacturers started pushing for more presents. 

In 2024, experts expected shoppers to have made $979.5 billion to $989 billion worth of purchases in November and December. According to the annual survey released in January 2025 by the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics, consumers were expected to spend a record $27.5 billion on Valentine’s Day this year. This amount is up from last year’s $25.8 billion and slightly above the previous record of $27.4 billion set in 2020. Shoppers plan to spend $188.81 on average on the holiday, up from $185.81 in 2024.

According to a survey released last year by the National Retail Federation, consumers planned to spend a record $7.2 billion on St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. Believe it or not, this is only an average of $44.40 per person.

But, consumerism isn’t all that bad. Specifically during festivals or community celebrations that celebrate marginalized groups and stimulate economic growth within these communities. 

The social benefits of festivals are less visible but more important. Festivals and community celebrations foster pride, teach people new things, and strengthen relationships. Celebrating releases serotonin which helps fight depression. 

Endorphins can be triggered by laughter, dopamine by reward, and serotonin by community. So since celebration is a medley of all three of these triggers, celebrations build happiness and help people live healthier lives. 

We celebrate these holidays to recognize marginalized groups and celebrate their accomplishments. Black History Month started as a weeklong celebration in 1926 and was expanded to a month in 1976. Since then, each American president has issued Black History Month proclamations and endorsed a specific theme. The theme for Black History Month in 2025 is “African Americans and Labor,” which focuses on the ways that "work and working of all kinds—free and unfree, skilled, and unskilled, vocational and voluntary—intersect with the collective experiences of Black people." 

March is Women’s History Month which also began as a week-long celebration in 1978. This was a local celebration and it wasn’t until 1980 that President Jimmy Carter issued the first presidential proclamation during the week of March 8, 1980, as National Women’s History Week. In 1987, Congress designated March as Women’s History Month. Every year, the National Women’s History Alliance selects a theme for the month. This year’s theme is “Moving Forward Together! Women Educating & Inspiring Generations.” 

Because whether or not it feels true, we are moving forward. Together.