Objectivist Clubs and Holidays

Objectivist Clubs and Holidays
by Luke Setzer

Humans have demonstrated a natural hunger for spiritual meaning and human bonding since history began. Holidays have long served as a nourishment to satisfy that hunger. In fact, the very word "holiday" has its roots in the contraction of "holy day," a day in which people suspended work to honor that which they considered most sacred.

Obviously, holidays have their roots in primitive religions. As humanity has progressed from mysticism to reason, holidays have taken more secular meanings. But their psychological function remains the same. Holidays serve as a way for people to pause and reconnect with their own inner spirits, inner passions, and each other in novel yet often rational and productive ways.

A global Objectivist club network must take full advantage of the holiday phenomenon to serve the four basic human needs effectively.

To argue this thesis first requires a recap of the four basic human needs:

Spiritual:         The need for meaning
Emotional:      The need for bonding
Mental:           The need for knowledge
Physical:         The need for action

Now let us examine a traditional American holiday with both secular and religious roots: Thanksgiving Day. Historian Bill Petro documents the origin of this holiday as follows:

On June 20, 1676, the governing council of Charlestown, Massachusetts, held a meeting to determine how best to express thanks for the good fortune that had seen their community securely established. By unanimous vote they instructed Edward Rawson, the clerk, to proclaim June 29 as a day of Thanksgiving.

In 1789, George Washington resurrected this concept when he wrote:

Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the twenty-six of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that Great and Glorious Being, who is the Beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be.

Abraham Lincoln cemented the current tradition of Thanksgiving when he declared:

It has seemed to me fit and proper that God should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November as a day of Thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens.

How does this holiday seek to fill the four basic human needs?

Spiritually, it assigns all meaning to the providence of God.
Emotionally, it offers a cause to pause and bond with loved ones.
Mentally, it reaffirms knowledge of history.
Physically, it offers a delightful satisfaction of culinary tastes.

Objectivists will have little quibble with the last three needs -- only with the first. The traditional spiritual meaning of Thanksgiving has had strong religious content. Contrast that with the spiritual content which Objectivist Gary Hull offers:

There is a spiritual need fed by the elaborate meal, fine china and crystal, and the presence of cherished guests. It is the self-esteem that a productive person feels at the realization that his thinking and energy have made consumption possible.

For the Objectivist, the spiritual nature of Thanksgiving assigns all meaning to the individual -- his integrated thought and action -- his own Self.

A global Objectivist club network must make this the spiritual meaning of all holidays. In this fashion, a local Objectivist club can employ holidays of both traditional and unique varieties to serve the needs of its members. The following events offer a sample of what such a holiday calendar could offer:

January     22                       Roe v Wade Day aka Reproductive Rights Day
February   02                       Ayn Rand Day aka Ayn Rand's Birthday
February   12                       Darwin Day
February   14                       Romantic Love Day
March-April                        Easter aka Spring Solstice
April         22                       Resourceful Earth Day
May     first     Thursday      National Day of Reason
June     first     Sunday        International Capitalism Day
July           04                       American Independence Day aka Liberty Day
August fourth Saturday        Atheism Day
September 02                      Atlas Shrugged Day
October     12                       Freethought Day
November fourth Thursday   Thanksgiving aka the Producer's Holiday
December 25                       Christmas aka Winter Solstice aka Commerce Day

A global Objectivist club network dedicated to activism to promote its message to the masses could easily celebrate all these holidays with startling public events. It could also simply create a warm and inviting private atmosphere in which members could celebrate these holidays in the pleasure of each other's company. Either path serves the needs of those members.

A dedicated Web site for the global Objectivist club network would do well to include these holidays as defaults on the calendars for all clubs. Local organizers could schedule club events built around these holidays at their own discretion. This not only motivates locals to host events, but can help those new to Objectivism to immerse into the philosophy while still retaining the objective benefits of traditional holidays.

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