May Day–International Workers’ Day–is an interesting holiday. It began as a demonstration in the US (half a mile from where I grew up) but was shunned by the American government; it was an anarchist rally but got taken up by states, often repressive, around the world. And while I rarely get too political on this blog, I think the lack of translations in the English-language book market and an American fear of foreigners are not unrelated.

This article struck me as a good overview of the history.