May 1st was born as a symbol of workers' resistance against unfair conditions.
It was a date to mark the fight for freedom: freedom to work fair hours, freedom to negotiate salaries, freedom to undertake.
But, like everything that threatens power, the original spirit has been kidnapped.
Today, in many countries, Labor Day is less a tribute to the worker — and more a celebration of the State, controlled unions and parties that parasitize the working class.
May Day: from spontaneous struggle to official celebration
In 1886, workers in Chicago organized strikes demanding an eight-hour workday.
They were persecuted, arrested and killed.
These men were not fighting for favors—they were fighting for free contracts, for wages negotiated directly, without coercion from bosses or politicians.
They didn't ask for subsidies.
They did not ask for artificial protections.
They only asked for the right to be masters of their own time.
Today, most official May Day celebrations are state-funded and used to reinforce dependency:
- Political speeches about “guaranteed rights” (and not achieved through real work).
- Homages to unions that live off mandatory union membership.
- Exaltation of the State as the “great protector of the worker”.
The original worker wanted less tutelage—no more shackles.
When the State presents itself as the “friend” of the worker
The modern state has transformed the struggle for freedom into:
- Protection laws that, in practice, generate unemployment.
- Taxes on work that punish those who want to grow.
- Regulations that make hiring more bureaucratic, making it difficult for the poorest to move up.
The result?
A stagnant labor market, high informality and workers trapped in cycles of dependency.
Who wins from this?
The unionized bureaucracy and the tax-collecting State.
The free worker does not need saviors
The true worker is a creator:
- He creates value through his productivity.
- He negotiates his price freely in an open market.
- He seeks to improve on his own merits — not on state handouts.
What destroys the worker is what destroys any market:
- Interventions,
- Taxes,
- Barriers to free trade.
Celebrating work should be celebrating freedom — not the State.
Conclusion: Recovering May 1st as a symbol of freedom
If we want to honor the original spirit of Labor Day, we need to:
- Defend the right to work freely.
- Reject state guardianship over employment.
- Restore the dignity of the worker as an agent of wealth creation, not as dependent on public policies.
The worker is greater than the State.
The market is fairer than bureaucracy.
Freedom is more powerful than any decree.
📩 Do you want to understand how market freedom is the worker's greatest ally?
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