Valentine's Day

Naturally occurring holidays like the equinoxes and solstices?
- And in temperate climates, the first day of spring and Harvest feasts, marked in different cultures in different natural ways.
  
  The first day of spring is the equinox.
  
  The first day of the naturally occuring spring, occuring naturally at a set number of days after the solstice.
  You can recognize it from the skybox changing color.
- equinoxes
  There's a holiday for horses???
  Count me in!
  
  No no - equinoxes
  Those little furry things they have in the desert.
- Get out of here with your science!
- I actually like these ones the best. My family used to have cool solstice gatherings with some friends. There was always a lemon poppyseed cake, and lots of candles.
- Equinoxes and solstices are natural, the holidays/celebrations are created by us

True. I've find the Easter Bunny in the wild, last spring .
Best free chocolate ever.
- If green you can actually eat them as a survival tactic.

To be fair, I find all of them equally stupid. Only ones I like are those that give a free day at work, and only for that reason.
- Heh yea same, I don't really care if it's Leif Erikson Day or Give Mr. Krabs All Your Money Day, I just need to know if it's a day off or not LMAO
  Though some are fun, like Valentine's Day often serves as a perfect excuse to have a date night with my SO (though we often tend to actually do it a couple days after or before to avoid everyone else doing Valentine's Day date nights lolol (unless there's a good deal ofc))
  
  (unless there’s a good deal ofc)
  There is not. Handing out discounts on one of the biggest consumersim-fueled dates in the year is just not maximizing profit and hence not fit for capitalistic environment.
- In the civilised world, it's not called a holiday unless you get a day off work
- What if they come with blowing shit up? (we Statesians love our holidays)

February 14th is my birthday so of course I hate Valentine's Day, I can't hang out with my friends 'cause they're hanging with their girlfriends, and if I'm in a relationship I have to go buy flowers and stuff the day of my birthday instead of just chilling and playing videogames which I honestly prefer. And don't get me started on people assuming I like everything heart shaped and stuff...
If these two events were a separate thing I'd probably be OK with Valentine's Day TBH.
- I just decided your birthday is June 5, if you want to use it
  
  I'll accept it but you'll have to send me a happy birthday message.

My grandpa used to break up with my grandma to avoid having to buy gifts for her, then get back together after lol
- You sure he was actually your grandpa? Cause if I go back nine months from your parent's birthday...
- Smart guy.

What do you mean, it's right there in the wild.

I mean the astrological holidays are just kinda there
- Everybody celebrates the trisolar syzygy, whether they want to or not.

I refer to it as Singles Awareness Day. For the obvious reason.
- Back in college it used to be "go to the Olive Garden alone and make the waitress uncomfortable" day.
  
  Ah, the ol' 'Just how endless are the salad and bread https://www.mentalfloss.com/posts/are-olive-garden-breadsticks-really-unlimited?' trick .
- Too late, Corporate China reserved November 11 (because it's all 1s) for that, and western corporations are starting to follow it too.
- Awareness is why I'm drinking...

The solstices would like a word.
- Lunar New Year too.

On the other hand Lupercalia has a long standing history. Sacrifice a goat. (just getting some snaks together for the party). Run a race, good fun and competition. Consensual spanking with goat skin whips, good clean fun.

Everyone should get a day off just to eat chocolate and fuck.
- I got to fuck chocolate and eat.
- During summer festivals couples used to go to search for a mythical fern flower, that was only flowering during the summer solstice. Of course they went searching at night. If you found one, it was supposed to make you rich and successful. So in reality, it was just an excuse for couples / young people to go into the woods and fuck all night.
  The celebrations also included: bathing, dancing, decorating with flowers, lighting fires, jumping through the fire and chasing away witches. People also got married. Sometimes they plowed the village roads, so a dude could find a "match" (i.e. get to plow someone else). They'd also figuratively roast people for being dicks / immoral.
  
  Sounds like a good time!

Made up CORPORATE holiday, just like Sweetest Day. We don't even get it off!
You don't need a day to tell that special someone how you feel, just do it!
- I love you, @fartswithanaccent, ever since I saw you call out Sweetest Day
  
  Aw shucks lol

Here we see the spawning grounds of the Pagan holidays, where a young holiday is learning to walk. But wait, in comes it's natural predator the Christian holiday. The Holiday struggles for a bit, but it is in vain...

I like Arbor Day, nobody can agree what day it is, but everyone likes the idea of picking a day in spring to plant a few trees
- We're supposed to "plant* them!? I've been cutting them down! I dry the wood, then carve a thoughtful memorial to trees...

Happy Ishtar !
I mean happy Easter not the pagan orgy holiday represented by eggs and rabbits etc that we all participate in for some reason

Where in the world is Valentine’s Day a holiday?
- What do you mean?
  
  Holiday implies a public holiday, as in people get the day off from work and school. Otherwise I wouldn’t call it a holiday.

I do call all holidays dumb but I'll still use it as an excuse to take a day off or do something. I teach at an all girls university and they are 100% on board having Friday off in the name of Valentine's Day. Lol
(Oh and before you say "everyone would say yes to that" you haven't met the kids who take college seriously)

It's legit. I get depression and chest pain every Valentine's Day.

Don't complain if you get a day off

I dont understand why people celebrate Valentines day in my country
There is already a national holiday for that, we dont need to steal from the USA
- Well, they probably largely aren't. American companies push our culture everywhere to encourage consumerist spending. Our media is systematically complicit with this. Aside from the obvious like commercials and product placement, our media also glorifies acquisition as both goal and reward. Not sure how to solve a problem? Buy a solution. Just "solved" a problem with consumption? Better reward yourself with a little treat (and some more consumption.)
  
  Its not just commercial and product placements
  People are copying the culture and language(using english words in the same sentence as romanian words)
- Here in Brazil we have Dia dos Namorados (day of the romantic partners) which is the same as Valentine's Day, but in June.

Kinda a false equivalency, no? There's a lot more history and tradition steeped in something like Christmas/Yule than Valentine's Day, unless you're suggesting we should call it a feast day in honor of the St Valentine or w/e.
You can celebrate some holidays in a traditional, non-commercialized manner. There's not really a way to celebrate Valentine's Day without consumerism.
Edit: As many are trying to point out, yes you can show your love to your SO without consumerism. You should be doing it everyday. If anyone has any ideas on how to go above and beyond to demonstrate your commitment to a person without going out/giving a gift/dressing especially fancy, I'm all ears.
- I can think of quite a few ways to show love w my S.O. without consumerism.
  Also, I don't see any false equivalence, just because it's been around longer doesn't make Christmass any less made up.
  
  There's a clear difference between the traditions behind Christmas/Yule and the purely capitalism-driven Valentine's Day sales event.
- Edit: As many are trying to point out,
  Just to be clear, by “many” you mean two. Two people replied to you… now it’s three.
  
  Hey do you want to believe in a world where your post gets more traction and more people comment, or do you wanna believe in a world where those two are the only ones who would comment on it going forward?
- Don't be so cynical, and the value you put on tradition is an entirely personal thing. Valentines day has been celebrated for hundreds of years as well so it's by definition a tradition.
  We spread out days throughout the year to put emphasis on the people who are dear to us, ofcourse we should show them every single day, but it's not a bad thing to highlight a day of the year.
  And since you've decided it's only about consumerism, let me give you a few ways to go above and beyond for you partner without having to resort to consumerism:
  Learning a skill related to your SO
  Revisiting a place or activity you enjoyed together, maybe throw in a well prepared picnic
  Growing your own flowers in advance
  Cooking a meal which is difficult and high effort to make
  The amount of value placed in a day like today depends on relationship, but saying it's only about consumerism is such a big cop-out.
- Valentines day has a quiet a bit of history too though.
  Some people believe that Valentine's day only came to be because of lupercalia, witch was a festival.
  
  Look, if people wanna start sacrificing goats again and doing feasts, I'm all in. Hell yea, sounds great. The problems I have with Valentine's Day are with the commercialization of love, which is how it's been celebrated for hundreds of years. If you wanna celebrate in a non-traditional way, I've no real beef with you, because you're not really celebrating the problematic parts.
- Me and my partner are going to a potluck with friends because our love should be shared with people we hold dear but that’s just us I guess.
  
  At some point in history it was known as feast of Saint Valentines, so pot luck is probably a pretty solid way to celebrate.
  
  Hey, that's a cool way to celebrate, and technically the most traditional. It's not the way people typically refer to Valentines Day, but I hope you can keep that tradition going.
- I disagree with your last sentence, but not the rest of the comment. Plenty of ways to celebrate your SO without spending. It's easier to celebrate without consumerism than Christmas or New Years for that matter.
  
  I would argue that you should be celebrating your SO daily, so for most of my relationships the only way to go beyond and make a day special is to involve gifts/going out.

I gave up on holidays when they started celebrating them when most convenient for capitalism. If you can’t celebrate Saint Paddy’s on a Tuesday go fuck yourselves, you don’t get a Saint Paddy’s.

They are all dumb made up holidays to make you spend money you don’t have to buy shit you don’t need for people you hate in the name of equally dumb and made up traditions that people keep following because they are sheep and don’t question anything. It was never about family or love or whatever argument the rich use these days to convince you to give them your hard earned money so they can buy the 10th yacht of the week.
- Yeah but that's also why nobody likes you so you've got to decide if this is really a hill worth dying on. Ya Scrooge

No, I just don't like holidays that are being abused by companies to make a buck. That goes for Christmas as well.
The Summer Holidays don't have that issue.
Easy as is.
Also, Valentine's Day is not even a holiday, idiot 😂
- What holiday isn't abused by capitalism?
  
  Mayday!