International Man: Let's start with the basics.

What are holidays, and why are they important to a culture or country?

Doug Casey: The word "holiday" actually comes from "holy day"; it has a religious derivation. Once upon a time, I'd say as recently as the 1950's, religion played a very important role in Western culture. It no longer does. Christianity is a dead duck in Europe, and fading rapidly in North America. Much as it replaced classical religions starting in the late Roman Empire, Christianity is being replaced by Wokism/Greenism.

Our holidays, until recently, were still about shared values and shared traditions. They were an acknowledgment of common beliefs, a celebration of what was important among the people of a country or a culture.

But that's no longer the case. The meaning of holidays, as with so many things, has degraded.

International Man: Marketing agencies are responsible for most consumer-themed holidays, which aim to get people to buy stuff they don't need.

It started with Mother's Day and Valentine's Day, but now there seems to be a holiday for everything.

There is National Tequila Day, National Donut Day, Amazon Prime Day, and countless others.