Quite often this time of year on Terra you hear the pleasant, politically correct phrase "Happy Holidays"! Voiced by the Terrans and their lapdog puppets, this is a greeting that allows them to wish others well without delineating their own beliefs. Interestingly enough it displays one of the weaknesses of their culture and makes you wonder how they ever got into space.

For millennia Humans have divided themselves into separate (and often opposing) religious, geographic, political, economic, racial and several other seemingly incomprehensible groups. Two humans maybe similar in 99.9% of all respects yet choose to define themselves by that .1% (which is greater than the genetic difference between Homo sapiens and chimpanzees, but not by much).

It seems this time of year coincides with several major religious holidays, at least 6 different "New years" (many human cultures have only reluctantly accepted stardates) as well as 14 major national holidays and uncountable regional and local festivals. Some are celebrations of different (and often contradictory) human beliefs and others are observations of historic and natural events. But none are universal.

This one fact separates the humans from all other intelligent space faring races; there is no one universally celebrated date in Human culture. Now some may say Zephren Cochrane's Birthday or the Anniversary of Warp Drive/First Contact contradicts this statement, they are

mistaken. Where is the celebration? Where is the passion!?

Compare them to the passion of the Ferengi High Holy Days (also this time of year), with the gatherings in front of the Temple of Commerce for the annual accounting. Or the Celebrations of the Romulan Founders Day, with its mass executions, or the Pakled Hit me with a Rock Day, both are far more colorful and universally accepted amongst their peoples. The Vulcan mathematics festival although not festive is certainly more passionate and universal as are the Cardassian We Love the (Insert state approved figurehead here) Day demonstrations. But they all pale before the ultimate Holiday.

I won't go into all the reasons we all love Empire Union Day, all of the cherished memories and honored traditions that make it so special. Our people have within them a strength and sense of purpose that separates them from all others. By affirming our unique heritage, the unmatched splendor of our lands and true destiny we demonstrate our superiority over all others. And sound exactly like everyone else. Just remove the words Klingon or Empire Union Day from the above and the thought remains.

But the real reason Empire Union day is different? We made it up! With an excuse to party and celebrate Klingons are at their best (as are many species except maybe Vulcans). But there was a reason.

By declaring WE ARE KLINGONS! We made that simple observation a unifying fact. By imagining the Empire could be, we made it possible. By having the courage to imagine our world united, we made unification possible. With a common starting place we identified a common goal and acted on it. We proved we were superior to the one enemy that must continually be overcome, circumstances. This we celebrate constantly in battle, in song, in laughter and in life.

A Glorious Empire Union Day! Everyday!!

The preceding diatribe was written by Lt. Col. Mordok vestai Riveck and represents some of his own Terran society and the human foibles. "when you understand the nature of a thing, then you understand what it is capable of". Responses and comments may be sent to him at <[email protected]>, complaints will be ignored.