Russia has a very controversial political history; what with the survival of monarchy up to the 20th century, and then its replacement with first extreme and then mild totalitarianism (or for the latter just authoritarianism depending on where you draw the line). It is now a democracy, but that came upon the heels of the collapse of the USSR, which many Russians see as not having being a triumphal moment for Russia because of the chaotic aftermath and some Russians' affection for the USSR. So, Russia's political revolutions don't provide Russia with an uncontroversial 4th of July type moment in the political sense; however, Russia has repeatedly beat off vicious and formidable foreign invasions, and it seems like Russians are united in thinking that was a good thing. In the US we celebrate the 4th of July is large part because we fought off a foreign invasion: that of the British. Our national anthem is based on an event in the struggle against a British invasion in the war of 1812. So, although both of these things have strong democratic doctrine and rhetoric associated with them, they are in large part a celebration of the defeat of invaders. So Victory Day and National Unity Day are similar to our own traditions in the latter sense. It seems to me that one thing that Russia might do to augment its calender is add a holiday for the defeat of Napoleon's invasion of Russia, which in turn already has a great piece of music associated with it and would be more readily understood than National Unity Day. Of course, it is nice to have national holidays that don't have anything to do with war, what a concept, and to that end I must say I admire Cosmonautics Day.

I certainly am not against people having a holiday, and to have a day that is connected to the plotting Poles and other great regional 'friends' is not a bad choice, it focuses our mind on unity with an eye on the enemy. I must say however, from what I have seen, it has been treated as that, just a day off for many. It's always been a good idea but it needs a little more development. We should be celebrating our great achievemnets more, like our history of scientific developments, men and women in space, nuclear technology, our literature and art .... and then guiding peoples eyes to the future to raise expectations, to set them a goal of what we can achieve by working together. We need projects that are above pragmatic reality, projects to get us dreaming a little, projects that can stretch us e.g. announcing on this day that we will develop a personalised cordinated air transportation vehicular system. We need some projects that can place us in the forefront of advancement, so people can have something to unite behind going forward. Peope need to raise their eyes from the ground and be part of something moving forward. The future unites people more than the past. We need activities going on that create a unified buzz and create a positive image both at home and abroad. We need to become forward looking actors, pushing the envelope, aiming to be a shaper in the world. We need more international centres and programs eminating from us, projecting our unity out into the world. Let's build a common unified bridge to the future. Then we can walk over it together. Part of that stroll should be us as a nation helping others, like a massive program to work with Africa, not just packing some medicines and food in containers as a piecemeal effort. Let us give people change they can believe in, because we back it standing together in the big country.