19. Birthdays

Hi. I am Greg and I want to grumble about birthdays. I do this as I have a milestone birthday ending in a round number. But really, what is there to celebrate – simply surviving another lap of the sun? I may not be completely above the self-indulgence of a birthday, but what does another lap really matter? And is it actually anyone else’s business, and does it really require a round of consumerism with compulsory present-giving?

The fact is I had no say in being born, and with luck and good health, and with the privilege of living in what songwriter Penelope Swales calls “a beautiful place in a time of peace”, it’s a statistical probability that I will wake up each morning for 365 days in a row. No big deal, and no particular reason to celebrate.

Of course for people living under oppression or struggling with illness, a year’s survival is an achievement of note, and a reason to celebrate. But for most it is just habit.

The more important question is what has been achieved and contributed in a year. This can take many forms. Some people create loving households and raise children– but in that case a child’s birthday should be a celebration of the parents, not the one who was born on a given date. For many, a contribution is made by the work they do – but that is rewarded by pay packets and marked in years of service, not birthdays. Others contribute above and beyond, through the volunteer work and projects that care for others, build community or restore the environment. All power to them.

But for me, social celebrations are more important than individual ones. An acknowledgement of significant steps towards a fairer and more sustainably society would be a better celebration than any one birthday. For instance, today, 10th December, is International Human Rights Day, the birthday of the adoption by the United Nations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It would be nice if we better celebrated that major social achievement, rather than the 1 in 365 chance that someone was born on this date.

And given that the Declaration has reached the ripe old age of 65, we could perhaps look forward to a day when human rights are indeed universal and it can retire, having done its job.

Now there’s a birthday wish. But until then I am Greg, and I am grumbling.

This Grumble can be heard online or by podcast at https://radio.adelaide.edu.au/gregs-grumbles-19/ 

First Broadcast: 10 December 2013