Faint praise.

Just as I admire Switzerland
for having a robust democracy
and rotating presidency (a bit like the EU)

and Ireland for its constitutional embargo
on joining any military pact
(such as NATO which still includes a dictatorship)
- though not for its National Day, hijacked
and of course vulgarised by the USA -

and Scotland for its independence
like Catalonia's within a federation
and its very quiet National Day,

so I admire England for not having
a public-holiday National Day, 

though Shakespeare's Birthday
has been attractively suggested.  

Do National Days promote social cohesion
or simply provide excuses
for political expressions of nationalism -
and in the case of France's 14th of July
celebrate a very bad model of failed revolution
soon turned into dictatorship ?