It is often repeated that the only way to influence culture is to produce it. This isn’t entirely true: much like solving the current immigration mess, the first step is to use what we already have.

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While the Cultural Marxists are busy importing festivals from other cultures irrelevant to American history (Cinco de Mayo) or instituting holy days of obligation for their saints (Martin Luther King) we need to get busy having FUN— celebrating the historic American nation.

The anniversary of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is an obvious choice. Here are the facts:

The Mexican-American war basically started as a dispute over our southern border. Mexico fired the first shot in 1846 and the conflict lasted about a year, concluding with American troops’ capture of Mexico City.

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ultimately cut Mexico in half by way of gaining California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, half of Texas (depending on how you count the Republic of Texas) and half of New Mexico. Despite this enormous land gain, the Treaty was a sore point for American President James Polk, who felt we should have gotten more, including the Baja peninsula.

My guess is that most modern Americans are only aware of the map associated with the Treaty because of groups like Aztlan and others who wave it around as proof of their indigeneity.

In fact, the West was the very thinly settled. And the of the 70,000 Mexican citizens there, roughly half are estimated to have been American-born. Residents of the area were given one year to choose whether to swap citizenships from Mexico to American. And 90% chose American.

Fast forward to today’s celebrations of Guadalupe Hidalgo Day…oh wait, none exist.

That looks like a problem that needs solving! Here are a few ideas I had to kick things off:

Activities:

Pluck the feather off the Mexican eagle

Put an oversized image of the Mexican Eagle on the wall, with some removable feathers. Each feather is prepared with an instruction hidden on the back, ranging from silly things like “walk like a dinosaur” for little kids to “take a drink” for the college set. Players take turns plucking the feathers and following the instructions. It’s like Pin The Tail On The Donkey, except that the players are removing feathers instead of adding tails—and the winner gets 525,000 square miles of valuable land.

Pinata Instead of appropriating Mexican culture only for children's birthday parties, let’s do it when it actually *means* something. Like, “In 1847, we beat you with an army. Today, I beat you with a stick.”

Traditional donkey shaped pinata, or Mexican Trojan horse? You decide.

Gold Rush Just nine days before the signing of the Treaty, James Wilson Marshall found gold in California. Within two years, the Gold Rush was at its peak. Too bad for Mexico. There are a number of directions you could take this one. Bake a cake with a gold ring inside. Whoever finds the ring in their piece of cake gets crowned with a coon skin cap (remember the Alamo!). Or make up a scavenger hunt around the house or yard, each clue written on a gold piece of paper. Serve golden rock candy at the table, or chocolates with gold shavings, or decorate the edges of your drink glasses with gold sugar…you get the idea.

"Gold Rush" themed mason jars for party drinks

Eat

Cowboy food is the obvious choice here, but it’s hard to go wrong with any foods inspired by Texas and California. My suggestion: big bowls of red with lots of toppings, chips and guacamole, and warm biscuits with honey.

Beans or no beans? That is the question.

Polk salad. Not actually “salad,” this food that was once ubiquitous on the tables of the rural poor, is about as American as it gets. Sprigs of pokeweed were pinned to the lapel and stuck to the heads of livestock to show political support for James Polk during his Presidential bid. He won, and it was during his Presidency that America grew to encompass all the land “from sea to shining sea.” The pokeweed plant grows in just about everybody’s yard and if prepared correctly can be served as a succulent side dish alone or scrambled with eggs. If prepared incorrectly, it can kill you.

Caution: this side dish bites back!

I’m sure that you and yours can come up with more and better ideas. February is a miserable month anyway, and we could use a cheering up that’s a little less sugary than Valentine’s Day.

Call up a few friends, gather the kids around and celebrate!

It’s the (second) easiest way to save America.