When you see military parades of countries that we would consider to be either potential or old enemies (Iran, North Korea, China, Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, the Soviet Union, etc.), the troops march using the “goose step”, but you never see that style of marching used by NATO or other friendly nation armies. I understand that western countries would probably not want to be seen goose-stepping due to the whole WW2 Germany connection, but why is it so popular with communist and other regimes? Just because it looks so bad-ass scary or because it gives an impression of complete discipline?
posted by 543DoublePlay on Sep 24, 2009 - 8 answers

I'm looking for examples for odd festivals, parades, and events that fall outside the norm of the usual holiday and gov't sanctioned events, but that happen on a regular basis, primarily annually. One example is the May Day parade in Minneapolis.
posted by strangeleftydoublethink on Aug 8, 2006 - 66 answers