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THANKSGIVING'S BLESSING OF CAPITALIST FREEDOM |
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Written by Dr. Jack Wheeler
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Thursday, 25 November 2010 |
On Thanksgiving Day, Americans gather with their family and
friends to celebrate the blessings that Providence
has bestowed on their beloved country.
A deep appreciation of these blessings involves understanding
that they were earned. It is to understand the awesome truth of how
"God helps those who help themselves" applies to the Mayflower Pilgrims and
their First Thanksgiving at America's
birth.
This is an appreciation and understanding of which those on the
Left are incapable - for it would mean celebrating the capitalist freedom that
made that original Thanksgiving possible.
This no liberal, no Democrat, no leftie can do. Thus they must distort history instead.
The distortion starts in Kindergarten, with the childish make-believe
of your kid's school play portraying the noble Squanto teaching the helpless Pilgrims
how to feed themselves. So let's drop the curtain on the distortion and
watch the real thing. Here it is.
The real history of the Mayflower Pilgrims was recounted by their leader,
William Bradford (1590-1657) in his book Of
Plymouth Plantation, completed in 1647. It is from Bradford
that we learn of Squanto, who did indeed show the Pilgrims how to
"set" or plant corn (a new unfamiliar crop for them). Then we
learn that the Pilgrims taught the Indians how to grow more corn than they ever
had before:
"The Indeans used to have nothing so much corne as they have since the
English have stored them with their hoes, and seene their industrie in breaking
up new grounds therwith."
Reading the real history of the Pilgrims is so revelatory that I want you to
see it at length. The Pilgrims landed in December 1620, suffered a
horrible winter, figured out how to fish and hunt that spring and summer so
that there may have been some sort of feast with friendly Indians in the fall
of 1621 - although Bradford doesn't recount the
incident.
But by 1622 they were starving. There was no "Thanksgiving"
that year. There was the next - for 1623 saw the Pilgrims in well-fed
abundance, and thus was the year of the real First Thanksgiving.
What made the difference? Here are Bradford's
own words (albeit with modern spelling like "been" instead of
"bene" - the original spelling is in the link above; the parentheses
are his, the explanatory brackets are mine), describing Anno Dom.1623:
It may be thought strange that these people should fall to
these extremities in so short a time, being left competently provided when the
ship [the Mayflower] left them, and had an addition by that moyetie [portion]
of corn that was got by trade, besides much they got of the Indians where they
lived, by one means and other.
It must needs be their great disorder, for they spent excessively whilst they
had, or could get it. And after they began to come into wants, many sold away
their clothes and bed coverings; others (so base were they) became servants to
the Indians, and would cut them wood and fetch them water for a cap full of
corn; others fell to plain stealing, both night and day, from the Indians, of
which they grievously complained. In the end, they came to that misery that
some starved and died with cold and hunger...
All this while no supply was heard of, neither knew they when they might expect
any. So they began to think how they might raise as much corn as they could,
and obtain a better crop than they had done, that they might not still thus
languish in misery.
At length, after much debate of things, the Governor [Bradford] (with the
advise of the chiefest amongst them) gave way that they should set corn every
man for his own particular [plant corn on his own private land], and in that
regard trust to them selves; in all other things to go on in the general way as
before.
And so [there was] assigned to every family a parcel of land, according to the
proportion of their number for that end, only for present use (but made no
division for inheritance), and ranged all boys and youth under some family.
This had very good success; for it made all hands very industrious, so as much
more corn was planted then other wise would have been by any means the Governor
or any other could use, and saved him a great deal of trouble, and gave far better
content.
The women now went willingly into the field, and took their little-ones with
them to set corn, which before they would allege weakness and inability; whom
to have compelled would have been thought great tyranny and oppression.
The experience that was had in this common course and condition, tried sundry
years, and that amongst godly and sober men, may well evince the vanity of that
conceit of Plato's and other ancients applauded by some of later times -- that
the taking away of property, and bringing in communities into a common wealth,
would make them happy and flourishing, as if they were wiser than God.
For this community (so far as it was) was found to breed much confusion and
discontent, and retard much employment that would have been to their benefit
and comfort. For the young-men that were most able and fit for labor and
service did repine [complain] that they should spend their time and strength to
work for other men's wives and children, with out any recompense.
The strong, or man of parts, had no more in division [in amount] of victails
[food] and clothes, than he that was weak and not able to do a quarter the
other could; this was thought injustice. The aged and graver men to be ranked
and equalized in labors, and victails, clothes, etc., with the meaner and
younger sort, thought it some indignity and disrespect unto them.
And for men's wives to be commanded to do service for other men, as dressing
their meat, washing their clothes, etc., they deemed it a kind of slavery,
neither could many husbands well brook it.
Upon the point all being to have alike, and all to do alike, they thought them
selves in the like condition, and have as good as another; and so, if it did
not cut off those relations that God hath set amongst men, yet it did at least
much diminish and take of the mutual respects that should be preserved amongst
them.
And would have been worse if they had been men of another condition. Let none
object this is men's corruption, and nothing to the course itself. I answer,
seeing all men have this corruption in them, God in his wisdom saw another
course fitter for them...
By the time harvest was come [fall 1623], instead of famine, now God gave them
plenty, and the face of things was changed, to the rejoicing of the hearts of
many, for which they blessed God. And the effect of their particular planting
was well seen, for all had, one way and other, pretty well to bring the year
about, and some of the abler sort and more industrious had to spare, and sell
to others, so as any general want or famine hath not been amongst them since to
this day [1647].
That is as effective a refutation of socialism and
affirmation of capitalism as there has ever been. The Pilgrims were
starving, stealing and begging from the Indians under a no private
property/everybody work for the common good economy. They switch to a
private property/everybody work for themselves economy, and within one season
there is abundance for all.
But how can Lefties and Zero-Reid-Pelosi Democrats be thankful for this?
They cannot and are not. Their goal is not abundance. Their goal is
deprivation - for where there is deprivation there must be victims, victims who
can be manipulated to acquire power.
Bradford's history - the real history of Thanksgiving -
is there in plain black and white, undeniable and irrefutable for anyone to
see. It is the history that should be taught to our schoolchildren but is
not. It is ignored and denied. It likely is the very first time you
yourself have ever seen Bradford's words.
Liberals, Democrats, and members of America's
Fascist Left may very well be enjoying this day - enjoying good food, good
wine, good friends and family. Let's hope they are. We should not
begrudge them this moment of good cheer.
But what is impossible, or at least difficult for them is to enjoy being American,
being thankful for America,
to celebrate the abundance of America,
the abundance of its material and spiritual well-being thanks to the private
property capitalism that made the first Thanksgiving and all those that
followed possible.
Any celebration of theirs is always a yes...but thankfulness.
"Yes, we have much to be thankful for on this day, but
we must never forget what we did to the Indians and the slaves, that there is
still too much poverty and racism in America, blah, blah, blah..."
The purpose of Thanksgiving is to be thankful for being American. This is the
day to celebrate the goodness of our country - the moral goodness, the moral
decency of American institutions, American history, and the character of the
American people. Without any buts.
It's easy for conservatives to do this - it comes natural to us. It's the
opposite for liberals, who relish and revel in incessant guilt-mongering - and
can't celebrate a Thanksgiving with no buts.
So this day, we can relish and revel in the capitalist freedom and abundance
that Providence enabled the
Pilgrims to choose, and create America
thereby.
That freedom and abundance is today being threatened as never before by a
Fascist Left determined to destroy it. Now more than ever is the time to focus
anew on all that we love about our country, to know that Providence
has always smiled upon it - for we, like the Pilgrims have the capacity to
choose capitalist freedom over socialist slavery.
With that choice, the original Americans created a civilization out of the
wilderness. With that choice, we Americans of today can rescue our
civilization from the wilderness of the Fascist Left led by President Zero.
That choice liberates us from their power-lust and make us impervious to the
poison of anti-America hate that eats at all liberal souls. That is why
we are what they are not: grateful for our country, for the very
existence of America,
for the priceless privilege of being an American.
Happy Thanksgiving to you all.
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