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At this time
of the year when most of us have a lot more to be thankful for than we
realize, (count your Blessings) let us all say a small prayer for those among
us who have not been so fortunate. I would also like to take this opportunity
to examine that first THANKSGIVING and to reflect upon a few lessons that
might be learned from a few little-known details about the Pilgrims who first
came to the New World and founded our great country.
The history books have it
partially right, for a change, in describing the Pilgrim's first harvest in
1620 as being exceedingly meager indeed, only to be followed by a miserable
winter. It is also true that without a great deal of help and compassion from
nearby Native Americans, they would not have survived that first winter. The
only thing that they had to be thankful for was that the neighboring Indians
helped them instead of killing them. Nor did they have any better luck their
second year as their harvest in 1621 was not much better than their first.
Nevertheless, again with the help of the Indians, they held that first
Thanksgiving Day Feast we all learned about as children and still celebrate
to this very day. However, it was only after their third failed harvest that
the situation changed.
Let us now examine that little-known
part of the story that most of us either never knew or have completely
forgotten. Their third harvest in 1622 was so bad that it came to the point
where the remaining Pilgrims faced starvation. Why? How could this have
happened, especially since their neighboring Indians friends had a bountiful
harvest? The answer may surprise you as well as most historians who don't
fully understand economics. During their first three years, the Pilgrims
practiced "farming in common" or better known as "Socialism"
or "Communism". They were all idealists who believed in equality
and came to the new world not only in search of religious freedom, but to get
away from what they considered to be the "dog eat dog" world of
17th century England. "Each according to his need, not according to his
deed" was their Socialist Manifesto: Preceding Karl Marx by nearly 100
years. The farmland belonged to the colony, and so did all the food. Portions
were rationed out equally regardless of their respective inputs or responsibilities
during the year. The situation had gotten so bad and the animosity had become
so acrimonious that, in the spring of 1623, the Pilgrims realized that they
had to make a drastic change. They decided to allocate individual plots of
land to each of the families and members of the colony to own outright. In
turn, the owners were then individually responsible for their own property
and what it produced.
Hopefully you know or can
guess the outcome of their experiment in private property, private ownership
and individual responsibility, also known as "Capitalism". The
harvest in 1623 was abundantly plentiful and that was the actual year when
the Pilgrims themselves first set aside a special day of Thanksgiving to God.
Little did they know then as most clergy of every denomination and religion
still don't know to this very day, that the economics of the Bible is
Capitalism. In a few short years, under a capitalistic system, the colony
became exceedingly prosperous and produced in such great abundance that it
was way beyond their own needs, so that they were then in a position to begin
trading their surplus. They considered it to be miraculous. With the benefit
of hindsight, what they had discovered was the miraculous results of private
ownership and free markets. They were, without realizing it, following in
God's ways as they had originally set out to do.
THANKSGIVING is the one time
during the year when we should be reflecting on God's greatest gift to
mankind and that is his freedom to choose. Free Market Capitalism is the only
system that is not a zero sum game; not only can it create wealth for the
common man, but also gives him the opportunity to improve his lot in life.
It's only through FREE MARKET principles can we solve all of our most
pressing problems. At this time of the year, perhaps we might also reflect on
God's Covenant with Abraham whereby we inherited the obligation of spreading
GOD'S WORD, of Individual Freedom, Individual Responsibility and Individual
Charity, throughout the world. SPREADING FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY IS EVERYONE'S
INDIVIDUAL AS WELL AS COLLECTIVE RESPONSIBILITY. It is only in granting
FREEDOM to others that we can Guarantee Freedom to ourselves.
In the middle of the Civil
War, prompted by a series of editorials written by Sarah Josepha Hale, the
last of which appeared in the September 1863 issue of Godey's Lady's Book,
President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national Thanksgiving Day to be
celebrated on the last Thursday in November 1863.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING
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