« Were Saddam's 'Missing' WMD's Targeted In The Israeli Strike In Syria ? | Main | Israel 'last, best chance for the Islamic world to come to terms with the modern world' »
November 22, 2007
Thanksgiving Is A Time Of Giving Thanks For What We Have Today
Thanksgiving Day in America is a time that we offer thanks for what we have; its a time of family gatherings, holiday meals, airport delays, .... and watching football games (for those new to America - no, the Pilgrims didn't actually play football after they ate their Thanksgiving dinner). And despite what certain modern day, "victimhood"-loving, moonbat indian activists would like us to believe, Thanksgiving is about giving thanks for what we have - not what we don't have, and givng thanks for where we are today - not where our great, great, great, grandparents' cousins were or did umpteen years ago!
The first American Thanksgiving was celebrated in 1621, to commemorate the harvest reaped by the Plymouth Colony after a harsh winter. In that year Governor William Bradford proclaimed a day of thanksgiving.
The colonists celebrated it as a traditional English harvest feast, to which they invited the local Wampanoag Indians. Days of thanksgiving were celebrated throughout the colonies after fall harvests. All thirteen colonies did not, however, celebrate Thanksgiving at the same time until October 1777. George Washington was the first president to declare the holiday, in 1789.If you've ever wonder what the pilgrims and their Native American guests really ate at the first feast, the truth may surprise you. In this History.com video, you'll learn that contrary to popular belief, they didn't sit down to a meal featuring turkey, corn, cranberries, and pumpkin pie (in fact, they didn't even have forks!). The History.com video tells of some of the humble origins of Thanksgiving traditions we celebrate today and what the original celebration was actually like.
And while reflecting on the first Thanksgiving, we might all do well to do as Jim Addison suggests in his piece today at Wizbang, titled Thanksgiving and The Tragedy of the Commons. He suggests that we remember the first Thanksgiving at the Plymouth Colony was only possible because they abandoned the failed socialist model for a community and adopted property rights and responsibilities instead, and not forget the best way to create a bounty to be shared is through individual freedom and effort. (Is Hillary listening?)
Yet, let's also keep in mind that juxtaposed to the creation of resources by individual freedom and effort is this "enduring message of Thanksgiving": "No matter how independent we think we are, we couldn't survive without each other." We can all only imagine how the world would be if it embrace(d) that concept, 365 days a year.
Cross posted from Hyscience
Posted by Richard at November 22, 2007 9:30 AM
