Turkeys and turkeys
John Stossel at Real Clear Politics reflects on the lost lessons of Thanksgiving.
When the Pilgrims first settled the Plymouth Colony, they organized their farm economy along communal lines. The goal was to share everything equally, work and produce.
They nearly all starved.
He then goes on to describe America's near miss with the Tragedy of the Commons. But as Crazy Marzouk, one of the commenters on this site would say, "that's not a Belmont Club post!". Well this one is more like it: a video on how to prepare a Thanksgiving Dinner for under ten bucks. (Hat tip: Glenn Reynolds)
Nothing follows. Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving.
posted by wretchardthecat at 11/21/2007 03:46:00 PM
20 Comments:
On this Thanksgiving day, let us enjoy the bounty God has provided us and give Him thanks. And ask Him for the grace to appreciate the blessings we have been given: life, liberty and a nation that presents us the freedom to pursue our happiness.
Is there any more pumpkin pie?
Indeed, better safe than sorry!
Be Prepared!
(pdf)
Does Australia celebrate Thanksgiving? I think Canada has a Thanksgiving on its calendar, but I hadn't realized it had spread overseas since no one else had Pilgrims or Indians.
There are some analogous celebrations in Australia, (http://www.thanksgiving-day.org/celebration-australia.html), but they're not the same thing. There are some private celebrations, but the general public does not observe it.
Wasn't it Captain John Smith who then embraced the free market with the words "He that will not work, will not eat"?
And a few words of inspiration.
http://tinyurl.com/3cvwqt
I can't vouch for the provenance of this article but I'm thankful if it's true. Getting Islamists to blow up just themselves is a step in the right direction.
http://tinyurl.com/2pxrjs
RTT News
RealTimeTraders.com
One Of The Most-Wanted Pakistani Militant Leaders Killed
7/24/2007 2:49:17 PM
Abdullah Mehsud, one of the most-wanted rebel leaders in Pakistan, killed himself Tuesday after being cornered by Pakistani security forces.
According to reports, Mehsud was caught as he was returning to Pakistan from Afghanistan's Helmand province. Security forces trailed Mehsud for three days before surrounding him and three other men in the home of an Islamist politician in the Pakistani town of Zhob. However, rather than surrender to security forces, Mehsud instead killed himself with a hand grenade. None of the security forces were injured in the blast.
Mehsud had been held at Guantanamo Bay as a terror suspect from December 2001 to March 2004. Why he was released was unclear, but after his release he took up arms with other Pakistani militants and allied himself with the Taliban and al-Qaida. He was wanted for the 2004 kidnapping of two Chinese engineers and his defiance made him a hero in the eyes of his followers.
Mehsud's death was seen as a boost for Pakistani officials. They had come under recent pressure from the US to crack down on violence perpetrated by Taliban and al-Qaida militants.
If I were a Native American, I'd be mourning too, but alone, I quess, as nowhere else where there Pilgrims or natives.
Pilgrims!, let's be grim about this, and admit openly, the only good injun is a dead injun. The Celestial City awaits! Advance, ho!
Prepare the smallpox blankets.
Ol' General Amhearst was the greatest injun hater of them all.
de las Casas
Speaking about the indigs a little to the south, las Casas said that any native from now to the end of time has the right to kill any European on sight if he wants to, after what he witnessed.
Ol' General Amherst and the Smallpox Blankets
WMD
The Nose On Your Face Debunks Myths About The First Thanksgiving
A Seattle school district recently sent a letter to parents pointing out that Thanksgiving was a “difficult time” for Native Americans, and encouraging them to explore alternative celebration methods that might be sensitive to those who don’t view the holiday as a festive time.
[Left wing Oyate website]
Oyate Fact:
No one knows when the “first” thanksgiving occurred… To refer to the harvest feast of 1621 as “The First Thanksgiving” disappears Indian peoples in the eyes of non-Native children.
[TNOYF Satire]
…a first Thanksgiving is a very personal event. The first one I remember was in 1977 at my grandparents’ house. I was six years old and it was awesome. Uncle Rich was really in the holiday spirit, even though he’d just gotten out of jail. He locked himself in the pantry with the turkey, saying he was going to “introduce the bird to Uncle Rich’s bird.” Aunt Tina told Uncle Rich that she was going to call his parole officer if he didn’t hand the turkey over right away. When Rich finally came out without his pants, he jumped on the table and yelled, “Who wants to pull Uncle Rich’s wishbone?”
See: TNOYF Debunks myths about first Thanksgiving
See: leftwing site, Deconstructing the Myths of The First Thanksgiving
Behind every national celebration is the story of the losing side's defeat. There was once a pre-Islamic Arabia. There were once Neanderthals. There was once the Dreamtime in Australia. So what do we do now?
The Left says keep up the war. Remember the wounds. Well OK. Let's replace Thanksgiving Day with the National Day of Mourning for the Victims of Totalitarianism. Let think about how they did the Ukranians. And the Chechens. And the Poles. And all the nationalities in the Soviet Empire. Then we can start on the victims in China. And Cambodia. Or the killing fields in the Philippines.
Nobody can stop the Left from deconstructing what are after all, myths. Fair enough. So let's deconstruct everything. Leave not a stone on a stone.
Happy May First. Happy Sham Worker's Paradise Day.
Well, hell, we could tell a fair account of the truth of it, learn from it and go on in a better manner, and try to build something better out of it. After all, murder is murder, not that all the injuns were beautiful primatives. Just a little truth in conquest.
I suppose the problem was that the Pilgrims were living their lives as they thought the Bible taught them to. I recommend reading Acts:4-5.in order to understand what they were trying to achieve. I guess what people are now trying to say is that the Pilgrims were misguided in following Biblical teaching and should have instead been following the one true Prophet of God, Milton Friedman. Of course that begs the question, if Milton Friedman really is the true Word of God, why doesn’t more of his philosophy appear in the Bible?
When the Pilgrims first settled the Plymouth Colony, they organized their farm economy along communal lines. The goal was to share everything equally, work and produce.
They nearly all starved.
He then goes on to describe America's near miss with the Tragedy of the Commons. But as Crazy Marzouk, one of the commenters on this site would say, "that's not a Belmont Club post!"
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The Phillipines has a Tragedy of the Commons story to it as well that you have told. Its not a religious story. Its a story about how people profoundly misjudge human nature to their detriment.
Kevin said...
I suppose the problem was that the Pilgrims were living their lives as they thought the Bible taught them to. I recommend reading Acts:4-5.in order to understand what they were trying to achieve.
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That didn't last long.
Jesus himself spent a lot of time talking about money. The old testatment is full of business transactions.
In the USA today the Amish come closest to Acts:4-5. They engage in a lot of community based projects. But they are very thrifty with their money. And they are often prosperous.
It is one thing to build into the character of a people the notion of generosity and community spirit and quite another to abolish individual initiative and responsibility in favor of the collective hive.
I knew a couple of students in college who were from Egypt. As Thanksgiving approached one year I remarked that the holiday must be a new experience for them.
They said that, no, they had celebrated Thanksgiving back in Egypt, too.
I was surprised, and asked them why Egypt would celebrate such a uniquely Amercian holiday.
They replied "The Americans ran almost everything in Egypt. When they took a day off, everyone else pretty much had to as well."
In any case I don't imagine that Arabs needed a lot of urging to take yet another day off. And, after all, those guys had fled Egypt after Nasser had come to power and things got a little too Russian.
But this Thanksgiving let us give thanks for American Cultural Imperialism. It is the hope of the world.
"if Milton Friedman really is the true Word of God, why doesn’t more of his philosophy appear in the Bible?"
---
Milton's days on Earth came long after the Bible had already been written.
Nevertheless, his vision is eternal.
Clayton Cramer, who is absolutely no friend of collectivism, nevertheless thinks that Stossel got it fairly wrong this time.
Dang! Wretchard quoted me!? I recall the story of a similar failed effort at communism by the Mormons led by Joseph Smith. It was abandoned and replaced with a capitalist mindset.
I wish you all a belated happy Thanksgiving.
Salaam eleikum Y'all
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