Posted by Richard on November 22, 2007
UPDATE (Thanksgiving, 2008): Thanks for stopping by. After you read this post and The real Thanksgiving story, don’t miss this year’s funny/sad Thanksgiving story! It’s about kindergarten kids celebrating Thanksgiving. And it features cops and accusations of genocide.
UPDATE (Thanksgiving, 2009): This year, with lots of help from Jim Woods, I again thanked the producers. And remembered the anniversary of the Jihadist attacks on Mumbai. Please check it out.
Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you have a wonderful day with family, friends, food, and football. But before you leave your PC for the festivities, please read Debi Ghate’s wonderful explanation of what you should be thankful for and who you should thank (bold added, italics in original):
What should we really be celebrating on Thanksgiving?
Ayn Rand described Thanksgiving as “a typically American holiday … its essential, secular meaning is a celebration of successful production. It is a producers’ holiday. The lavish meal is a symbol of the fact that abundant consumption is the result and reward of production.”
She was right. This country was mostly uninhabited and wild when our forefathers began to develop the land and build spectacular cities, shaping what is now the wealthiest nation in the world.
It’s the American spirit to overcome challenges, create great achievements, and enjoy prosperity. We uniquely recognize that production leads to wealth and that we must dedicate ourselves to the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness.
It’s no accident that Americans have a holiday called Thanksgiving — a yearly tradition when we pause to appreciate the “bountiful harvest” we’ve reaped.
What is today’s version of the “bountiful harvest”? It’s the affluence and success we’ve gained. It’s the cars, houses and vacations we enjoy.
It’s the life-saving medicines we rely on, the stock portfolios we build, the beautiful clothes we buy and the safe, clean streets we live on. It’s the good life.
How did we get this “bountiful harvest”? Ask any hard-working American; it sure wasn’t by the “grace of God.” It didn’t grow on a fabled “money tree.”
We created it by working hard, by desiring the best money can buy and by wanting excellence for ourselves and our loved ones. What we don’t create ourselves, we trade value for value with those who have the goods and services we need, such as our stockbrokers, hairdressers and doctors.
We alone are responsible for our wealth. We are the producers and Thanksgiving is our holiday.
So, on Thanksgiving, why don’t we thank ourselves and those producers who make the good life possible?
From a young age, we are bombarded with messages designed to undermine our confident pursuit of values: “Be humble,” “You can’t know what’s good for yourself,” “It’s better to give than receive,” and above all “Don’t be selfish!”
We are scolded not to take more than “our share” — whether it is of corporate profits, electricity or pie. We are taught that altruism — selfless concern for others — is the moral ideal. We are taught to sacrifice for strangers, who have no claim to our hard-earned wealth. We are taught to kneel rather than reach for the sky.
But, morally, one should reach for the sky. One should recognize that the corporate profits, electricity or pie was earned through one’s production — and savor its consumption.
Every decision one makes, from what career to pursue to whom to call a friend, should be guided by what will best advance one’s rational goals, interests and, ultimately, one’s life. One should take pride in being rationally selfish — one’s life and happiness depend on it.
Thanksgiving is the perfect time to recognize what we are truly grateful for, to appreciate and celebrate the fruits of our labor: our wealth, health, relationships and material things — all the values we most selfishly cherish.
We should thank researchers who have made certain cancers beatable, gourmet chefs at our favorite restaurants, authors whose books made us rethink our lives, financiers who developed revolutionary investment strategies and entrepreneurs who created fabulous online stores.
We should thank ourselves and those individuals who make our lives more comfortable and enjoyable — those who help us live the much-coveted American dream.
As you sit down to your sumptuous Thanksgiving dinner served on your best china, think of all the talented individuals whose innovation and inventiveness made possible the products you are enjoying.
As you look around at who you’ve chosen to spend your day with — those you’ve chosen to love — thank yourself for everything you have done to make this moment possible.
It’s a time to selfishly and proudly say: “I earned this.”
Debi Ghate is Vice-President of Academic Programs at the Ayn Rand Institute in Irvine, California.
Amen.
As for the Thanksgiving lesson to be learned from the history of the Plymouth colony, it’s an economics lesson. I provided a pretty good account (if I do say so myself) last year, with plenty of quotes from Governor William Bradford’s Of Plimoth Plantation. John Stossel wrote a shorter summary of the same lesson this year, which I encourage you to read, too. Even though mine’s better. 🙂
Enjoy your Thanksgiving dinner. And remember to thank the producers who made it possible — including yourself!
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: economics, human rights, pilgrims, property rights, socialism, thanksgiving | 4 Comments »
Posted by Richard on May 27, 2007
Hugo Chavez has taken another big step toward turning Venezuela into a commie police state. He's shut down the most popular television station in the country (with a 40% market share), Radio Caracas Television, for being openly critical of his increasingly vicious and dictatorial regime. Hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans have rallied in protest, but Chavez is sending tanks and troops against them.
Publius Pundit has lots of info, links, and pictures — including many pictures of lovely Venezuelan protest babes, in the Publius Pundit tradition, which would be a lot more enjoyable if the news were less grim. Warning: the page is slow to load due to the many pictures. But it's worth it. There's a roundup of editorial reaction around the world (with links), which noted that condemnation of Chavez spanned the political spectrum — even the ultra-lefty Le Monde condemned Chavez.
Gateway Pundit has later info, including pictures of government troops using water cannons and tear gas on the demonstrators.
Free RCTV has a chilling short film by journalists concerned about freedom of expression. It includes footage of Chavez that reveals him as a cross between Castro, Stalin, and the homeless raving lunatic you cross the street to avoid.
Visit Free RCTV (a project of the Human Rights Foundation) and send a protest letter to the Venezuelan embassy. You can edit the proposed content, and I suggest you do so. For instance, change "my concern" to "my outrage." Click the logo below.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: censorship, chavez, free speech, human rights, journalism, socialism, totalitarianism | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Richard on January 3, 2007
Ever wonder what interests the leaders of Iran are pursuing when they aren’t occupied with the construction of more centrifuges to hasten the day they have nuclear weapons?
Well, for one thing, they seem interested in historical research — with a rather revisionist bent. MEMRI has posted translated excerpts of a Dec. 28 interview with Mohammad Ali Ramin, Iranian Presidential Advisor, who discussed what the Iranian historical research discovered about Hitler’s Jewish parents and powerful Jewish associates (I’m not making this up):
"Adolf Hitler himself developed an aversion to Judaism because his mother was a Jewish whore. …
"Thus… Hitler simultaneously developed both feelings of solidarity with Judaism and feelings of hatred towards it, and this emotional ambivalence shaped his behavior towards the Jews. On the one hand, his entire family, the people who shared his views, and his associates who brought him into power and stood by him to the last – including his lovers and his personal doctor – were [all] Jewish. On the other hand, he welcomed the policy of expelling the Jews from Central Europe for two other reasons: Firstly, the establishment of a Jewish government in Palestine was an aspiration of the rich and influential Jews who surrounded him. Secondly, exiling the Jews from Europe and Germany was a general and historical demand of the Western Christian nations. With the full support of the British, and in coordination with them, Hitler addressed this general demand and [thereby] managed to gain widespread popularity in Europe. Obviously, publishing writings and information of this sort is forbidden in Germany and in the West…
(Hat tip to Yoni the blogger, who really needs to learn to provide links to the sources he cites.)
In addition to researching the past, the Iranian government is also very interested in predicting the future. A Ynetnews story recently drew attention to an Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) web page entitled "The World Toward Illumination." A series of posts over the past two months discuss the return of the Twelfth Imam, or Mahdi. The Dec. 11 update said he may be returning soon, and he’ll be heading for Jerusalem:
A triumphal religious prophecy has appeared on an Iranian official state media website, heralding the return of the Shiite messiah.
According to the website, "Imam Mahdi (may God hasten his reappearance) will appear all of a sudden on the world scene with a voice from the skies announcing his reappearance at the holy Ka’ba in Mecca."
…"After his appearance the Imam would remain in Mecca for some time, and then go to Medina… a descendant of the Prophet’s archenemy Abu Sofyan will seize Syria and attack Iraq and the Hejaz with the ferocity of a beast… finally Imam Mahdi sends troops who kill the Sofyani in Beit ol-Moqaddas (Jerusalem), the Islamic holy city in Palestine that is currently under occupation of the Zionists," the IRIB added.
…‘The World Towards Illumination’ series cites some Islamic sources as saying that the Mahdi’s return "may coincide with the Spring Equinox…
If you’ve ever wondered why many on the left seem oddly unconcerned about and even sympathetic toward the Islamists, read more of that IRIB page and you’ll begin to see. The latest (Dec. 25) update, for instance, sounds like a mixture of Marxism and National Socialism with mystical flourishes:
… The cold and calculating domineering powers impose on the weaker nations, the methods of production, consumption and technology that are to the benefit of capitalists. In the weird system of today’s powerful counties, moral and spiritual values have no place and are seen as undesirable liabilities that prevent these powers from reaching economic welfare and what they call true prosperity. However, the exploitation of the weak, the unjust system of distribution and denial of the rights of nations, will end with the reappearance of Imam Mahdi (AS). In the government of the Imam man will witness real economic welfare throughout the world without any discrimination. The main issue in his global government is carrying out social justice and one of the main products of social justice is a highly developed economy that leads to the blossoming of moral and spiritual values as emphasized by the dynamic teachings of Islam. According to narrations, justice revives the dynamics of the shari’a or religious rulings. The Prophet’s 6th infallible successor, Imam Ja’far Sadeq (PBUH) says people will be needless when justice governs their life.
In the ideal society of Imam Mahdi (AS), justice will be materialized. Elements for production and economic prosperity will increase and people will witness the full development of the Islamic society. … Imam Mahdi’s educational system will mould man’s personality and morality toward sublimity and create conditions throughout the world that will lead man to abstain from any extravagance and overuse or waste of natural resources. Thus the environment and its resources will remain immune from destruction and pollution. In the economic field, people will have complete mutual trust and conclude deals without the exchange of economic documents, and no infraction will be committed in these deals.
Anti-capitalism, one world government, wealth redistribution, social justice, environmentalism — this Mahdi is the average leftist’s wet dream. Well, except for those bothersome quirks like stoning adulterers and homosexuals, forbidding everything remotely fun and pleasurable, and treating women as chattel. But the average post-modern enviro-socialist has more in common with Ahmadinejad and his pals than first meets the eye, and probably thinks (incorrectly) that their differences could be resolved by talking.
As for the Mahdi returning in a few months and heading for Jerusalem, I can’t help but wonder if he might be wearing one of these:
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: hitler, iran, islamofascism, islamonazism, jihad, socialism | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Richard on November 23, 2006
UPDATE (Thanksgiving, 2007): Welcome to all of you who found this post via Google, Ask.com, etc. I hope you appreciate the true story of Thanksgiving and the important lesson it teaches us. I’ve provided plenty of links if you want to follow up further. Please check out my new Thanksgiving post, which features Debi Ghates’ wonderful explanation of what you should be thankful for and who you should thank.
UPDATE (Thanksgiving, 2008): Welcome again, “real Thanksgiving story” searchers. After you read this post and last year’s, check out this year’s funny/sad Thanksgiving story! It’s about kindergarten kids celebrating Thanksgiving. And it features cops and accusations of genocide.
UPDATE (Thanksgiving, 2009): This year, with lots of help from Jim Woods, I again thanked the producers. And remembered the anniversary of the Jihadist attacks on Mumbai. Please check it out.
Happy Thanksgiving! May you enjoy lots of food, lots of football, and lots of fun with family and friends on this day. But before you push away from the PC and belly up to the banquet table, please take a few minutes to read this story about the Pilgrims — it’s probably not the one you’ve heard.
Two competing Thanksgiving stories are commonly told these days. The first is the traditional one I was taught as a child: The Pilgrims suffered through a terrible first winter at Plymouth, but with hard work and the help of the friendly Massasoit Indians, they had a bountiful harvest in 1621 and held a thanksgiving celebration with their Indian friends. Happy celebrations of sharing and giving thanks for God’s bounty came to be repeated every year and throughout the colonies.
The second version, apparently widely taught for the past 30 years or so, differs a bit. In it, the wisdom, kindness, and generosity of the Indigenous Peoples is the only reason that any of the stupid white Europeans survived and had food with which to celebrate. The Pilgrims soon repaid their benefactors by slaughtering them. Barbarous treatment of gentle natives and gleeful celebrations of their genocide came to be repeated frequently and throughout the colonies.
Both versions are false, of course. The real story is available straight from the horse’s mouth. Colony Governor William Bradford’s Of Plimoth Plantation provides a complete history. You can download the entire book (8 MB PDF) from Dr. Ted Hildebrand’s Gordon College website. The Mises Institute’s Gary Galles used quotes from Bradford to put together a good summary. The first two Thanksgivings were rather grim, and for two and a half years, the colony endured not only hardship and hunger, but also conflict and strife:
The Pilgrims’ unhappiness was caused by their system of common property (not adopted, as often asserted, from their religious convictions, but required against their will by the colony’s sponsors). The fruits of each person’s efforts went to the community, and each received a share from the common wealth. This caused severe strains among the members, as Colony Governor William Bradford recorded:
” . . . the young men . . . did repine that they should spend their time and strength to work for other men’s wives and children without any recompense. The strong . . . had not more in division . . . 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 victuals, clothes, etc . . . thought it some indignity and disrespect unto them. And the 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.”
Bradford summarized the effects of their common property system:
“For this community of property (so far as it went) was found to breed much confusion and discontentment and retard much employment that would have been to their benefit and comfort . . . all being to have alike, and all to do alike . . . if it did not cut off those relations that God hath set amongst men, yet it did at least much diminish and take off the mutual respects that should be preserved amongst them.”
How did the Pilgrims move from this dysfunctional system to the situation we try to emulate in our family gatherings? In the spring of 1623, they decided to let people produce for their own benefit:
“All their victuals were spent . . . 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 . . . the Governor (with the advice of the chiefest among them) gave way that they should set corn every man for his own particular, and in that regard trust to themselves. . . . And so assigned to every family a parcel of land . . . “
The results were dramatic:
“This had very good success, for it made all hands very industrious, so as much more corn was planted than otherwise 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 would allege weakness and inability, whom to have compelled would have been thought great tyranny and oppression.”
That was quite a change from their previous situation, where severe whippings had been resorted to as an inducement to more labor effort, with little success other than in creating discontent.
The Mises Institute also has a Richard Maybury version of the story that’s worth reading. Maybury quoted Bradford acknowledging another terrible consequence of the communal system — it encouraged dishonesty as well as indolence:
In his ‘History of Plymouth Plantation,’ the governor of the colony, William Bradford, reported that the colonists went hungry for years, because they refused to work in the fields. They preferred instead to steal food. He says the colony was riddled with “corruption,” and with “confusion and discontent.” The crops were small because “much was stolen both by night and day, before it became scarce eatable.”
The Hoover Institution has a much longer account (with more of an economic historian’s perspective) by Tom Bethell, with details of how “the communal experiment” came to be and how it worked (or didn’t). And the Independent Institute’s Ben Powell wrote a good short article that nicely summarized the lesson of Plymouth Plantation:
We are direct beneficiaries of the economics lesson the pilgrims learned in 1623. Today we have a much better developed and well-defined set of property rights. Our economic system offers incentives for us—in the form of prices and profits—to coordinate our individual behavior for the mutual benefit of all; even those we may not personally know.
It is customary in many families to “give thanks to the hands that prepared this feast” during the Thanksgiving dinner blessing. Perhaps we should also be thankful for the millions of other hands that helped get the dinner to the table: the grocer who sold us the turkey, the truck driver who delivered it to the store, and the farmer who raised it all contributed to our Thanksgiving dinner because our economic system rewards them. That’s the real lesson of Thanksgiving. The economic incentives provided by private competitive markets where people are left free to make their own choices make bountiful feasts possible.
And for that, I’m extremely thankful. Now, when’s that turkey going to be ready?
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: economics, human rights, pilgrims, property rights, socialism, thanksgiving | 4 Comments »
