THE TRUE STORY OF THANKSGIVING Did you know that the story of Thanksgiving is truly a tale of the triumph of capitalism over collectivism? The true story of Thanksgiving has been retold many times. The following version is excellent and was authored by Dr. Milton Wolf, originally published in the Washington Times: The Plymouth colonists were socialists before socialism was cool. They entered into a contract with one another and a finance company called Merchant Adventurers to create an egalitarian commune in which their wealth, food in particular, would be collectively stored and redistributed equally among members. This was the forebear of the modern-day American counterculture collectivist commune or even Israels more mainstream kibbutz, which survive on government subsidies. Equality is put before freedom or even productivity. To his dismay, Bradford quickly discovered the fundamental flaw of collectivism: its perverse incentive to be less productive. The strong, young men of their commune, he noted, should have been their most productive members, but they resented being assigned extra work that benefited another mans family, so they refused. The less productive members, believing someone else would provide for them, had little incentive to improve their ways, so they didnt. And who can blame any of them? At this point, the statist would seek government intervention. When, for example, in the 20th century Joseph Stalin collectivized the Soviet Unions farms under the guise of freeing the peasant farmer, it required a small army of overseers to force the farmers to actually farm the collectivized kolkhozy. With little incentive to be productive, farmers were known to cut every corner they could. Theyd leave rotting vegetables among the good, which hastened the entire crops spoilage. Theyd plow their fields only deep enough to fool inspectors, but not enough to be suitable for optimal crop production. Stalins answer was to unleash even more overseers, but it was never enough, and each inspector represented a man who otherwise might be farming. The result: On some of the most fertile land on Earth, a man-made famine contributed to about 11 million deaths. Back to our Pilgrims. Bradford had a much simpler and effective solution: free-market capitalism. Instead of guaranteeing equal results to each family, he guaranteed equal protection under the law. He carved up the land and gave plots not to the collective, but instead to each individual family. Private property is, of course, the basis of capitalism, and with it, the profit motive is the oxygen that ignites a firestorm of productivity. In short order, the colonists not only escaped the threat of starvation, but, as their newly incentivized creativity and industry were unleashed, began a new era of prosperity. Instead of being dependent on others, they produced more food than they could possibly consume and soon began trading with American Indians and other colonists, which itself unleashed a second wave of prosperity. This turnaround was monumental. When they first arrived, Bradford was hardly some right-wing ideologue. He initially believed, as liberals do today, that their collective colony would make them happy and flourishing - as if they were wiser than God but he soon learned the reality that collectivism was found to breed much confusion and discontent, and retard much employment that would have been to their benefit and comfort. The same holds true today. The fundamental flaws of collectivism may be easier to mask within a group of 310 million than a group of 100 - at least temporarily - but ultimately, its harsh reality is every bit as inescapable. Still today, some of our misguided contemporaries agitate for collectivized health care, higher education or anything else that would destine us to repeat those early tragedies at Plymouth, the more recent ones of Stalin or even the Israeli kibbutz. Instead, lets take this time to relearn the complete lesson of the first Thanksgiving: Charity is noble, and capitalism works. Lets teach it to our children. And lets give our thanks for the prosperous United States
Posted on: Fri, 29 Nov 2013 14:13:44 +0000
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015