Jingle BellsAs you will all know, Christmas is coming. I wondered if anyone had an idea what ’A Friend’ might want Santa to bring and whether youd like to contribute?
Your call.
BTW KSS, youre not allowed to read this thread.
This is a discussion topic or guest posting submitted by a Stock Gumshoe reader. The content has not been edited or reviewed by Stock Gumshoe, and any opinions expressed are those of the author alone.
THE REAL STORY BEHIND THANKSGIVING
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The Great Thanksgiving Hoax
Each year at this time school children all over America are taught the official Thanksgiving story, and newspapers, radio, TV, and magazines devote vast amounts of time and space to it. It is all very colorful and fascinating.
It is also very deceiving. This official story is nothing like what really happened. It is a fairy tale, a whitewashed and sanitized collection of half-truths which divert attention away from Thanksgiving’s real meaning.
The official story has the pilgrims boarding the Mayflower, coming to America and establishing the Plymouth colony in the winter of 1620-21. This first winter is hard, and half the colonists die. But the survivors are hardworking and tenacious, and they learn new farming techniques from the Indians. The harvest of 1621 is bountiful. The Pilgrims hold a celebration, and give thanks to God. They are grateful for the wonderful new abundant land He has given them.
The official story then has the Pilgrims living more or less happily ever after, each year repeating the first Thanksgiving. Other early colonies also have hard times at first, but they soon prosper and adopt the annual tradition of giving thanks for this prosperous new land called America.
The problem with this official story is that the harvest of 1621 was not bountiful, nor were the colonists hardworking or tenacious. 1621 was a famine year and many of the colonists were lazy thieves.
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.”
In the harvest feasts of 1621 and 1622, “all had their hungry bellies filled,” but only briefly. The prevailing condition during those years was not the abundance the official story claims, it was famine and death. The first “Thanksgiving” was not so much a celebration as it was the last meal of condemned men.
But in subsequent years something changes. The harvest of 1623 was different. Suddenly, “instead of famine now God gave them plenty,” Bradford wrote, “and the face of things was changed, to the rejoicing of the hearts of many, for which they blessed God.” Thereafter, he wrote, “any general want or famine hath not been amongst them since to this day.” In fact, in 1624, so much food was produced that the colonists were able to begin exporting corn.
What happened?
After the poor harvest of 1622, writes Bradford, “they began to think how they might raise as much corn as they could, and obtain a better crop.” They began to question their form of economic organization.
This had required that “all profits & benefits that are got by trade, working, fishing, or any other means” were to be placed in the common stock of the colony, and that, “all such persons as are of this colony, are to have their meat, drink, apparel, and all provisions out of the common stock.” A person was to put into the common stock all he could, and take out only what he needed.
This “from each according to his ability, to each according to his need” was an early form of socialism, and it is why the Pilgrims were starving. Bradford writes that “young men that are most able and fit for labor and service” complained about being forced to “spend their time and strength to work for other men’s wives and children.” Also, “the strong, or man of parts, had no more in division of victuals and clothes, than he that was weak.” So the young and strong refused to work and the total amount of food produced was never adequate.
To rectify this situation, in 1623 Bradford abolished socialism. He gave each household a parcel of land and told them they could keep what they produced, or trade it away as they saw fit.
In other words, he replaced socialism with a free market, and that was the end of famines.
Many early groups of colonists set up socialist states, all with the same terrible results. At Jamestown, established in 1607, out of every shipload of settlers that arrived, less than half would survive their first twelve months in America. Most of the work was being done by only one-fifth of the men, the other four-fifths choosing to be parasites. In the winter of 1609-10, called “The Starving Time,” the population fell from five hundred to sixty.
Then the Jamestown colony was converted to a free market, and the results were every bit as dramatic as those at Plymouth. In 1614, Colony Secretary Ralph Hamor wrote that after the switch there was “plenty of food, which every man by his own industry may easily and doth procure.” He said that when the socialist system had prevailed, “we reaped not so much corn from the labors of thirty men as three men have done for themselves now.”
Before these free markets were established, the colonists had nothing for which to be thankful. They were in the same situation as Ethiopians are today, and for the same reasons. But after free markets were established, the resulting abundance was so dramatic that the annual Thanksgiving celebrations became common throughout the colonies, and in 1863, Thanksgiving became a national holiday.
Thus the real reason for Thanksgiving, deleted from the official story, is: Socialism does not work; the one and only source of abundance is free markets, and we thank God we live in a country where we can have them.
Howard- In the true spirit of Thanksgiving, how about you repost and say that your previous post was just a big lie. That way we can get Hi Pockets out of the fetal position!
This is not a thread for discussion, Joe. 🙂 See http://www.stockgumshoe.com/2014/11/microblog-club-house-for-the-discussion-of-religion-politics-and-other-unmentionables-volume-2/ near bottom of that thread.
Free markets mean free men. If I take the products of your labor and give them to someone who won’t work (say…in exchange for votes), then to at least to a degree you are a slave. I personally know people who are fit and healthy and who could work, but because of some ‘disease’ that managed to get them on the disability rolls are now living off of government largesse. Eventually there are too many people on the dole and not enough people working. We have forgotten the lesson they learned in Jamestown. I hear people criticizing capitalism (free enterprise), but quite honestly we haven’t practiced it in decades. The welfare state, corporate cronyism, fascism, socalism, etc, in a weird and toxic blend, is not free enterprise. It is this crony capitalism/socialism blend that is causing the real problems, IMO, but always the blame is thrown onto capitalism. GILD is held up as selfish and evil, but it is government that took away patent rights giving companies just a few years to recoup their cost and make a profit, and it is government that made the process so unwieldy and expensive.
Sorry = wrong thread… I have following too many and getting mixed up. Love your suggestions, Alan.
I’m in.
Alan, et al: for your consideration;
we all know how caring Dr. KSS is and that his main passion is diseases of the liver. Perhaps a way of showing our collective appreciation for what he does here, is to combine the two. I’m sure that the Doc, or a colleague of his, must have or know of a patient that requires assistance in paying their medical bills associated with the treatment of a liver related disease or possibly to help defer the cost of a liver transplant, etc. My suggestion would be to contribute to fund set up for this purpose. What better way of doing good than by improving someones quality of life or minimize their financial burden ?
I just put this idea out there for your thoughts.
There is another way of handling this – check out GoFundMe.com.
That seems to be an ideal way of handling this suggestion Stephen.
would a donation of time or money to the liver association make sense given the expertise of the doc?
In US
http://www.liverfoundation.org/
http://go.liverfoundation.org/site/PageNavigator/2014_rfr_main.html
In Canada
http://www.liver.ca/
In UK
http://www.childliverdisease.org/
http://www.liver-research.org.uk/liver-research-donations/donation.html
http://www.britishlivertrust.org.uk/
All excellent ideas. But the game is changed from collective to individual action….Im suggesting that YOU do something/anything that you can be proud of, in KSS’s name. Even take the grandkids fishing or to a museum AND FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE, LISTEN TO THEM WITHOUT PREACHING YOUR WORLDS RULES. Ask them what they think instead of telling them what to think (if nothing else, their parents will be grateful for the break and you may be given pause for thought). Those children will make this worlds future and it cannot just be by repeating what we have done if its to move forward…..see Einsteins comment on the definition of madness. Encourage their imagination and free thinking so that they can begin to put right the mess we are bequeathing them.
It matters not a jot what you do, so long as you can sign the card with pride in what you have done.
I would call that P(3) or p cubed. Piercing, practical, and positive. Well done Alan.
Better late than never, I’m IN.
Arriving late to the discussion, but very much IN. Thanks very much indeed, Alan (the Greater), for your creativity in finding an excellent solution for how to proceed in the latter portion of you post #38. I especially like the idea of each of us telling KSS not just what we’ve received from him, but also (concisely) letting him know what we have done as an act of personal generosity *inspired by him*. No monetary value mentioned, and not at all to blow our own horns. Even more that our appreciation, I think KSS would be very pleased to see the range of our actions his generosity has inspired. No need to mention to mention any money (or none) involved, just the act.
Alan (the lesser)—aka steviMT
Alan,
See what happens when you have too much time on your hands. You have made an excellent idea come to life! You have also surprised me with your ability to cut and paste! Great job…. Just kidding!
I will visit a children’s hospital to try a cheer them up for a hour! It really saddens me to see them going through their ordeals at this time of year!
I have a friend that has lost 2 of his 3 boys to lukiemia! If it was not for the Ronald MacDonald’s house, he said he would not have made it through their hard times!
Best wishes for all the tummies over the holidays! Be safe and keep an eye out for the special needs of others!
Cheers!
JI
Yeah, a little late to the party(me) but I have been researching saphris LOL . Thanks Dr. Kss . I am long as of today and up about $100, so of course I would love to contribute. As an aside, It’s not really about the money Dr. Kss. He has helped me in other ways, with the education I get from his/her columns, keeping me up with Biochem and Healthcare and introspection. My suggestion would be to let Dr. Kss have the proceeds and do whatever he wants to with it, and most likely would be a charitable contribution, but that would be his decision. My contribution would be to him.
And youll send it to what address?
For KSS: Over the past year, you have continually enriched my life with the selfless gifts embedded in your outstanding series of Gumshoe articles and steady stream of “heads up” and “course correction” posts, but more so by the unparalleled compassion and generosity inherent in your timely and responsive answers to numerous calls for assistance from irregulars who have experienced significant challenges in their lives due to personal or family medical problems. Inspired by your exemplary self-giving, I have made a donation in your honor to St. Jude’s Research Hospital.
For Alan Harris: Thank you for orchestrating this Jingles tribute! Will someone cut and paste my Post #52 into the “card” that you have referred to in earlier posts – or is there some action that I need to take to make that happen ??
I am not sure where the whole thing stands. I echo Alan P’s thoughts (post 51) as to how Dr.KSS has impacted me . If there is a “card” it should paraphrase those thoughts as well.
There will be a card v shortly , Its drawn but I just need to tweak it and colour it in. I will post a reminder and link on EVERY current thread to prompt you all. Everyone will have the opportunity to post their greeting and say what they have been inspired to do in his name. But for heavens sake……Ill shoot the first person that asks for his advice on a ticker there. Its a Christmas card dammit!
OK all….the time has come to send your greetings see http://www.stockgumshoe.com/2014/12/microblog-happy-christmas-dr-kss-from-all-us-gummies/