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Giving Thanks
Friday, November 23rd, 2007 by Admiral_Coeyman Yesterday was Thanksgiving day in the United States of America. Thanksgiving is a uniquely American holiday. Nations can be patriotic, proud, loud, regimented and any number of other adjectives. The concept that the people of a nation should be thankful is novel. It is about as novel as the idea that a nation should be governed by its people, bottom up fashion, instead of ruled by an elite at the top.
It is strange to think of government, at the top of the power pyramid, as the servant of the masses. The top of the power structure of the throne of rulers. Throughout history, governments ruled over their populations. With the European Enlightenment, hereditary monarchies were traded for councils of experts which were still monarchs in every sense of the word. Outside of the European Enlightenment, the idea of government surviving by the permission of its subjects took root and grew.
We have forgotten this. Thanksgiving is now ‘turkey day.’ The people who established thanksgiving had endured hardships, giving up many things and risking their lives to put their government on a short leash. At the end of this fight, they were thankful; even in the bad times. Generations now consider it worse being offended than to endure the yoke of oppression that their forefathers risked their lives and gave their blood to cast off.
So, my stand up philosophy for the day is to ponder if having had it too easy has made us too soft and thankless. I doubt that we could give thanks as our ancestors did when they emerged from a harsh winter having taken massive losses. Our pride is so big that we would choke at the thought of swallowing it. Could we inspire anybody to come to our aid? We now view a shortage in terms of not having enough money to buy more.
Were you honest when you gave thanks on ‘turkey day?’ Are you thankful? I was. I know what it means to go without. Can you be thankful without knowing hardships?
