Apparently politics can’t rest, even for one day. Conservatives now have a new Thanksgiving history lesson – socialism caused the Pilgrims to starve and they were saved by embracing capitalism.
In an accompanying post on the Fox News website, Stossel explains that “had today’s political class been in power” on that first Thanksgiving Day, today would be “called ‘Starvation Day’ instead of Thanksgiving.”
Here’s how Stossel and the tea partiers break it down:
The Pilgrims at Plymouth Colony organized their farm economy along communal lines. The goal was to share the work and produce equally.
That’s why they nearly all starved.
According to the narrative, it wasn’t until a more capitalist structure was imposed that things really started to work. From Borowski’s FreedomWorks post:
In 1661 and 1662, the Pilgrims and Wampanoag Indians did share two meals together. But it wasn’t until the “miracle of 1663” that they celebrated a bountiful feast like we do today. As Governor William Bradford wrote that year, “instead of famine now God gave them plenty.” This was the year that Bradford switched to a more capitalist system.
In short, Borowski writes, “private property saved the Pilgrims.”
Oh, really? Historians don’t agree.
Trouble is, the Times reports, the conservative Thanksgiving tale is not exactly true. At all. From the paper:
Historians say that the settlers in Plymouth, and their supporters in England, did indeed agree to hold their property in common — William Bradford, the governor, referred to it in his writings as the “common course.” But the plan was in the interest of realizing a profit sooner, and was only intended for the short term; historians say the Pilgrims were more like shareholders in an early corporation than subjects of socialism.
Whatever the political leanings of the Pilgrims in that system, a historian tells the Times, “the arrangement did not produce famine.”
Let us all celebrate this socialistic holiday (sharing food!) and have a safe, happy & fun Thanksgiving! Don’t worry conservatives, tomorrow is the ultimate capitalist holiday.