Plymouth, MA, USA – View of historic Plymouth Rock in Plymouth, MA.
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It is very bad that the neo-communist mayors of New York and Seattle do not know the real history of Thanksgiving and the Pilgrims. The Pilgrims had to learn a hard lesson: Socialism doesn’t work.
Most of us are familiar with the legendary origin story of Thanksgiving. Little more than four centuries ago, pilgrims, fleeing religious persecution, arrived at The Mayflower at what was called Plymouth Rock. The first winter was harsh, but with the help of the local Wampanoag tribe, the survivors learned efficient farming techniques. The resulting harvest was celebrated with a feast later called Thanksgiving.
Contrary to legend, however, the harvest was not bountiful. In fact, the Plymouth colony almost collapsed. Severe food shortages and discontent were widespread. The problem, as described by the colony’s governor, William Bradford, was the system under which the colonists initially operated. Today we would call it socialism or communism. All property was shared and cultivated. There was no privately owned land. Food and clothing were distributed equally to all. Those who worked hard and efficiently did not receive more than those who lagged or did nothing. Women were assigned to do common chores, which they bitterly resented. Destitute settlers began to sell what little they had to get food. They begged the local tribe for jobs to do for “a hatful of corn.”
Then Bradford and the other leaders of the colony, who—unlike the newly elected leaders of New York and Seattle—could learn from experience, turned things around. Each family was given its own plot of land, and whatever was grown on it was theirs to do with as they saw fit. Compulsory community labor was discontinued. Within a short time, shortages turned to abundance, and soon the colony had a surplus of corn.
The Plymouth Colony experience was not unique at the time. The settlement of Jamestown in Virginia, for example, had been established as a trading enterprise financed by profit-seeking investors, yet the settlers worked in a communal shop—with equally dismal results. After what was called “the Starving Winter,” Jamestown switched to a free market system. Settlers were given plots of land of three acres, the produce of which was to be theirs after fulfilling their obligations to the communal store. Output increased. Then under conditions, the settlers could get 50 acres. Food soon became plentiful.
By unleashing human creativity and enabling people to discover and fully develop their talents, free markets produce prosperity, while socialism plunges a society into misery.
Unfortunately, the lessons of Plymouth and Jamestown—not to mention the more modern and horrific ones of the Soviet Union, Maoist China, Cuba, Venezuela, and North Korea—are lost on too many people these days. Government, the Federal Reserve, and loudmouthed leftists do not create prosperity. A society of free people does.
Let us not forget the wisdom of the Pilgrims with labor.
