Conservatives Rewrite Thanksgiving History
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.
Tags: Republican Crazy, Thanksgiving
Oh Dear God – The Pilgrims, that could afford the passage to the New world were Oligarchs…not farmers….they sailed at the wrong time of year to get here early enough to plant, then harvest food
The Wampoanogs, who actually had settled the area, like ALL native peoples, had communal gardens and food was shared communally.
If it wasn’t for the native people and their community foodstores and generousity, even after the English forcefully raided the native’s food stores’s (the Wampoanog STILL wonder why the starving newcomer’s didn’t just ASK for the food) the stupid, upper class Pilgrims would have starved
Bottome line, they were not planters nor farmers nor hunters…..they were gonna die
The wingnuts have a large, well funded and organized system of interlocking “charitable” foundations, policy think tanks and media outlets that serve and service each other by inventing and promoting an endless flood of cultural, economic and political agitprop.
Democrats are either not smart enough to build a similar machine, or too lazy to bother.
They are building it – the ED is Kathleen Kennedy Townsend….
and I’m hoping it will roar
Well, Jason, Howard Dean was smart enough and he built a “50-State Strategy” that actually worked. Of course, Obomba and Rahm immediately pushed Dean to the sidelines, dismantled the 50-State grassroots approach for a top-down DLC approach, and told donors not to contribute to outside groups.
How’d that workout?
Anyway, I guess the war on Thanksgiving is officially underway. Happy End of November Holiday to you!
Shorter aholeone:
“Cough, grunt, mizzlefrazzle…Obom……ZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzz………”
This is exactly the kind of thing I was aiming at in responding to kavips’ post defending Delusional David last night. The entire conservative project depends quite utterly on promulgating a narrative of the world that fits into their worldview.
Rewritten history is not a differing viewpoint — it is wrong history. Unfortunately, what conservatives know is that the first draft of current history is being reported by folks who find something *objective* in just transmitting stuff like this without context or fact checking.
Yeah, Gaffney was talking about this yesterday morning on WGOP.
The Pilgrims, that could afford the passage to the New world were Oligarchs…not farmers…
Thats almost as funny as the conservative version of Pilgrim capitalists
Anonone – you misspelled Obama
Oh wait. You were trying to say something with the misspelling. I see now. Thank jeebus I taught middle school or I’d never would have known that was on purpose.
Puns are fun!
Anyway, to the point- the pilgrims were way more progressive than today’s conservatives.