Five years ago in my Thanksgiving
message, I explained that I eagerly awaited the
Wednesday-before-Thanksgiving Wall Street Journal almost as eagerly as
the Thanksgiving Day turkey and stuffing. Well, almost, but not quite.
But I do look forward each Thanksgiving eve to the
Journal’s reprinting on its editorial page of the very same two lead pieces
that have appeared each year since 1961. The first, “The Desolate Wilderness,” is a chronicle,
based on the account of William Bradford, of the Pilgrims taking leave of the
port of Delftshaven in 1620, crossing the Atlantic, and settling in Plymouth
Colony.
Of the Pilgrims’ journey, William Bradford's account ends
this way:
“Besides, what could they see but a
hideous and desolate wilderness, full of wilde beasts and wilde men? and what
multitudes of them there were, they then knew not: for which way soever they
turned their eyes (save upward to Heaven) they could have but little solace or
content in respect of any outward object; for summer being ended, all things
stand in appearance with a weatherbeaten face, and the whole country, full of
woods and thickets, represented a wild and savage hew. If they looked behind
them, there was a mighty ocean they had passed, and was now as a main bar or
gulph to separate them from all the civil parts of the world.”
The second, “And the Fair Land,” written by long-time WSJ
editor Vermont Royster, ends this way:
"But we can all remind ourselves that the richness of
this country was not born in the resources of the earth, though they be
plentiful, but in the men that took its measure. For that reminder is
everywhere -- in the cities, towns, farms, roads, factories, homes, hospitals,
schools that spread everywhere over that wilderness. We can remind ourselves
that for all our social discord we yet remain the longest enduring society of
free men governing themselves without benefit of kings or dictators. Being so,
we are the marvel and the mystery of the world, for that enduring liberty is no
less a blessing than the abundance of the earth. And we might remind ourselves
also, that if those men setting out from Delftshaven had been daunted by the
troubles they saw around them, then we could not this autumn be thankful for a
fair land."
When these two pieces are read together – and at our
Thanksgiving meal we usually read aloud "The Desolate Wilderness"
before cutting the turkey – and when we consider America's journey from the land
with "a wild and savage hew" in 1620 to the "fair land"
described by Vermont Royster in 1961, it is evident we have much for which to be
thankful.
It is worth reminding ourselves, and perhaps particularly so
after a closely contested election, that, as Vermont Royster said, "for
all our social discord we yet remain the longest enduring society of free men
governing themselves without benefit of kings or dictators."
If the idea of
America is about anything, it is about the aspiration of those who inhabit our
land to live in freedom under the rule of law, not under the rule of men. This
is not to say that the reality of America has always lived up to the idea of America. It obviously hasn't.
But that should not detract from the fact that the
Pilgrims who landed at Plymouth Rock did not come to America primarily seeking
riches; they came seeking individual freedom – freedom to worship, speak, and
think as they pleased. And most of those who have followed the first Pilgrims
to our shores have not come primarily seeking riches; most have come seeking the
freedom that America offers, and the opportunity for personal fulfillment that individual
liberty provides.
For me, Thanksgiving is a holiday, of course, for giving
thanks for America’s bounty. But it is also a holiday for celebrating, and
giving thanks for, the freedom we enjoy, as a self-governing people, under our
constitutional system of limited government, separated powers, and checks and
balances.
So, as we celebrate this Thanksgiving, it is worth
remembering Ronald Reagan’s injunction:
"Freedom is never more than one generation away from
extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be
fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we
will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children
what it was once like in the United States where men were free."
At the Free State Foundation, we are thankful that we live
in a land – unlike many lands around the world – where we are free to advocate
the principles in which we believe: limited government, free markets, property
rights, the rule of law, and especially, in the context of much of our work in
the communications law and policy field, free speech guaranteed by the First
Amendment.
As you enjoy your Thanksgiving holiday, we want you to
know we are grateful for your support for our work, and, most of all, for your
friendship.
Posts
