Happy Thanksgiving

Freedom from Want

Thanksgiving ... time to wax nostalgic. With all the harsh words and dastardly deeds swirling around the world these days, we all need to look back on easier times to get a little perspective on our current situation. I use the term "easier" with a little irony for Norman Rockwell painted the above picture "Freedom from Want" in 1942 ... during the darkest days of World War II ... see: Freedom from Want. However, fighting a global war on two fronts against known foes was a piece of cake when compared to what is now called "asymmetric warfare" against possibly millions of anarchists and Jihadists both at home and abroad.

In 1942 Americans were actually lucky to be able to put on a feast like Rockwell depicted above ... because each family had ration books that had little stamps allowing them to buy groceries, gasoline, tires, etc. (Although I was quite young, I still remember the constraints placed on our lives by these ration books ... see: National WW2 Museum Entry.) However, what we then lacked in material goods we made up with good sense. We, as a nation, were pulling together to save the world from tyranny. Yes, there was some griping and back biting, but underneath it all we had a common purpose and ethos.

Only with the actual freedom from want that has washed over our nation during the last seventy years have major dislocations occurred. Greed has too often replaced charity. Hedonism has too often replaced faith. Hubris has too often replaced humility. Ostentation has too often replaced modesty. Reticence has too often replaced valor. And we unfortunately view many of these trade-offs as progress and modernity.

So, to me, it is not too surprising when large swaths of the world revolt against these moral excesses by becoming religious zealots. But like most societal sea changes, charlatans are often the first to take up the flag and lead these revolutionaries to evil ends. But, at least in the United States, I believe there is still an undercurrent of virtue and nobility that needs to be recognized and reawakened ... for else I fear we are doomed.

Therefore, when we choose our next leader, this person should be able to encourage this renewal in us ... at the very least. For that then we could be truly thankful.