Richard Swanson
Rush Limbaugh, that boogeyman of the radio waves, has an interesting take on the first Thanksgiving story. I read his interpretation of the historical record in “See, I Told You So,” which I purchased with some spare change at a used book sale.
I would like to share his Thanksgiving story with you because I think his interpretation is original, plausible and worthy of discussion.
Also, I just want to irk my grad school colleagues who either roll their eyes or emit foul oaths at the mention of this conservative pundit who hosts a radio talk show with an estimated 8 million listeners.
Limbaugh refers to the journal of Pilgrim leader William Bradford, who described the New England of November 1620 as a cold, barren, desolate wilderness, with no friends to greet the Pilgrims.
During that first winter, half of the 40 Pilgrims, including Bradford’s wife, died of starvation, sickness or exposure. Limbaugh notes that “when spring finally came, Indians taught the settlers how to plant corn, fish for cod and skin beavers for coats.
“Life improved for the Pilgrims, but they did not prosper!” Limbaugh asserts. He says this last point is important to understand, because it’s where modern American history lessons often end.
Limbaugh writes that Thanksgiving should not be explained as a holiday where the Pilgrims “gave thanks to the Indians for saving their lives,” but rather that it should be recognized as the day the Pilgrims expressed devout thanks to God for essentially showing them the virtues of the free enterprise system.
Now, wait. Before you laugh and call Limbaugh’s conclusion tawdry, Eurocentric, or worse, Republican, listen to his logic. According to Limbaugh, the Pilgrims had originally entered into a contract that called for everything they produced to go into a common store, and each member of the community was entitled to one common share.
And all of the land they learned and houses they built belonged to the community as well. Limbaugh quotes Bradford’s own journal in denouncing this early experiment in socialism.
“For this community was found to breed much confusion and discontent, and retard much employment that would have been to their benefit and comfort,” wrote Bradford. “For young men that were most able and fit for labor and service did repine that they should spend their time and strength to work for other men’s wives and children without recompense … that was thought injustice.”
According to Limbaugh, Bradford saved the colony by unleashing the power of the marketplace and private ownership when he assigned every family its own plot of land and permitted them to market their own crops and products.
The result was crops aplenty and feasting the following November.
Now it’s no surprise that Limbaugh, champion of capitalism, should take this spin on the Thanksgiving story. And his insistence that this version of the story be taught to every schoolchild instead of “liberal social studies claptrap” is kind of funny. But nevertheless, Limbaugh makes a perfectly lucid argument, and one that deserves consideration.
Limbaugh’s hyperbole and comical conceit don’t bother me. What bothers me is the closed-mindedness of people who I know have neither listened to his radio show, nor read his books. I’m annoyed by a hypocrisy that allows people who say they’re open-minded academics to pass blind judgment.
I disagree with Limbaugh’s cultural conservatism and I disapprove of his belittling stance on the environment, but I recognize that if a guy has 16 million ears tuned to him daily, he should be taken seriously. When I’ve listened to his radio show I’ve never heard him say anything racist or bigoted (qualities he’s been tagged with).
What one will discover is that he’s extremely knowledgeable about Washington, D.C., politics, U.S. foreign policy and world economy. He’s fascinating to listen to because he is able to spin anything to favor his conservative agenda.
If you’re aware that he’s doing this and of how he’s doing it, you’re likely to enjoy the experience and perhaps learn something at the same time.
As Limbaugh says in his introduction to “See, I Told You So”: “Prepare your mind to be challenged as it has never been challenged before. Don’t be surprised if your brain is stimulated to the point that genuine human thought takes place. This is normal for non-liberals. You are making progress