Liberty Maven

Jacob Hornberger at the The Future of Freedom Foundation wrote an article called Thanksgiving, Socialism, and the Free Market in which he tells us the true story of how he Pilgrims changed from a failed socialistic system to a free-market system to overcome mass starvation:

The story of socialism at Plymouth Rock is one that few Americans are taught in their public (i.e., government) schools. On landing at Plymouth Rock, the Pilgrims established an economic system in which all their crops would be owned in common and whose harvest would be distributed to each family in accordance with its needs. The colonists felt that such a socialist system would be consistent with their deep religious convictions.

There was one big problem, however, with this spread-the-wealth economic system: starvation. When everything was owned by everyone, people would look for excuses to avoid working in the fields and the harvests were not sufficient to keep everyone fed.

Finally, after repeated food shortages Plymouth Rock Governor William Bradford declared an end to socialism at Plymouth Rock. He announced that every family would be responsible for planting and harvesting its own crops and would be free to keep the bounty.

The result? No more starvation! Instead, a bountiful harvest and more than enough food for everyone.

And that’s what the first Thanksgiving was all about — to give thanks for the plentiful bounty that had been brought into existence through the “miracle of the market.”

Hornberger goes on to lament the fact that Obama strongly supports socialistic programs, which does not bode well for our future.  Read the whole article here.

And you can read more about the system of socialism the Pilgrims put into place (the Mayflower Compact) in this article by Chuck Muth.