Thanksgiving Has Arrived

Nov 27, 2024

As a nation, we appear at odds with a national holiday that is supposed to be a time to reflect and give thanks for all that we have.

For our founders, that first list of thanksgiving was pretty short: food, shelter and a fighting chance to live another year.

The First Thanksgiving, 1621 by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris (1863-1930) is a stylized depiction of how that first celebration might have looked. In all likelihood, the attendees were considerably more bedraggled than this. But their thanksgiving was inarguable.

But they were thankful. Unlike many of us.

The spirit of thanksgiving appears to have been dulled by the ingratitude borne of having had too-much for entirely too-long.

Boredom breeds dissatisfaction. If you’re bored at your life situation, here’s a suggestion: put on your $1000 designer yoga workout clothes and go sleep outside without anything to eat for a couple of days. Think of it as extreme intermittent fasting (you can convince people to try almost any ridiculous idea if you stick “extreme” on it).

You may find your perspective changing.

As one of those people who likely has more time expired than remaining, I am thankful -without the need to do anything extreme or intermittent. I’m thankful for our home, my family, my health and you.

Yep, I’m thankful for each and every one of you. Even when you complain.

Without you, I’d probably be working to keep a job as the “Worst Greeter-Ever-At Walmart.” There aren’t a lot of gainful employment opportunities for those of us who are no longer youngsters.

Times change. And we’re headed for changes in the months ahead. And as we used to say as kids, “ready or not, here I come.”

This isn’t a political essay, but it is a hopeful thought or two from someone who has been around long enough to remember when politicians didn’t call voters “garbage” or “a basket of deplorable.” Or presidents didn’t do, say, or advocate conduct that would get a nine-year old a mouth full of soap and a butt-whipping.

No breathless speculation on what those changes will mean as #45 becomes #47 and #46 totters off into his sunset. But I do realize there’s a good chance the rest of Washington’s institutionalized and entrenched power structure may be roiled, if not reshaped.

No matter which side of the political aisle you occupy, you have to at least suspect a change in the way Washington conducts business to be a good thing. Shaking up an entrenched bureaucracy that has inverted the way government is supposed to work is a good thing.

For years, the bureaucrats have simply hunkered down and waited out their elected bosses. Along the way our governmental operating system has ballooned from 5,000 words (the Constitution) to innumerable pages today. The United States Government Manual, which is only a listing of the “agencies of the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government” is 997 pages long. That’s not the operating manual, it’s just the guide to the agencies.

If you’re looking for a piece of reading that will demonstrate how the complexity of today’s system works against the citizenry — and the rule of law — I’d suggest Over Ruled by Associate Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch. The full title “Over Ruled: The Human Toll of Too Much Law” tells the story. Justice Gorsuch lays out — in human terms — how today’s convoluted legal and regulatory systems work contrary to the rule of law and enable bureaucracies to grind up individual citizens via confusion, obfuscation and overreach.

In “Over Ruled: The Human Toll of Too Much Law” Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch uses real people to tell the true toll of today’s convoluted legal system.

The rule of law? It’s the “principle under which all persons, institutions, and entities are accountable to laws that are: Publicly promulgated. Equally enforced. Independently adjudicated. And consistent with international human rights principles.”

Getting the federal government off our collective backs and/or back to a manageable size couldn’t be a bad thing, unless your enterprise is dependent on federal dollars. If it is, maybe it needs a little belt-tightening, too.

But I’m off-topic. Today is the day before our national day of Thanksgiving. Not the time to open a can of political worms — for any of us.

As we head into this holiday, I wish you something that’s scarce much of the time: peace.

As part of that wish, I hope you’ll take time to look around your world for people around you who are hurting. If there are, I pray you’ll do something to help.

Sometimes, all that requires is a kind word. If it takes more, and you’re capable, I hope you will do more.

And as always, thank you for being part of our extended wire family.

From our families to each of yours, best wishes for a blessed Thanksgiving and happy holiday season.

As always, we’ll keep you posted.

— Jim Shepherd