I know a lot of people are outraged that other people chose to work today (Thanksgiving). Many of those upset people, with a sense of unearned moral superiority, started a petition to try to close down the retailers today. We can file this petition into the “busybodies file.” I don’t feel sorry for people who choose to earn a living. Armed service members, public safety workers, medical workers, restaurant staff, tow truck drivers, and grocery store clerks, among others, have all chosen occupations which sometimes requires them to work on holidays. I’m damned grateful they do, too. I put gas in the car, bought stuff at the grocery store, and went to the gym today because individuals chose to pursue profit today and my life is better for it.
Some other people think that Christmas may be too commercialized. Not me — I LOVE Black Friday because it is a celebration of abundance. The Massachusetts pilgrims were celebrating that they weren’t going to starve at the first Thanksgiving. Today, Americans have a cornucopia of inexpensive products for sale, at ridiculously low prices, many of which make their lives much better. Americans will storm stores, today and tomorrow, and snap these products off the shelf. Americans will become more prosperous because of those voluntary exchanges. I know who created that abundance, too — and I praise Him every time I realize that I’m not going to starve.
If you, like me, think Christmas is about a heckuva lot more than presents, celebrate Black Friday with the knowledge that each and every time that register rings, someone might say “Merry Christmas“– that’s a good thing. When retailers started decorating for Christmas, in October, I jumped up and down. I made sure to seek out every store manager and thank him or her, for making the birth of our Savior the focal point of his store. Every day should be a celebration of the Christ-mas in my world.
I’m thankful that people still CAN pursue profit in this country, people can CHOOSE to work on holidays, and Americans can CELEBRATE religious holidays out in the open. It wasn’t always like that in the world. America and her freedom agenda have produced the most prosperity, for the most amount of people, with the maximum amount of individual liberty, in the history of humankind…
…and I live here. That’s something for which I am grateful.
But that freedom is always under assault by the busybodies, who somehow think they can (and should) plan your life better than you might. In closing, I offer you a link to a modern day freedom fighter, Judge Andrew Napolitano and his thoughts about Thanksgiving:
What if our thanks are due primarily to the Author of our freedoms, who made us in His image and likeness, and to those who have exercised those freedoms to seek and reveal the truth? What if it is the truth, and not the government, that will keep us free?
What if we have the right to pursue happiness no matter what the government says? What if we have the right to be unique no matter what the government wants? What if the freedom to seek the truth will bring us happiness?
What if that freedom which is still ours is a just cause for a happy Thanksgiving, after all?
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Brian notes it, but I should personally mention my appreciation for all those working at Sharp Grossmont Hospital on the holiday… and all our other area hospitals, as well as the EMS workers and all others working in public safety professions. There in case we need them, all having chosen a profession they knew would likely mean working on holidays. Another group of hard working individuals I have on a long list of things and folks for which I am deeply thankful.
Great post Brian. We should be celebrating our abundance and giving thanks to our Creator. Thanks for the reminder.
We should be contemplating our collective financial and moral abyss. Your post is testimony to your lack of family values. Akin to forced labor on Sunday.
The post is actually quite creepy.
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“Akin to forced labor on Sunday.”
Can you give an example of “forced labor” in this country?
The author misses the point.
It’s not about people working Thanksgiving. That happens all the time. A lot of people work on holidays.
The point is that retailers are pushing Christmas earlier which has resulted in pushing Thanksgiving out of the way.
Some may call it a war on Thanksgiving.
The linked story from Bloomberg BNA highlights some results of an employer survey on Thanksgiving work requirements. Unfortunately, the survey itself is only available to those willing to fork over $99 for it. The story raises as many questions in my mind as it answers.
Anyway, here’s the link: http://www.bna.com/bloomberg-bna-survey-pr17179880303/
Here’s a tidbit:
“Thanksgiving work requirements have been somewhat more prevalent over the past two years than in the previous three, but holiday shifts were more common a decade ago. Thirty-seven percent of responding employers will require at least a few employees to work on Thanksgiving Day this year, about the same proportion as in 2012 (36 percent) and somewhat higher than in the previous three years (29 percent in 2011 and 2010; 28 percent in 2009). Reports of Thanksgiving work shifts consistently exceeded 40 percent from the mid-1990s through the early 2000s, reaching 48 percent in 2000 and 47 percent in 2002.”
Does anybody know the history of not working on Thanksgiving or have a link to the information?
When Profit is god…..Familys will have to work around the Slave holders.
Brian, Ill give you a clue………..Are your Freeways Tidy?……Inmate labor keeps them clean. If you cant understand this then Ill just write your name into my portfolio of The Clueless.
Brian I am heading up to the Mountains to purchase land with Cash. I am a retired County PC 830.5…….Enuff angst for today. I am retired and proud of it. See you on election night. lol
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Again AC I ask, :”Can you point to an example of forced labor today in this country”?
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“Brian, Ill give you a clue………..Are your Freeways Tidy?……Inmate labor keeps them clean”
I missed this (it must have been in moderation). That’s a much different story because an inmate’s liberty is taken or restricted by due process of law.
Can you direct me to an example where a free citizen is being forced into labor like a convicted criminal’s sentence? I’m not seeing how a convicted rapist, sentenced to a chain gang, is akin to a Wal-Mart employee who could choose to work for Chik-fil-A