From "American Thinker". So what he's saying is that William Bradford (my 12th great grandfather) started out as a communist?
In large part, the first Thanksgiving Day, which was celebrated in 1623, was a celebration of the abundance arising from the pursuit of individualism and incentives associated with free markets, amazing as that may seem.
The background for understanding Thanksgiving Day is found in records kept by the governor of the Plymouth colony, William Bradford. He informs us that the colonists' English sponsors had arranged for all crops and goods to be held "in the common stock," from which they would be supplied to each family according to its needs (sound familiar?).
As with many other recorded instances of collectivism in the history of mankind, there were disastrous results. Governor Bradford wrote that this experiment reflected a belief of his that common ownership of property would allow the colony to flourish. Instead, it was soon found that communal sharing resulted in unintended consequences. The colonists, as many others have discovered over time, found that individuals work harder within an incentive system that allows them to maintain and enjoy the fruits of their own labor.
Read more:
http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/11/thanksgiving_in_america_2011.html#ixzz1ed0PFpZf
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