In addition to the video, the transcript is also available at the link.
The Miracle of America
from
axes and hoes to high technology;
log cabins to air-conditioned condos;
horsedrawn wagons to autos, planes, and rockets;
scarcity to abundance; &
from tyrannical government rule to individual liberty
HOW DID IT ALL BEGIN?
Most of our history books don’t tell us that, in the beginning, the pilgrims established a communal economic system. Each was to produce according to his ability and contribute his production to a common storehouse from which each was to draw according to his need.
The assurance that they would be fed from the common store, regardless of their contribution to it, had a peculiarly disabling effect on the colonists. Taking property away from some and giving it to others bred discontent and retarded employment. Human nature was the same then as now, and before long, there were more consumers than there were producers, and the pilgrims were near starvation. Governor Bradford, his advisors, and the colonists agreed that in order to increase their crops, each family would be allowed to do as it pleased with whatever it produced. In other words, a free market system was established. In Governor Bradford’s own words:
“This had very good success; for it made all hands very industrious, so as much more corne was planted than other waise would have bene by any means ye Governor or any other could use, and saved him a great deall of trouble, and gave farr better contente. The women now wente willingly into ye field, and tooke their little-ons with them to set corne, which before would aledg weaknes, and inabilitie; whom to have compelled would have bene though great tiranie and oppression. . . . By this time harvest was come, and instead of famine, now God gave them plenty, and the face of things was changed. . . . and some of ye abler sort and more industrious had to spare, and sell to others, so as any generall wante or famine hath not been amongst them since this day . . . .” (Wm. Bradford, “Of Plimoth Plantation,” original manuscript, Wright & Potter, Boston, 1901)
Those who, today, favor central government planning, common ownership and redistribution of the earnings of others are advocating a system that Americans tried and rejected over 350 years ago. Their wisdom gave birth to the great American miracle!
Are we as wise today?
You Can Do Something About This!
(This message originally published in the mid-1980’s by Stedman Corporation’s Government Affairs & Free Enterprise Education Program – a former NC textile firm. )
Let me share something ...
Years ago guests from the Soviet Union were staying for dinner at my home. One of the older women had been a member of the Communist Party in the former USSR - which was an honor and a sought after position.
She wanted to know how we (Americans) came up with what we charged for commercial goods. I tried to explain that every person or company charges what they wanted - - and threw in a few things about the invisible hand, supply and demand etc... She didn't get it - it didn't make any sense to her. Wish you had been there LS... But here's the funny part: When asked about pricing in the USSR she explained they took a Sears catalog and translated the dollar prices into rubles. No accounting for labor cost or resources or anything that might change the cost... just a translation.
BFL
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We need more citizen historians challenging the progressives dominance of history in easy to understand ways.
If we don't put an end to the false history that the statists have constructed over the last 100+ years, America is finished.
"He who controls the past controls the future. He who controls the present controls the past" - George Orwell (No conservative, BTW)
Terrific, LS! I’m sending the link to several “moderates” I know!
That’s a great video, thank you Larry and thank you EveningStar for the post.
One of the problems at Jamestown was that the first wave of colonists in 1607 were not cut out for the hard work of carving a colony out of the Virginia countryside. They were not tough blue collar men. They were largely the second sons of a primogeniture gentry seeking to enrich themselves. They thought that they would find gold and they wasted their time looking for it.
They planted the colony in a swampy section of the James river. The river was filled with fish, and had they had the sense and ability to catch them they could have eaten well. But they didn’t. Nor did they have the knowledge of how to plant the crops that they would need, and build the shelter to protect them from the weather. So between a lack of food, a lack of shelter and malaria courtesy of their swampy environment they died in huge numbers. Only 38 of the original 144 lived to see the second year.
The few that survived were put under martial law by Captain James Smith in order that they might survive. It wasn’t really socialism, it was martial law with the survivors forced to live like a military company. Everyone was ordered to spend time farming and building shelter. Unfortunately Captain Smith was badly injured in a gunpowder accident and was forced to return to England. Conditions worsened, the winter of 1609-1610 was the worst of all, the Starving Time. One colonist resorted to cannibalism.
More English colonists arrived along with supplies. What really saved the colony was a small group of Polish workmen who knew how to do practical things like build houses. The unsung heroes of Jamestown.
The colony was a financial failure and the Virginia Company went bankrupt in 1624, just four years after the Pilgrims stopped for a beer run up at Plymouth thinking that they had landed in Virginia. That bunch really did try the commune thing from the start, having learned nothing from the preceding dozen years of experience down in Jamestown. Yankees.
Very nice! I’ll have my older kids watch this as soon as I get home. Thanks for posting!
-PJ
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