“[Thanksgiving] is a producers’ holiday. The lavish meal is a symbol of the fact that
abundant consumption is the result and reward of production.” – Ayn Rand

This has been my month for internet issues. I had an outage a couple of weeks ago that took a few days to resolve. Then it recurred, and my ten-year-old DSL modem was the prime suspect, so I got a new one last Friday. No joy. Long story short, I was offline until yesterday afternoon. And, with hundreds of new emails to deal with, not to mention the cats, the shopping, etc., I haven’t prepared a Thanksgiving post. So I’ll simply direct you to last year’s post, where you’ll find some worthwhile links and a great Don Henley song for this holiday that you simply must listen to and share with your family and friends.

As for what I’m thankful for, well, there’s the CenturyLink technician who came by yesterday and eventually resolved my connectivity problem. And there’s Bibi, the sweet little cat that’s the newest member of my household (I really should tell her story one of these days).

There are my friends, who are an endless source of amusement, enlightenment, and wisdom. And my sister Margo and her husband Frank, whom I don’t talk with nearly enough, but are the only family I have (since my other sister, the liar and thief, is dead to me).

I’m thankful that my investments have grown in value even as I’ve been pulling money out to live on. And at my age, I’m thankful that I’m in pretty good health, and most things only hurt some of the time.

I’ve always been thankful that my dad, the late Col. Samuel R. Combs, adopted me, the bastard son of the Austrian woman he married, so that I could become a citizen of this greatest country on Earth.

There’s more, but that’s quite enough for now. Enjoy your turkey, your family, your football games, and the fine fall weather (if you’re in most of the country). I’m going to enjoy this wonderful fall day (sunny and a high of 72°!) by walking up to and around Washington Park while the turkey breast is in the oven. Then I’ll turn on the TV and see which teams I don’t much care about are beating which other teams I don’t much care about. (The Denver Broncos and UT Vols have both been big disappointments this season, so no thankfulness there.)

I hope you’re enjoying this wonderful holiday, and I commend to you An Objectivist Ode to Thanksgiving by Jennifer Anju Grossman, the CEO of The Atlas Society, in which she offers “a Thanksgiving prayer that can appeal to secularists and religionists alike.”

For many Americans, Thanksgiving dinner begins with a prayer.

It is a chance to hold hands, to take a pause, to give thanks. Ayn Rand, firm exponent of reason and the originator of a philosophy for living on earth, would not have approved of praying to a deity.  Yet insofar as prayer is defined by the dictionary as a “solemn request or expression of thanks to an object of worship,” she certainly would have approved of a prayerful thanks during this holiday — and she did.

In one letter to friends — a Spanish painter and his wife — she emphasizes that she and Frank (her husband) wanted the couple “to come in time for Thanksgiving, so that we will have occasion to give thanks.”

After you read the rest of that, do me—and yourself—a favor and go read The real Thanksgiving story. And in case dinner isn’t ready yet and the ball game is boring, here are some other Thanksgiving posts you might enjoy:

• 2007: This Thanksgiving, celebrate the producers — Features Debi Ghates’ wonderful explanation of what you should be thankful for and who you should thank.
• 2008: Happy Thanksgiving  — A funny/sad story about kindergarten kids celebrating Thanksgiving. It features cops and accusations of genocide.
• 2009: Thanking the producers again  — This time with lots of help from Jim Woods. Also, remembering the anniversary of the Jihadist attacks on Mumbai.
• 2010: Best wishes for Thanksgiving  — Features John Stossel’s and Fouad Ajami’s thoughts on the holiday. You might enjoy Ajami’s thoughts on our Thanksgiving cuisine.

I’ll finish with a reprise of the song I posted last year. It seems even more appropriate after all that’s happened this year. If the election results have led to tension among your Thanksgiving guests, have them listen carefully to Don Henley’s “My Thanksgiving” (from the 2000 album Inside Job). It’s the perfect song for today, and one that hopefully will help them put any concerns and disagreements into perspective.

[YouTube link]

I hope that’s as meaningful to you as it is to me.

Don Henley is probably the typical skull-full-of-mush Hollywood liberal, but he’s a pretty good songwriter and a damn fine lyricist. For proof, look no further than “My Thanksgiving” (from the 2000 album Inside Job), which is also the perfect song for today. Enjoy!

[YouTube link]

I hope that’s as meaningful to you as it is to me.

Now, do me—and yourself—a favor and go read The real Thanksgiving story.