Giving thanks

This is a pretty special time for Americans. In a couple of days, it will be Thanksgiving, for many Americans the closest thing they'll have to vacation (a four-day weekend), for others, the day before Black Friday when they can go out and commit legal acts of violence to get the best deals on their Christmas shopping. It's when deer season begins in a lot of places, so you can go out and kill something. It's time to buy that much-needed symbol of a good Christian Christmas, the tree, though Christmas itself is almost a month away and will last twelve nights longer than that tree will. It's a time when we are supposed to give thanks, but when so many families can't get over their petty differences to even spend time or have a meal with one another. It's a time when far too many Americans won't really be able to afford a decent meal or a place to eat it in. It's a time when most Americans I know, who are pretty much out of touch with reality anyway, will wonder why things just can't be normal like they used to be when Norman Rockwell was their hero.

How do I know this? I see it in their actions. The really well-to-do are never heard from. They simply live their lives beyond the pale of down-and-dirty everyday life. They are the most silent, obscure, unknown group of citizens on the planet. Then there are all those who are going to have to work even though it's a holiday because their corporate overlords have deemed it unnecessary to have a holiday when there's money to be made and hordes of consumers who are willing to spend what little money they (don't) have. Then there are all those still downtrodden: the immigrants (too many illegal, of course), the massive number of unemployed (not counting people who are no longer looking for work doesn't make them not unemployed) who don't have enough to make ends meet when it's not a holiday. After all, it's their own damn fault that they have no marketable skills and are too lazy to get a job anyhow. Then there are all those tried and true, born-again-or-close-to-it Christians who wouldn't invite a homeless family in for dinner any more than they'd sacrifice their own time to go down to the local soup kitchen to maybe make even a little difference (unless you're a disgusting individual like Paul Ryan and need a photo-op). And then, there are my personal favorites, the majority of those who still think they're middle class and who deserve the holiday and who don't take kindly to people like me pointing out what hypocrites they really are.

Yes, the people I'm talking about are those who believe they deserve to have what they have to be thankful for: their "homes", their "jobs", their luxuries, their American citizenship ... all the results of their own devotion, dedication, and hard work.

How does 5% of the world's population believe it is entitled to 25% of the world's resources? Since when is a big mortgage a sign of worth? Why does one nation feel it is empowered to impose its will on others? What gives the most wasteful people on the planet the right to destroy the environment in the name of economic gain?

I really don't know. But there is one thing I do know: for those Americans who are celebrating Thanksgiving, why not give thanks for what really counts, that you were lucky enough to have been born where you are and not to have to be the victims of American thankfulness.