Would Thanksgiving have occurred if the Northern Kentucky Area Planning Commission (NKAPC) was active in the Plymouth Settlement? I think not! Allow me to explain.

In 1620, the Mayflower set sail with 102 passengers from Europe looking for freedom. The leader of the group was William Bradford. The journey was brutal and when they landed in New England in November, they found a barren wilderness. During that first winter, half of the settlers died, including Bradford’s wife.

The next spring, the Indians taught the settlers how to farm, fish and make clothing. The Pilgrims’ lives improved slightly, but they still suffered during the following winter. This is when Bradford made a dramatic policy change on how the settlement was designed.

The initial settlement was organized in a NKAPC centralized-planning, over-regulating model they called Plymouth Agenda 21 where everything they produced was placed in a common store. Each member of the community held one common share. All the land and houses belonged to the community. The initial settlement design was a socialist structure and failed to motivate individuals to work hard. The invisible hand of self-interest was prohibited. Centralized-planning or socialism was implemented over capitalism and almost everyone died.

Bradford, now the governor of the colony, decided a new community structure was necessary. He assigned a plot of land (private property) to each family. He omitted NKAPC concepts, such as, the mother-may-I permit game, government-control of hills, mandatory walking trails, required green space on 50% of the settlers land, (Independence is fighting this crazy model today), and discarded the centrally-controlled urban-corridor model. Bradford rejected NKAPC’s over-regulating strategies and bet on the free market.

Bradford introduced a capitalistic structure that encouraged an entrepreneurial spirit and individual profits. The families were permitted to market their own crops and products as THEY saw fit, not as the NKAPC saw fit in their comprehensive plan. Previously, the socialistic structure robbed the most industrious people of their passion and incentive to excel.

Bradford wrote about his initial socialistic structure in his journal, “For this community was found to breed much confusion and discontent, and retard much employment that would have been to their benefit and comfort. For young men that were able and fit for labor and service did not repine that they should spend their time and strength to work for other men’s wives and children without any recompense…that was thought injustice.”

By unleashing private property ownership and a capitalistic structure in the colony, Bradford found, “This had very good success. For it made all hands industrious, so as much more corn was planted than otherwise would have been.” The Pilgrims produced more food than they could consume themselves, so they exchanged their goods with the Indians. The first Thanksgiving was established to thank God for His guidance and to share the fruits of capitalism with the Indians.

The success and prosperity of the Plymouth Settlement encouraged more Europeans to travel to the New World and began the “Great Puritan Migration”. Capitalism’s success encouraged other freedom-loving people to journey to America. In contrast, today, the Fisker Company received $529 million from the U.S. government to build electric cars. They decided to make the cars in Finland as the U.S. centralized-planning model and over-regulations would prevent Fisker from making money. I’m sure William Bradford is turning over in his grave.

Why aren’t our children taught the truth about Thanksgiving? The true story of Thanksgiving highlights the value of private property, capitalism, freedom, hard work and personal gain.

I firmly believe that if the NKAPC and their fetish to micro-manage private property was operational in the Plymouth Settlement, Thanksgiving would have never occurred. Plymouth would have never been the foundation of a great capitalistic nation, but simply another cemetery for socialistic ideals.

Next Article: November 25th - State Legislator To Solve Kentucky’s Dead Body Crisis

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