Thanksgiving
Another year passed. One down, who knows how many more to go.
I thought about this a lot last night and decided to get busy with some things I hope to accomplish before I become nourishment for the area flora and fauna. At some point today, I’ll be making that list, checking it twice and getting busy. No time to waste.
Last year, I made some comments about being thankful for things, things I’m still thankful for, hoping for peace and for people to consider just how foul the poultry industry really is. The Thanksgiving myth is of course constructed around a big lie, but once again, I’ll put on my necktie, attend the family dinner and be a good boy. No point in ruining the day for the people that worked hard to prepare a meal for quiet a large family.
I’ve sort of rediscovered this tie and jacket thing. My grandmother always taught me to “look my best,” and I do believe it’s kind of sad how so many people wear ragged, tacky looking clothing to invited dinners. It signifies an overall lack of respect in our society. Few people write hand written thank you notes. Open doors for people. Walk in-between the street and the young lady that is accompanying you. Standing when a lady enters the room. Yeah, I know that’s old fashioned Jimmy Stewart stuff, but it’s nice, and I think we should get back to it.
But back to the Thanksgiving myth and why I just keep my mouth shut. No one wants to hear the truth anyway. No one wants to hear that Thanksgiving and Christmas are based on a couple of whoppers, the latter one being perhaps the biggest whopper of all time. My dad’s tall tales from his imaginary youth come close, but still can’t match The Mystery of Faith.
The entire nation is in a perpetual state of denial. Denial about our genocidal history, capitalism, freedom fighting and all that democracy spreading. For most of us, it starts in elementary and Sunday school, where we’re force fed a daily dose of jingoistic non-sense. Resist and you’ll likely find yourself being force fed a pediatric pharmaceutical cocktail and sent to a special place for troubled kids.
My youngest son recently experienced this when he refused to say the pledge for Key Club. It reads as follows:
I pledge, on my honor,
to uphold the Objects of Key Club International;
to build my home, school and community;
to serve my nation and God;
and combat all forces which tend to undermine these institutions
I supported him in his refusal, since neither of us are too keen on “serving god,” and “serving your nation” is really just club speak for sycophantic support for the government and all the evil shit it does on a daily basis. And seeing how we’re pretty much both aligned with the forces that are attempting to undermine those institutions, well, the pledge just wasn’t going to work for us.
I applaud my son for standing up and having the balls to accept being ostracized for his carefully researched and well founded beliefs. If we could just get a few million more to wake up and do the same thing.