First we’d like to extend a simple, sincere wish for our readers and their families, and all their friends and communities: good food, good health, pleasant company, maybe a few drinks in good fellowship, and better prospects for the days ahead.
As we gather around tables filled with good warm food let us not forget the unemployed, the poor and the homeless, the soldiers and sailors far from home toiling in danger and unimaginable stress. And let’s be thankful for the many volunteers who serve food to the hungry and help veterans and military families, those who care for the sick and the wounded, and let’s give what we can to support their generosity.
What are we thankful for this Thanksgiving Day? Admittedly this time ’round a long list does not spring instantly to mind. But with a little imagination and effort we find that as usual there’s more to be grateful for than first meets the eye. AlterNet lists “8 Things Progressives Can Be Thankful For.” A list published by New Deal 2.0 of “What 20 Leading Progressives Are Thankful For” yields a mostly disappointing collection of gripes disguised as gratitude. They’re clearly not in the mood. Understandably.
We can do better. We’re thankful for the often unsung efforts of many writers, reporters, bloggers, activists, and organizers who get out there and dig into what’s going on and spread the word and mobilize efforts to promote the good and oppose the bad. (Specific example: the bloggers, writers, activists, and just good people who attend the annual Rising Tide conference in New Orleans every August 29 or so, on the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.)
After the midterm shellacking we posted a long list of positive, public-friendly legislation (thanks to The Rachel Maddow Show) that the Democrats in the 111th Congress accomplished but forgot to tell the public about before the election. We’re thankful for these laws and reforms—including the infrastructure-friendly Stimulus—and we will keep pushing for more like them, although our hopes are not high for the next Congress.
We’re grateful too that despite all the setbacks public and private—and in some cases prompted by adversity—the human spirit prevails, the determination to endure and improve. Although some despair, thousands, millions of individuals are not giving up. Instead they’re working harder, trying new approaches, helping others, volunteering in often small, modest, invisible but effective ways to make this a better nation, a better world. We’re with you.
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