Special Thanksgiving Essay

Philosophy of Abundance

Harry T. Cook

11/25/08

"When thou cuttest down thine harvest in the field, and hast forgot a sheaf, thou shalt not go again to fetch it; it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless and for the widow . . ." (Deuteronomy 24:19)

Having just finished an article about yet another prospective multi-billion dollar federal bailout -- this time of Citibank -- I turned the page of my New York Times and noticed tucked away near the bottom of a column this headline: "Farm's Open Harvest Draws 40,000 in Colorado." My spoonful of Shredded Wheat was held, poised between bowl and lip, as with amazement I scanned the story's nine terse paragraphs: On Saturday, 40,000 people, more or less, came by public invitation to the Platteville, CO, farm of Joe and Chris Miller to glean vegetables left over from the harvest -- 600,000 pounds of them -- because, as Ms. Miller said, "People obviously need food."

All that whilst federal regulators, having told Detroit automakers to fend for themselves on the way to bankruptcy with the concomitant loss of 3 million livelihoods, were fixing to come to the rescue of one of the wealthiest banks in the world. Let there be, in Bushland, no banker left behind. Unable to reach the Millers in Platteville, I inquired of a manager in a nearby supermarket what revenue that unharvested 600,000 pounds of vegetables would have brought the Millers. He said it would, of course, depend on what kind of vegetables, but if they were, say, carrots or potatoes, on the wholesale market as much as $540,000. The Millers left half a million dollars lying in their fields. Segue to Washington, D.C., as the federal government gives abundantly to the banks with one hand and stiffs the auto industry with the other. One big-time bank spokestool was quoted as saying, "Dollars are scarce resources right now." Not all that scarce as Citibank joins the supplicants at Washington's door for much more of Oliver's "some more."

What the hell?

There is, as my late father would have said, a slat loose in the floorboards. Something does not compute. Timing being everything, in a wholesale sort of kindness, the Millers opened their fields to the gleaners a few days ahead of Thanksgiving, assuring that the families of those 40,000 people and those with whom they may share their abundance will be laden, if not in every case with turkey, at least with the root vegetables that are just as important to the culinary nature of the holiday. Timing, too, I am sure, has been a calculation in all these bank bailouts as well as in the denial of help to the automakers. Those now in power realize that after noon on January 20, a new reality will have descended upon Washington. New and more egalitarian policies will be put in place while the bowls of the swells will go unfilled.

Today, the haves are getting and getting more -- much, much more than they deserve even as gleaners pick every last potato out of a Colorado field because, as Ms. Miller said, "People need food." What's wrong with this picture is hugely and obscenely obvious -- as obvious as the corporate jets and the eight-figure salaries of the hapless wonders who are driving the automobile business into the ditch at high speed, as obvious as the haughty southern Republicans in the U.S. Senate whose not-so-hidden agenda is to bury the United Auto Workers and restore cheap, low-cost wages in American factories.

Withal, it is time to pause in this madness to wish each other a good Thanksgiving holiday -- as good as it can be for as many as possible under the circumstances. I am grateful to the many readers of my essays and sermons, especially to those who write back in response, whether in praise or criticism. I hope with all of you that a year from now -- Thanksgiving 2009 -- our country, its economy and its political fortunes both here and abroad will be restored under a government that works for rather than against its citizens' best interests.

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© Copyright 2008, Harry T. Cook. All rights reserved. This article may not be used or reproduced without proper credit.