New Yorkers recently elected an outspoken self described socialist, Zohran Mamdani, as the next mayor of New York City. He campaigned on increasing the role of government.

Have Americans forgotten the true story of Thanksgiving? The lesson is largely about the failures of socialism. So, here is that history lesson from 400 years ago. Please teach it to your children and grandchildren.

In 1620, the pilgrims came to America to escape religious persecution, find freedom, and a better way of life. The brave families who sailed to America wanted so badly to no longer live in poverty, that they risked everything to come here.

The Pilgrims organized themselves into a political entity, a colony, where everyone worked for the good of the whole colony. Everyone’s work was donated because it was “For the Greater Good.” Essentially they were a commune where the fruits of one’s labor was turned over to government.

Colony Governor William Bradford wrote in his diary: “By 1623, it became clear this system was not working. The men were not eager to work in the fields, since if they worked hard, they would have to share their produce with everyone else. People who had formerly been known for their virtue and hard work became lazy and unproductive. Resources were squandered, vegetables were allowed to rot on the ground and people were starving.” Some of the colonists died of disease or starvation.

Dr Paul Jehle, director of the Plymouth Rock Foundation explains; “In modern terminology, within the first century of our nation’s existence, the Pilgrims, followed by the Puritans, experimented with the forced common ownership of property, price controls, and minimum wage laws. The result was a documented, dismal failure of such practices. The Pilgrims and then their larger Puritan neighbors discovered by experience that the free market, taught in the Scriptures, was the best system, only to have it threatened again by the mercantile trade laws of George III beginning in 1760-the result of which was our War for Independence.”

John Stossel; “Private property protects us from what economists call the tragedy of the commons. The ‘commons’ is a shared resource. That means it’s really owned by no one, and no one person has much incentive to protect it or develop it. When property rights are tossed aside, even for the sake of religious fellowship or in the name of the working class, people just don’t work as hard.”

Rush Limbaugh: “One of the most important legacies of early American settlers is that they experimented with socialism in the 1620s, and it didn’t work. Socialism does not work. The one and only source of abundance is free markets” It would appear that Ugandan born NYC mayor elect Zohran Mamdani never listened to Rush Limbaugh.

The colony thrived once a new economic plan based on Free Market Trade and Private Property ownership was adopted. It was one of the world’s most important lessons in the shortcomings of a socialist society.

This was the beginning of the American Free Market System that made our country the strongest economy in the world.

DiLorenzo writes in his book How Capitalism Saved America; “On the eve of the American Revolution, capitalism had made the American colonists wealthier, taller, and in better health than their British counterparts.”

Lessons learned from the Pilgrims experiment;

Collectivism violates the laws of human nature. It takes away motivation, pride and initiative. It has always failed. Always. It failed in 1620. It failed the Soviet Union in the 70s and 80s with a starving population. It failed Haiti and Cuba. It failed New Zealand in the 1980s. North Korea and Venezuela will not celebrate abundance this year.

Free Market Economies create wealth and raise everyone’s standard of living. Just compare Argentina prior to 2023 as a socialist country, and today with President Javier Milei transforming the country into a thriving free market with a smaller government.

Here in Missouri, we must keep a vigilant eye that we do not slip further toward a collectivist economy by such great sounding programs as TIFFs, Economic Development, Economic Stimulus, Eminent Domain, Shovel Ready Jobs, Clean Energy, Public/Private Partnerships.

All those programs are based on the central planning concept that failed the Pilgrim colonists — that you shall give your money and assets “for the general good of the colony”

The Missouri State Legislature convenes in January. We must hold those elected accountable to the principles that Made America Great.

We must not let the Republic slip away.