It seems clear that we have been challenged to live in interesting times, but whatever the nature of the days we’re in, it seems to me that there is nevertheless much to give thanks for. To all of you from all of us here at Baseball Prospectus, here’s hoping you enjoy the holiday with family, friends, and/or loved ones, with the freedom to enjoy the full spirit of the season.
Let's take this opportunity to give thanks to Governeur Morris, Andrew Jackson, and all the other brave North Americans who secured this continent for European culture. Without them, we might have never gotten to enjoy baseball.
Wow, that's a brave thing to say. Aren't Hitler, Stalin, and the IRA part of European culture? Did the native cultures of America not have some positive things to add to our culture? moccasins? canoes? jewelry design? corn? (We won't mention smoking.) I wonder what was wiped out that we could have be enjoying today.
I think Vilica's comments were meant to be facetious. I believe that they were in reference to Christina's comment"...with the freedom to enjoy the full spirit of the season."
Just to clarify, TonyMollica is correct. Happy thanksgiving to everyone, enjoy being with your families and such, but take a second to remember at whose expense this continent was founded.
Thanks to those Europeans, North America no longer has sports arenas decorated with the heads of sacrifice victims. Whatever did become of that old world charm?
You guys are awesome, I even got the FJM-style made up stats response. Just wanted to see what the BP community felt about this issue - glad to see we got some responses from both sides of the spectrum. I myself am pretty much indifferent - since the Native Americans claimed land by right of conquest, they essentially have to recognize the legitimacy of European conquest of North America - but I feel that it's an issue that's largely glossed over every thanksgiving, and one that deserves more attention.
Okay, I'll get "serious" for a moment. (Although the Popocateptl forecast is quite an upset!) Homo sapiens has been murdering its own kind for 10,000's of yrs before our historical record. From the behavior of other primates, it is evident that mass violence of this kind is hard-wired into us. Somehow, though, we have recently evolved some new traits, perhaps the result of "keeping score" (a historical record). The same thinking that allows us to normalize baseball records & compare players over time also allows us to examine other past actions critically. That the Five Nations fought against each other doesn't justify subsequent European genocide. At some point we must take collective stock of our common human history, draw some logical conclusions and try to make progress. A nihilist or religious fatalist will not agree with this thinking--but then those are creeds dominated by emotion. So, yes, Chris Kahrl is right--in giving thanks we should reflect on what we're doing on earth.
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Well said Christina. Happy Thanksgiving to you as well!