Thanksgiving, we’re told, is a time to be thankful. Though that sounds very nice, it’s a bit too general for my taste. In an effort to be more specific, I like to look at Thanksgiving as a time of perspective: An occasion to think about what’s right, both with the world and with myself. Though many are thankful to a higher power, my take is a little different. I am thankful to man—specifically, to those individuals who, over the centuries, have created the countless things I need for survival and enjoyment: automobiles, plumbing, mass-produced food, medicine, electricity, extraordinary surgical procedures, computers…the list is endless. I know the names of some of those inventors, and I can see, feel and enjoy the benefits of their efforts in my daily life. There are many others I don't know about—unsung heroes who maybe never got the credit they deserved—but whose contributions to the wealth and comfort around me are clearly evident. 

The American belief that the United States is better than other countries has declined and is now on a par with countries in Western Europe. Less than 50 percent of Americans agreed with the statement, “Our people are not perfect, but our culture is superior to others,” a survey by the Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project found.

The survey found that 49 percent of Americans agreed with the statement and 46 percent disagreed, figures close to those found in Germany where 47 percent agreed with the statement and Spain where 44 percent agreed. In Britain, the number was 32 percent and France was at 27 percent.

Dr. Hurd originally wrote this article for the Association of Objectivist Business Professionals. In light of the anarchist-socialist protest of those defecating patriots known as Occupy Wall Street, it deserves rereading here.

Most people look at “business” as something separate from everything else in life, and at best, a necessary evil. Something you have to do. Or a way to make money—in a practical, but never creative, artistic or (perish the thought) moral way. If you don’t think that way, then the Association of Objectivist Business Professionals is probably for you.

There's no such thing as a "right" to something that somebody else created. In other words, there is no "right" to health care; or to a mortgage-free house; or to an iPhone, a television, or anything else for that matter.