Well, it's Thanksgiving Eve. Time to put aside for a moment thoughts about the digital revolution and count our blessings.
Every year on Thanksgiving Eve the Wall Street Journal reprises the editorial, "And the Fair Land," which first ran in the same space in 1961. It's well worth reading in its entirety, but if pressed for time, consider only this as something for which to be grateful: "We can remind ourselves that for all our social discord we yet remain the longest enduring society of free men governing themselves without benefit of kings or dictators. Being so, we are the marvel and the mystery of the world, for that enduring liberty is no less a blessing than the abundance of the earth."
When my kids were young, I always tore out the piece from the WSJ on Wednesday and then read it at the Thanksgiving table on Thursday before starting the meal. Early on, of course, my children thought it was a pretty silly thing to do. But we kept up the tradition, and, now, when they are home for Thanksgiving, they expect the reading. And I think they would even be disappointed if I didn't unfurl the rumpled copy from my pocket before serving the turkey.
And come to think of it, the digital revolution, which we here at PFF spend so much time thinking about, does empower us--if accompanied by sound policy--in a freedom-enhancing way. Creating an environment in which all the new communications technologies enhance our ability to speak out freely and conduct a rational civil discourse gives us a better shot at "remain[ing] the longest enduring society of free men governing themselves without benefit of kings or dictators."
Well, Happy Thanksgiving to all.