Rep. Todd Akin: The Pilgrims Came To America To Flee ‘Unbiblical’ Socialism In The 1620's

[Mass]

The party of know-nothing

http://thinkprogress.org/2010/11/25/todd-akin-pilgrims-socialism/ (video at the link)

Rep. Todd Akin: The Pilgrims Came To America To Flee ‘Unbiblical’ Socialism In The 1620′s

Today, millions of Americans celebrate Thanksgiving with their families. To mark this holiday, Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO) took to the floor of the House of Representatives on Tuesday to explain its history. At one point, he opined, “It might be helpful to think back and say there’s more to Thanksgiving than the Pilgrims.” He explained that they were “a group of people who were willing to change the system, to think of different ideas.” Akin continued, “They came here with the idea that after trying socialism that it wasn’t going to work. They realized that it was unbiblical, that it was a form of theft, so they pitched socialism out. They learned that in the 1620s”:

AKIN: It might be helpful to think back and say, there’s more to Thanksgiving than the Pilgrims. They were a group of people who were willing to change the system, to think of different ideas. They came here and separated civil and church governments. They came here and created the model of a written constitution, the idea that the government should be the servant of the people. <…> They came here with the idea that after trying socialism that it wasn’t going to work. They realized that it was unbiblical, that it was a form of theft, so they pitched socialism out. They learned that in the early 1620’s.
...
The real reason the Pilgrims came to the New World was to flee religious persecution. Thanksgiving is based around remembrance of the tale of how, in 1621, Native Americans helped the Pilgrims at Plymouth Colony survive harsh conditions by sharing their food with them. In other words, Thanksgiving is a parable about how people should take care of eachother and not just look out for themselves.

[GoCubsGo]

1. So...

Government-sanctioned religion=socialism? Because, the state religion was the one doing the persecuting. I guess Akin missed that part. Idiot.

[RandomThoughts]

2. He makes the assumption that a billionair earns or owns his money.

Not something that can be shown, unless he believes first in another system that distributes that money without any question of that system.

His frame of reference is that capitalism is flawless and that where it gives money, is money that should be given, from that he can create in his mind a though of theft on that topic.


When he is willing to make shoplifting by the poor legal, and a few other things, then he can make the argument that extream wealth does not need to be regulated.


Maybe government helping people is because people like him wont do it, ever think of that?

Although I do agree there are many problems in government that can be fixed, as with the private sector.

[S_E_Fudd]

3. This is dangerous...

These people are literally trying to rewrite our history to validate their current world view. Meanwhile they are taking over school boards and boards of education all over the country to try and get this viiew inserted into textbooks used by our kids...

This is an effort we have not done enough to combat. Eventually this view gets into the media and pretty soon the truth is portrayed as the lie...

[rurallib]

6. "those who control the present control the past. Those who control the past control the future"

1984 I believe

[madmax]

10. By George,

I believe you are correct ;)

[rasputin1952]

4. Another moron...

The Pilgrims, under the Mayflower Compact were set upon aiding each other, and for the first 50 or so years were about as socialist as a group could get, They consistently depended upon the aid of others, and that which was obtained was divided among those in the "order". They also practiced free sex and often had abortions, which were quite common at the time. This guy is a moran...and historically befuddled by his own perception of history that has nothing to do w/reality.

For the record, they didn't wear buckled shoes and fancy duds except on important occasions, they wore buckskin clothes, far more available and and realistic for the area they settled, and Thanksgiving dinner most likely had no turkey, but consisted of various stored grains and what they could get from they sea, eels, lobster, shellfish, etc.
Add venison, raccoon, squirrel, perhaps bear and some small birds then the meal makes a lot more sense.

Someone should tell him to sit down and study a little bit before mouthing off at what he perceives to be history and turns out to be little more than some cranked up junk that came down the pike after it was decided some revision was necessary to cast the Pilgrims in a light far different than reality.

[glowing]

7. There are wild turkeys in New England. They may have had a turkey.

But more than likely they would try for a higher ended value like a deer or bear.. more usage from a larger animal.

[rasputin1952]

14. Yes indeed, turkey was plentiful at the time...

I suppose that turkey would have been on the menu, but far from being the "main" dish. Too easy to just go out pick up lobsters in the shallows...lobster w/o a LOT of butter would have been a little drab though...:P

In fact, turkey, (farm bred) didn't come into wide spread use until the turn of the 19th century. Duck and other game birds would also have been pretty common. I'm figuring there was a lot of cornbread as well, far easier to bake than other forms of bread. All things considered, they could have had quite the feast, and they most certainly owe their survival to the locals...something that was pushed aside a few years later...what happened after that was a sordid tale of history as the indigenous people were killed by disease and an enemy that would not see the humanity before them...:(

[Jennicut]

16. We are inundated with wild turkeys here in New England. I have had to stop my car countless times

for those goofy birds to cross the road. This is in northwestern Connecticut. Ever since I moved up here 8 years ago from central CT I see these turkeys everywhere. I am sure with the wilderness of CT and Mass still very much intact back then they had easy access to turkeys and other birds. But you are correct, they wouldn't feed a ton of people. Deer seems much more likely.

[rasputin1952]

20. We have them out here in Nebraska as well...

lot's of them...:D

They have got to be the dumbest bird alive...we also have a lot of pheasant. I miss the East Coast, (born and bred in NYC), and hope to get back there soon...:)

[Yavin4]

27. There's a Lot of Wild Turkey in my hood as well

[bluescribbler]

21. It's easier to bag a deer than a turkey

Wild turkeys are smart birds.

[fascisthunter]

9. if it weren't for socialism we wouldn't be alive

Socialism dates back to tribalism where everyone pitched in and worked as a tribe. These morons are tearing this country and society apart over ignorance, greed and hatred.

[Bluerthanblue]

13. very well said- and quite true!

as a decendent of one of the "pilgrims" who fled from Scrooby to Amsterdam, and then to Leyden, Netherlands "community" and the collective good was not only important to them, it was essential to their survival- The pilgrims formed a "covenant" which bound them together.

""The Covenant gave rights to every individual who made up the 'separating' church. This meant that the congregation would accept no authority, ecclesiastical or civil, above the decisions at which they had arrived by mutual consent. Their ideas were motivated, not by a desire to create a democracy, but by their interpretation of what church organization should be, as revealed in the New Testament. Their church organization, however, became the model for every other aspect of their corporate existence. The Covenant was, therefore, the model which the Pilgrims followed in creating the Mayflower Compact which would eventually become an important document in the development of a free society in New England and beyond."
from:
- Pilgrims Then & Now, Gary L. Marks

:thumbsup:

[RBInMaine]

17. The pilgrims were virtually "communists" living very communal, working together, helping each other.

In fact, their first home, as I recall, was one large building where they all lived together. (About 100 came. In the first winter, about half died. Without help from the Indians going forward, they would probably have been wiped out entirely. This is why about 100 Indians were invited to the first Thanksgiving. Geese, ducks, and very possibly wild turkeys were part of the feast which lasted three days. Certainly deer meat was a major entree.)

[rucky]

5. And the award for "Most Ridiculous Revisionism" in 2010 goes to... n/t

[Skink]

8. All those Monarchs in Europe were quite nice and Socialistic.

[Cosmocat]

29. Socialism as a concept did not exist until the last 1800s ...

the sad thing is that this twit, a friggen congressman, probably does in fact not even know WTF he is talking about ...

[madmax]

11. Today, millions of Americans celebrate Thanksgiving with their families.

If they aren't working for the corporate slave masters. Oh, but that's another story.

Carry on Todd, you 'moran'.

[fascisthunter]

12. without socialism, mankind would have died off by now.

what do think think tribalism was???? Stupid assholes watch too much John Wayne shit... rugged individualism my ass.

[RBInMaine]

15. Fleeing Socialism? What kind of a fucking nut is this guy? But, that's where we are.

[Botany]

18. King James the 1st of England was a socialist didn't you know?

And you thought merry old England of the 1600s was a Monarchy?
Silly rabbit.

[old mark]

19. The Pilgrims left Europe because the "normal" people there could no longer

tolerate their assholish religious beliefs and style of life. They were extremely obnoxious and mean spirited.

mark

[quaker bill]

22. That and

the fact that Cromwell's "new model army" of puritans lost the war and were deposed by the Anglicans and Presbyterian elders. They tried theocracy in England and when it did not work, came over here and set one up in Boston, where they hung Quakers, Baptists, and Jesuits in Boston Commons as heretics for decades.... Separation of religious and civil government was not on the puritan menu.

[csziggy]

25. +100000000000000000000

[Onlooker]

23. They continue their effort to rewrite history

This is simply part of the same fascistic reasoning that claims Hitler was a liberal, global warming is a socialist plot, Martin Luther King and Lincoln were committed to modern Republican ideals, and helping the poor is part of a communist plot.

[Arkana]

24. Jesus fucking Christ, no it wasn't.

They fled religious persecution in England, only to come to America and found one of the most religiously oppressive societies in history.

[Moostache]

26. I am going to have to leave this fucking state soon...

First we had the "Let-them-eat-cake" State Rep. Cynthia Davis who believes being hungry is a motivator.
Then we elected that ass-munching thief Blunt to the Senate.
Then we re-elect this ass-munching thief to Congress (again)...

This state is so close to going over to the same status as Kansas that I am deadly serious about moving to Illinois if I keep my job in St. Louis. I cannot in good conscience live in a state that so clearly has jumped the shark.

(Secretly praying for that gig in the Baltimore area to come through....a little harder every day!)

[nxylas]

28. Wait, I thought they came to establish socialism

Wasn't that the right-wing talking point a day or two ago? How it was only their abandonment of socialism that saved them from starvation. Or something.

[zulchzulu]

30. The Pilgrims were way ahead of their time since Socialism started in late 18th-century

Who knew they were so damn smart...

:shrug:

[Enthusiast]

31. Todd Akin is woefully misinformed.

Imagine that, a stupid right winger.

[burning rain]

32. The Pilgrims opposed the socialist British NHS!

:dunce:

[wisteria]

33. LOL, what a rewriting of history. Changing the facts to support his own agenda. n/t

[Avalux]

34. As the population of this country becomes dumber and dumber, this stuff will be believed.

Scary as hell; I'm afraid there will come a day when the majority won't know any better. Then it really will be all over.

[ShadowLiberal]

35. Strange considering it wasn't until the 1800's that any nation had national healthcare for all

Quite strange his explanation, considering most of the 'socialism' of today wasn't around in a single country in the 1620's, nor was it around any time before then.

For example, national health care for all systems first started in Germany in the 1860's I believe (or close to that decade), so how could they be running from socialism that didn't exist until 240 years later?

And Mr. revisionist also seems to be forgetting another big thing, the Pilgrims were motivated to come to America because of massive discrimination they faced in Europe that's really not any different from racism, except that it was over their religion. In fact a number of prominent groups, such as the Quakers, etc, went to America to escape discrimination. Though unfortunately some of those groups later became big fat hypocrites who discriminated against all others after settling in America.

[Honeycombe8]

36. Who wants to live in Pilgrims' times? Have you ever read about how they lived?

Remember that story, "The Scarlet A"? Didn't they burn women at the stake for being witches? Didn't they put people in stockades and publicly flog them for being heretics or nonbelievers? Didn't they preach fire and brimstone and scare the bees out of children?

And YES! you are right, poster. The Pilgrims came to the New World to escape religious persecution. But I guess he's equating those doing the persecuting with "unbiblical socialists." Ha.

The right is practicing revisionism all over the place.

[ellie]

37. Another mental midget.

They seem to be crawling out the woodwork.