Editorials
Thursday, November 28, 1996
What Thanksgiving
holiday is all about
AMERICA recalls its roots every year with the observance of Thanksgiving. That first feast was held when the Pilgrims' survival was in question and the success of the harvest was crucial. The giving of thanks must have been heart-felt. Today Thanksgiving is a fixture on the calendar, and like any fixture is in perpetual danger of losing its meaning. In Thanksgiving's case, turkey and football often overshadow its true significance.
Although Thanksgiving is uniquely American in its origins, many societies dating back to prehistoric times have celebrated their harvests with feasting. In our time, especially in Hawaii, where so much of our food is imported and processed, the connection with the harvest has been largely lost.
Yet the need to pause at some point in the year to reflect on our blessings will never cease. With all our complaints, Americans are for the most part fortunate by comparison with the peoples of other nations. For this one day, at least, let's stop complaining and think about the good things. Like the Pilgrims, we have plenty to be thankful for.
This is still "the land of the free and the home of the brave," the country that defeated Nazism and Communism, that repelled Saddam Hussein from Kuwait, restored the elected president of Haiti, delivered food to the starving in Somalia and is policing the peace agreement in Bosnia.
This is the freest country in the world - and the richest and most powerful - but we are still striving to end discrimination against minorities and women while accepting more immigrants than any other country and making life better for everyone. Americans have much to be proud of - and thankful for - today.
Baseball agreement
IT'S always comforting to have a peace agreement to celebrate on Thanksgiving. This year the world of sports has provided one - in baseball. After four years of strife, the baseball owners ratified a collective bargaining agreement, one they had rejected three weeks ago. The pact ensures labor peace through 2000 and possibly 2001.
The average player's salary has risen from $29,000 a year in 1970 to nearly $1.2 million before the strike. The Chicago White Sox have just signed Albert Belle to a five-year contract for $55 million. Baseball has indeed become a business, but the fans are thankful that it is still in business.
Workers’ comp suits
ALSO in the category of something to be thankful for is a Hawaii Supreme Court ruling that injured employees may sue insurance companies that unfairly deny them workers' compensation benefits. This will enable workers to gain compensation for hardships caused by wrongful denial of their claims. Previously workers could recover only the amount of benefits that had been improperly withheld, plus a 10 percent penalty.
Workers' compensation insurance rates in Hawaii are among the highest in the nation and the system needs reform to make it possible to bring rates down. However, the system does not fulfill its purpose if it fails to protect workers against unfair treatment by insurance companies.
Mao vs. Mickey
THE Walt Disney Co. is sticking by a new film about the Dalai Lama despite China's objections. The company should be commended for its refusal to sacrifice artistic values because of the prospect of a loss of profits.
Disney made its position clear Tuesday after word surfaced that Chinese officials had privately expressed their displeasure about the film "Kundun," directed by Martin Scorsese. The Dalai Lama, the exiled religious leader of Tibet, is regarded by the Communist regime as a threat to its rule there. A Disney spokesman said the company has an agreement to distribute the film in the United States "and we will honor it."
China could try to use Disney's desire to expand in China as leverage to force the company to scrap the project. However, the Chinese haven't said whether or how Disney might be penalized for its involvement.
Danny Schecter, co-producer of "Rights & Wrongs: Human Rights Television," observed, "Unfortunately, Mao's legacy and Mickey Mouse's legacy are colliding here."
Despite China's formidable size and increasing power, we'll bet on Mickey.
Published by Liberty Newspapers Limited Partnership
Rupert E. Phillips, CEO
John M. Flanagan, Editor & Publisher
David Shapiro, Managing Editor
Diane Yukihiro Chang, Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor
Frank Bridgewater & Michael Rovner, Assistant Managing Editors
A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor