Uncle Sam Makes Thanksgiving Worse

Readers of Reason are no doubt familiar with the true story of the first Thanksgiving, when the collectivist pilgrims almost starved, only to be saved by the voluntary charity of the local population.

A lot has changed about America since those early days of settlement. Sadly, the interfering tentacles of government continue to get in the way of a proper Thanksgiving feast.

While many younger Americans might wish to give thanks for their ability to host a Thanksgiving dinner in their own commodious home, unfortunately, zoning regulations and federal mortgage regulations have made the goal of homeownership a far-off one indeed. The age of the median first-time homebuyer today is a wizened 40 years.

That means the family dinner will have to occur at the house of Boomer parents or grandparents who managed to lock down a place of their own before homebuilding restrictions really started to jack up prices.

There’s of course a certain joy in being home for the holidays, even if it’s not your home. Getting there nevertheless requires some travel. And that, too, has been made a much more painful ordeal thanks to Uncle Sam.

Some 80 million Americans are expected to travel on planes, trains, and automobiles for Thanksgiving. Regardless of mode, government interference will ensure your trip is longer and less convenient than it could have been in a free market.

Should you fly, you can expect long security lines staffed by latex-gloved TSA agents rummaging through your belongings to make sure you’re not traveling with a jar of cranberry sauce larger than three ounces.

Thanksgiving is hard on the turkeys we consume for dinner on the day. At least the birds are dead by the time people remove the giblets from their cavity. Air travelers picked for enhanced screening by error-prone scanner machines won’t be so lucky.

This is to say nothing of the flying experience itself. With government price controls preventing the construction of new gates and the entrance of new airlines, you can expect to pay more and wait longer for your flight home.

At least these restrictions on entry relieve some strain on our outdated, government-monopolized air traffic control system.

Should you wish to avoid the hassles of government-guarded airports and government-protected airlines, driving is always an option, but it comes with its own government-created hassles.

Thanksgiving traffic can always be a pain that’s made worse only by the federal government’s general prohibition on tolling interstates.

Instead of at least having the option of paying to ride in a congestion-free toll lane, we’re all stuck paying the time tax to get to wherever home is.

TSA might not be breathing down your neck during the drive. But you’ll still have to contend with ICE’s watchful eye as you travel to celebrate a holiday inspired by early immigrants to America.

Affordable, for-profit bus lines contend with many of these same problems as well, even if they do offer an intercity option that does not require you to actually be behind the wheel.

If you were hoping to travel on government-promised high-speed rail, too bad! It’s still not built yet.

Things will start looking up once you do successfully navigate the statrix to finally reach your destination. You’re at last surrounded by loved ones, and the struggles of the journey make you feel all the more grateful for it.

Even still, the heavy hand of the state will, on the margins, reduce the quality and quantity of the soon-to-be-served Thanksgiving feast.

Federal restrictions on direct-to-consumer meat sales mean your turkey will have to come from a factory farming operation that, whatever its merits, sacrifices quality for efficiency. Tariffs on imported ingredients and libations will raise the bill. The costs of pandemic-era inflation are baked into more than just the pies.

While this doesn’t apply to every family, the increasing politicization of everything will no doubt make dinnertime conversation a bit more contentious than it needs to be.

At the end of the day, these are all survivable hardships. God is good, and He’s provided our country with many blessings. State economic planning notwithstanding, the miracles of modern capitalist production ensure that almost everyone has a heavily laden table this time of the year.

Still, one can’t help but look at the many things to give thanks for this Thanksgiving and realize how few of them come from the government.