In 1942, very soon after America was sucked into World War II, Paramount Studios released “Holiday Inn.” That movie is remembered for introducing the world to Irving Berlin’s perennial Christmas favorite “White Christmas.” However, that’s not my favorite song from the movie. My favorite is the song Irving Berlin wrote for the Thanksgiving scene of the movie: “I’ve got plenty to be thankful for.”

Graphic: Irving Berlin (1944 portrait by Samuel Johnson). Wikimedia Commons.org. CC Universal Public Domain Dedication.

Irving Berlin was not being cynical when he wrote those lyrics. He was truly thankful. 

Berlin was born in Russia into the abysmal poverty to which the Russian empire consigned Jews. One of eight children, he inherited his musical ability from his father, who was a cantor a notoriously ill-paying job whether in shtetl or in New York City.

When Berlin was six years old, his family legally immigrated to America. Once at Ellis Island, they went through the process of determining whether they were healthy enough to cross officially onto American soil — and, thankfully, they were. 

In New York, the Berlin family settled in the Lower East Side, the most densely populated city in the West. Beginning at eight, while he was still in school, young Irving took any job he could to help the family. 

Things reached a crisis point when Berlin was 13 and his father died. Irving dropped out of school for good and went to work. By 14, recognizing that he was still costing more to the family than he was bringing in with the jobs he could take, Irving left home to live on the streets and make money anyway he could.

In 1911, aged 23 Berlin wrote “Alexander’s Ragtime Band,” which was a huge success. He could’ve been a one hit wonder, but it turned out that Berlin had hundreds of songs in him. Within a few years, he was, arguably, the most famous composer in America and was beginning to have a worldwide reputation. To this day, Berlin’s songs remain at the top of the American popular songbook and are known throughout the world.

Young Irving truly did have plenty to be thankful for. He never lost that sense of gratitude, nor did he forget that all of his blessings came from having been allowed to be in America. 

America never gave Berlin a welfare check or special preferences based upon immutable characteristics over which he had no control. Instead, America gave him liberty, and with it, the opportunity, through hard work and native talent, to rise like cream to the top. When during World War I Berlin wrote God Bless America, he meant it. 

Irving Berlin embodied the American promise. For many decades, though, and with accelerating speed, that promise has been swamped under big statism. This is a political ideology that makes big promises, but doesn’t have the money to make good on the checks it writes. It is a Ponzi scheme. 

Using the wealth created by the people who have come to America over the centuries to take advantage of America’s unique liberties, statists (mostly Democrats, but also a shameful number of Republic) were able to hand these checks to people who came here, not for the opportunities, but for the government largesse. You earned the money and the government gave it away – and keeps on giving..

Leftists, some naïvely and some cynically, thought that this gravy train could go on forever. Who needs actual wealth, when you can mint a “$1 trillion coin,” lock it in Fort Knox, and announce that it represents the wealth of a nation? There you have modern monetary theory, an idea so insane and destructive it could only come out of academia and be embraced by a self-styled elite who never have to live with the consequences of their dreadful decisions. 

They’ve got it all wrong. The wealth of a nation is in its people. However, these people must be committed to certain principles to bring that wealth to fruition: Liberty, the free market, a sovereign border, and reality. No nation can sustain a deep dive into fantasy, whether it’s about money, race, or the content of one’s underpants. And of course, they need a government that gets out of the way.

Graphic: Donald Trump official portrait. Wikimedia Commons.org. Public Domain.

Trump‘s election represents a dawning consciousness amongst Americans that we must go back to these liberty-based  roots. This means stripping away the layers of stifling and often totalitarian government interference and returning to an America where those who are here legally are allowed to thrive — and those who are not here illegally are recognized as invaders, with no rights to welfare, education, medical care, etc. Their only right is to a swift deportation.

If Trump does it right, if he listens to DOGE (and gets rid of his appalling nominee for Secretary of Labor), we are on a glidepath to the greatest resurgence of liberty and prosperity in the history of the world. And that is why, this year, I’ve got plenty to be thankful for.