Thanksgiving is a typically American holiday. In spite of its religious form
(giving thanks to God for a good harvest), its essential, secular meaning is a
celebration of successful production. It is a producers’ holiday. The lavish
meal is a symbol of the fact that abundant consumption is the result and reward
of production. Abundance is (or was and ought to be) America’s pride—just as
it is the pride of American parents that their children need never know
starvation.