VALLEY SETTLER
Published once a week in Palmer,
Alaska for the Matanuska Valley
Farmers’ Cooperating Association,
for the purpose of giving news of
the Association's work, problems
and accomplishments.
By- Lucille Le Due
•$1.75-per year
10^-per copy
THANKSGIVING
Do wo have anything special to be
thankful for this year? One mioht
say that it all depends on the
point of view that we take* It is
true that most of the world includ
ing our own country, is wallowing
in a state of confusion. The two
largest groups of people in the po
litical v/orld view each other v/ith
suspicion and distrust. Every day
we hear charges and counter-charges
by each side, purporting to believe
that the other side is not to be
trusted, and that each side has pol
icies that will eventually destroy
civilization.
So called Communistic countries,
(that are not very Communistic in
fact) and the so called Democratic
countries, (many of which are not
very Democratic) are tugging and
pulling to get the biggest number
of people lined up on their side
for the so-believed inevitable
struggle for World Supremecy. One
would almost have to believe that
the co-called World War 111 is now
inevitable if they believed what
they read in the newspapers and
hear on the radio.
The threat of an Atomic War is al
most universal and yet probably
nine-tenths of the people of the
world don't want it to happen. Some
of the Scientists who helped to de
velop the Atomic Eomb say that if
such a war were started, it would
probably mean all civilized count
ries would be destroyed. Yet no
great effort is being made to pre
vent this from being done. It seems
that if there is as much danger of
so much damage being done as many
seem to think, that most thinking
people would be trying to find out
if something couldn't be done to
prevent it. Here we meet a very
perplexing problem. Even though we
call ourselves a successful Demo
cracy, we find that some of our pol
iticians have created a condition
where honest, (though sometimes mis
taken) people are afraid to say
that they believe ana are also a
fraid to question the views of the
politicians,because if they do so
they will be branded as Communists
or Subversives. Now that we are in
the midst of a political struggle
for control of our government, it
seems like the demagogic politi
cians are making a special effort
to confuse and divide the people as
much as possible. This condition
is not wholly the responsibility of
any one party or group, but is gen
eral all over.
Bad as all this is, we still have
many things to be thankful for.
Most Americans are pretty well fed
and clothed. There is plenty of
opportunity for work at good wages.
Few lines of business arc overdone,
and the possibility for profit from
business operations arc better than
usual. We still are allowed to en
joy ourselves by going to shows,,
church, lodges and sports. There
are no serious shortages of the ord
inary necessities of life. True,
not every one can find a confort
able home to live in, but in com
parison to other countries our con
ditions are good. The average per
son can circulate in most every
field of endeavor as freely as us
ual, and the only thing that worr
ies most people is the world situ
ation and what may happen. Most
people realize that a big explosion
might take place at almost any mo
ment, that might throw the whole
world into an uproar. Yet, on the
other hand some feeble efforts are
being made to promote peace instead
of war. It Mark Twain’s famous
saying that "most of his troubles
never happened" holds true, we don’t
have to worry too much. Strange as
it may seem, most people don't aoem
too worried about the possibility
of being wiped out if war came be
cause of being right in the path of
the enemy here in the Matanuska
Valley. In fact a lot of us think
we would be safer here than wo
v/ould be in Seattle or San Francis
co, when the big bombers came fly
ing over on their missions of death.
We surely have a lot to be thank
ful for in the Matanuska Valley.
The farmers had pretty good crops
last fall; prices havo been good
generally, and the demand for our
products has been good. Palmor
business houses havo had a good
year and the boom in building and
other industrial projects has been
very profitable to the businessman
and the mechanic.
Everyone should be able to have
a big turkey and all the trimmings
this year, and as long as we are
not positive that the big explosion
will take place soon, why not re
lax and enjoy ourselves as much as
we can while it lasts. So, lot us
enjoy this Thanksgiving, and hope
there will be many others like it.