No complaints

We at the IDS Editorial Board whine a lot – we know. We complain about our sports teams losing and then complain when we do anything to win. We complain about paying too much for college, and then we complain about the inadequate quality of our education. We complain about each other. We complain, and we complain proudly; that’s an important part of what the Editorial Board does.\nYet, even for our whiny, self-indulgent selves, Thanksgiving is the time of year to realize how lucky we are to have what we have. Believe it or not, we do occasionally consider the good fortune that we have experienced, rather than simply all the things that are wrong with our little world inside this bubble we call Bloomington. \nSometimes it helps to put things in perspective.\nFor example, on Friday, Pakistani journalists were beaten by security forces while protesting for freedom of the press in Islamabad. Reporters there have gone “missing,” and a government crackdown on radio stations has threatened public discourse. Although many people disagree with us, from our picks of candidates for public office to the way IU’s administration is run, we rarely have to endure anything more than a strongly worded letter or a heckling at Chipotle. \nJournalists aren’t the only ones getting a raw deal outside of the United States. Students the world over have been subject to brutalization by police and shootings by masked gunmen. While we sit and opine from our chairs, insulated by the freedoms we have always known, students elsewhere have to put their lives on the line for the same freedoms we enjoy.\nAnd while we count calories and consider the pounds we’ll gain after indulging in turkey and stuffing, there are still plenty of people suffering from hunger and malnutrition. \nSo, what are we thankful for this Thanksgiving?\nWe’re thankful to be attending college at all, while millions of people don’t get that chance.\nWe’re thankful for our friends and families, as well as for our staffers at the IDS.\nWe’re thankful for food on our plates and beer in our glasses. \nThough you might assume the world is miserable based on our complaints, it’s important to recognize that we have much to be grateful for. \nWhen Abraham Lincoln declared the annual National Day of Thanksgiving in 1863, America lay divided in the bloodiest war in its history whose most costly battles had taken place mere months before. Nevertheless, Lincoln brought the nation together to remember all its successes in the midst of its greatest tragedy. In the worst of circumstances, he found a way for us to give thanks for the good fortune we receive, and it seems fitting that this Thanksgiving we should be sure to do the same. \nOur lives today are easier than they would have been in Lincoln’s day, and certainly, we’ve lived easy lives compared to those in many parts of the world, enjoying all the luxuries we have thanks to the blood, sweat and tears of our forefathers. \nWe hope that you will give thanks, as we intend to do, for the world we have. Though we should not rest on our laurels by any means, Thanksgiving allows us the opportunity to appreciate the things we have. \nWe’ll get back to complaining next Monday.