If you follow Selfish Citizenship on Facebook and Twitter, then you received an advance reminder that today is Reason’s Harvest, the day after the American Thanksgiving – a.k.a. Black Friday.  I had a great one; what about you?

What is Reason’s Harvest?

Several years ago, Paul McKeever, who is the leader of Freedom Party in Ontario Canada, introduced the idea of Reason’s Harvest as a counter to the public condemnation by collectivists against the traditional shopping in the day following the American Thanksgiving holiday.

McKeever identified the essential elements of the day as reason, production, and trade.  Further, he advised that these essentials should be celebrated on that day conspicuously, and that you should actively and selfishly thank yourself for your virtue as part of that celebration.

How does one celebrate Reason’s Harvest?

First, be productive!! If you work, then earn as much money as you can.  If you are a student, then productively apply yourself to learning and studying the skills and knowledge that you will apply to your career.  If you are super active raising the kids, then thoughtfully apply yourself to developing future great people.  Whatever you do, be productive in your context to create value.

Second, trade.  The money in your pocket is a consequence of productivity; exchange it with other productive people so as to enhance your life with the values that they produced.  Which values?  The ones that are selfishly valuable to you for your life.

Why celebrate Reason’s Harvest?

While the relationship between reason, productivity, and values seems obvious, our culture is in the process of blanking out those truths.  This is evident in politics, where our politicians play Santa with the consequences of other people’s production; however, their immoral behavior is a consequence and not a cause.

The expansion of individual virtue is the cure to the wasting corruption that afflicts our polity.  The conscious, conspicuous celebration of our virtues is needed to expand virtue in our own lives.  So actively exercise your virtues, and thank yourself for making that choice.