October brings with it thoughts of harvest and of the Pilgrims bringing in the first fruits of their labor, hand cut by scythe or hand gathered. The Pilgrim Fathers learned a powerful and nearly fatal lesson during their first years in America. Initially, they intended to establish a system of common ownership of property with everyone working for the common good and taking from the general storehouse what they needed. They nearly starved to death.

William Bradford, Governor of the Plymouth colony, realized the system would not work. In contrast to sharing communal property, he assigned private property to each person, and productivity increased greatly. Regarding the attempt to hold things in common, Bradford wrote in Of Plymouth Plantation: it "was found to breed much confusion and discontent and retard much employment that would have been to their benefit and comfort."

In economics, it's known as the "tragedy of the commons." The commons are the shared grounds of a village. They are owned by everyone and by no one. Anyone can graze cattle or sheep on the commons. But no matter how large the commons may be, they are still finite. And almost without exception, people graze more cattle or other animals than the land can support. It is, in many ways, only natural. The more cattle, wealth, a man has the more secure his family is and the more he is able to guard against difficult times. It is hard for a man, for the sake of the common good, to decide to graze fewer cattle or accumulate less property than his neighbor when he sees his neighbor's family as more secure than his own because of the number of cattle they graze or the property they have.

The Scottish Rite teaches the importance of private property, but how do we find the balance between private interest and public good? The answer is, in values.

Next month's issue of the Scottish Rite Journal will address family values—one of the most important topics in contemporary America. There will be articles from many points of view. But one common theme is sure—our values are central to who we are; they form the axis around which our own actions revolve.

For the man of values, private property does not equate with selfishness. Indeed, the Scottish Rite teaches that it must never so equate. Private property forms the basis of individual wealth, but it is our obligation to use that wealth wisely and justly. The answer to economic injustice is not communism but compassion, not government confiscation but individual caring, not income redistribution but devotion to charity.

Thus while the Scottish Rite defends private property as a good thing and a value to be protected, our Order also obligates the Brethren to be loving and kind. Our Pilgrim Fathers had, ultimately, a good harvest, one of many. And they celebrated that harvest with thanksgiving and a shared feast.

The harvest is the reward for the efforts of the individual improving and securing his own lot. The sharing is the result of that individual's values. That is not a tragedy of the commons, but a triumph of common sense.