Don Pesci - In Memoriam, Doug Hageman

Photo from Red Notes From a Blue State

Doug Hageman died on July (29), within spitting distance of his birthday, and those who knew him needn’t wonder how he managed that. He was an honest and good man and, as a thoughtful and active Republican in the land of Democrats, something of a wonder.

Encountering Doug for the first time – as I did many years ago, at a net-working meeting held in the rooms of Associated Builders of Connecticut (ABC) in Rocky Hill – was a bit like catching a glimpse of a unicorn in a dark glade. First you saw the white flashing flanks, then the flowing mane, and then, shockingly, the improbable white horn.   And you thought to yourself – it CAN”T be. But it is.

Doug’s personal history reaches back to the Mayflower and the founding of Plymouth Colony. If you had given him a few minutes, he would happily explain to you why the separatist of Plymouth Colony were larval conservative Republicans.  At the very least, he would insist, the Plymouth Colony had decisively rejected socialism in favor of a sort of Reaganite conservativism.

Plymouth Plantation, you see, was first founded as a commune in which all property rights were held in common. Food and supplies were distributed based on need according to Marxian prescriptions: from each according to his means, to each according to his needs. All this changed after the 1620 famine. Starvation staring them in the face, leaders in the Plymouth decided to abandon socialism in favor of capitalism: every family in Plymouth was assigned a private piece of property the fruits of which they could keep for themselves. Starvation was sent packing with its pants on fire, and prosperity reigned in Plymouth.

Read Don's entire commentary at Connecticut Commentary: Red Notes From a Blue State.