My 10^th great-grandfather was William Bradford, the leader of the Pilgrims, so I have a special fondness for Thanksgiving. Feeling a little out-of-sorts that COVID-19 kept family members away — and then realizing how little that meant relative to the real suffering of so many — I made my annual list of things I’m grateful for:

• I’m grateful that while we couldn’t get together on Thanksgiving Day, my family is safe and healthy.
• I’m grateful for my new law firm, Lex Nova Law, and partners I admire and trust. Character really does matter.
• I’m thankful to live in a dynamic, capitalist country. All things considered, capitalism has done a terrific job during the pandemic, delivering goods and services through channels invented on the fly.
• I’m grateful for Zoom and the other technologies that have allowed me to work during the pandemic without missing a beat.
• I’m grateful for the nurses and doctors working on the front lines, putting their own lives at risk to save others, showing a kind of dedication those of us in the white collar world don’t see often.
• I’m grateful for governors and elected officials around the world who acted courageously to save lives and for Anthony Fauci, an American hero.
• I’m grateful for American entrepreneurs, with their unquenchable faith that things can be done better.
• I’m grateful to the SEC for trusting American entrepreneurs and ordinary citizens, as it lays the foundations for the Crowdfunding ecosystem.
• I’m grateful for the hundreds of thousands of investors who have expressed faith in that ecosystem with their hard-earned dollars.
• I’m grateful that American democracy survived its greatest threat since the Civil War and that, despite some creaking of the old timbers, the machinery of our democracy worked again. Maybe blockchain or some other technology will make future elections easier, but until then we rely on the integrity of thousands election workers of both parties working together despite their ideological differences. Because of their hard work and decency, on January 20, 2021 our country will enjoy the miracle of another peaceful transition of power.
• I am thankful to live in a diverse, changing, sometimes-chaotic country where it often seems we disagree about everything (we don’t). Like others, I worry that so many Americans have chosen alternative realities and conspiracy theories, but I have faith that these afflictions, like others in our history, will prove temporary.
• Most of all I’m grateful for my clients, a diverse, energetic, endlessly-creative group of entrepreneurs who are making America better and in the process making my life infinitely more rewarding.

Perhaps 2021 could be a little less. . . .interesting? No matter how that turns out, let’s all step into the future with thanksgiving and hope.

As always, thanks for reading.

MARK