"Thanks for the last and greatest betrayal of the last and greatest of human dreams." - William S. Burroughs

My complaint with the Thanksgiving tradition is not that it isn't helpful to every one in a while check our human reflex of always complaining about the perceived hardships we suffer ("every man 'tinks that his burden is the heaviest" - Bob Marley).  It's not even the conspicuous consumption, as that pervades so much of Western culture, anyway.  

My complaint is that while Thanksgiving focuses on the more positive aspects of our lives, that focus and gratitude are often self-centered.  We give thanks for the good fortune that we and our family have received, or even our extended family, our community, or our nation, without considering that the very bounty that we are celebrating often came at the expense of others.  

We give thanks, say, that our family business has prospered, without considering that our prosperity put five other families out of business.  That new job we we just got meant that x number of other applicants didn't get the job.  Our improving social status just means that there are that many more down below us.  Good for us, but really kind of sucks for them.  

We give thanks for the number of our offspring, without considering the consequences, both good and bad, of all the future actions of those children and of our children's children.  At the very least, we give thanks for the meal in front of us, without thinking that the dinner really, really, sucked for the turkey, or of the hardships and razor-thin profits endured by the farmers, the vendors, the truck drivers, and the many other laborers involved in manifesting that feast on our table.

I guess what I'm proposing is a tradition where we give thanks for the blessings that others receive, even those whom we don't know, even those we can't even imagine.  A mediation on the goodness of the universe, not specific to ourselves but not excluding ourselves either. A tradition of contemplating all that is good and kind and helpful and honest, without quibbling over what should or shouldn't be included in our gratitude.

There's a Buddhist gatha recited before meals that, while short of the all-encompassing practice I'm advocating, at least opens our eyes a little:  

Innumerable efforts have brought us this food. We should consider how it comes to us.
As we receive this offering, we should consider whether our virtue and practice deserve it.
For the mind to be free from clinging, we must be free from greed.
To support all life, we receive this food.
To realize the way, we accept this food.

Also, why does it have to be one specific day and not every day of our life?