Bless Us, Every One . . . . .

Of all of the filmed versions of Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol', by far The Gadfly's favorite is the 1951 version starring Alistair Sim as the insufferably spiteful and uncompassionate Ebeneezer Scrooge.  It was this version that The Gadfly recalls watching so many times as a wee lad around the Christmas holiday, and while there are many other well-made remakes of the venerable old classic, it is this version that brings back The Gadfly's memories and which is an annual catalyst that triggers the spirit of empathy and humanity which The Gadfly feels for those less fortunate than his self.

This scene from the movie really is the heart of the tale:





The Gadfly is convinced that Charles Dickens must have come in to possession of a magic crystal ball back in 1843 when he wrote 'A Christmas Carol.'  A crystal ball that allowed him see in to the future and gain insight in to the economic inequalities of present day society.  As such, he must have foreseen the results of modern money worship hallmarked by people like the 6 individual members of the Walton (Walmart) family who own more of the nation's wealth than the bottom 40% (128 million) of Americans, yet their employees are paid so miserly that nearly half of them are on some form of tax-payer public assistance.

He must have foreseen the rise of the Jack Kingstons of the present age - waxing nostalgic about child labor and forcing the innocent children of the economically disadvantaged to swing a mop and a broom for their daily bread.

He must have foreseen the relentless attacks by the moneyed elites on workers rights and livable wages.

He must have foreseen the steady erosion of middle class economic security and stability in the form of profitable corporations off-shoring good paying jobs in exchange for third world cheap labor, the erosion of benefits and pensions and retirement plans, and the buying of corrupt politicians to do their legislative bidding - all with the aim of weakening the will of the workers ever so steadily.

Yes -- Dickens must have foreseen all of it -- which in turn inspired his mind to put pen to paper and create the execrable character that was the unenlightened Ebeneezer Scrooge.  Yet Dickens' story was also a story of hope - hope that mankind's selfishness and vindictiveness could be softened by embracing the ideals of love, charity and compassion and by accepting the reality that we are all in this human struggle together.

The Gadfly is not naive.  He accepts the reality that the worst instincts of the worst citizens in our society, and in the world at large, are not going to change just by watching an old Christmas movie.  But he still has some remnants of hope that enough decent, caring and visionary people will arrive at the realization that their force in numbers is more than enough to effectively mitigate the human damage being perpetrated by the greed and avarice of all the Scrooges of the world.



----TFG