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December 26, 2009
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays,
Back in the 4th Grade, I was cast in my first starring role as
Scrooge in a grade school stage adaptation of Charles Dickens’
s time-honored tale The Christmas Carol.
From what I can remember, I had the old man walk down and
the growl too, but I'm not too sure we talked much about
character arcs or theme. The notion of redemption,
academically speaking, would probably be lost on the average
4th grader.
I think, however, there is much more to take from the story
than a greedy old man having a change of heart one Christmas
night -- much that might be lost on some of us in the 21st
Century.
Times were tough in the 19th Century for the average person,
pretty much anywhere and everywhere.
Most people were illiterate -- poverty was the norm.
As it so happened, many wealthy people in Victorian England
and elsewhere shared the sentiments of Scrooge. Back then,
charitable donations couldn't be itemized on tax forms.
In much of Europe for centuries, generosity was reserved for
Boxing Day, which fell the day after Christmas.
On this day, the wealthy would give their servants some token
gifts and time off to spend with their own families.
Throughout much of Western Europe and in America, times
have changed for the better since Dickens penned his
Christmas tale; however, most people across the planet still
live in abject poverty.
If you are able to read this, count yourself among the lucky.
Unlike most people in the world, you and I are blessed with
literacy.
In Afghanistan, two-thirds of the population still cannot read,
even though the U.S. has had a military presence there for
nearly a decade.
In much of Africa, where children are often drafted into child
armies, where rape and butchery are too often practiced,
where slavery, starvation, and superstition are still all too
common, only one in five can read. A person there has a better
chance of getting HIV than a solid education.
If you are reading this, chances are you are living somewhere
where ideas can be freely expressed. Over a billion in China do
not have freedom of expression like we in the United States do.
Also, like me, you probably also can afford time.
I’ve had the time to sit down and write this. You’ve made the
time to sit down and read this. Far too many men, women and
children work six or seven days a week from sunup to
sundown just to survive in many parts of the world.
This is how it is for millions upon millions in the world's
largest democracy, India.
Chances are we have had the blessing of a public education and
no matter what our conditions are relative to other
Americans, we are far more blessed than most people on this
planet. We do not have to live under oppressive rule. We do
not have to be enslaved to superstition, to ignorance, to
brutality.
That being said, we still have our problems in the U.S.A. Food
banks have been strained this holiday season. Far too many
people are out of work. Very recently, insurance companies
have been able to hijack well-intentioned health care
legislation. Credit Card companies have also found loopholes
in this year's legislation. Premier Bank out of South Dakota
will be charging some customers 75% interest rates.
Evidently, the love of money still is the root of evil.
The Scrooge award, however, should go to First Data
Resources in Omaha, a credit firm that threatened punitive
measures against employees who didn't arrive to work in
Omaha on Christmas Day...
This was during a blizzard when all the roads were closed,
transit systems were stopped, and travel was not advised and
was not even allowed on many roads.
(My father risked driving my sister's handicapped neighbor to
this "place of employment" in these conditions, so she
wouldn't lose her job. He took off before my sister and I could
tag along – probably because he knew she and I would have
told somebody there what we thought of their work
conditions.)
This is too often how it goes in the world for far too many
people. But we do live in a democracy and if enough people
know and care, we can make positive change...
The past decade might have been the worst most of us
Americans have seen in our lifetimes -- a war waged under
false pretenses, Constitutional freedoms disregarded in the
name of “Patriotism,” science blatantly ignored in the name of
profit, an economy taken to the point collapse -- but it looks
like things are getting better.
Here's hoping the next ten years will be far better than the last.
m.c. merrill
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays,
Back in the 4th Grade, I was cast in my first starring role as
Scrooge in a grade school stage adaptation of Charles Dickens’
s time-honored tale The Christmas Carol.
From what I can remember, I had the old man walk down and
the growl too, but I'm not too sure we talked much about
character arcs or theme. The notion of redemption,
academically speaking, would probably be lost on the average
4th grader.
I think, however, there is much more to take from the story
than a greedy old man having a change of heart one Christmas
night -- much that might be lost on some of us in the 21st
Century.
Times were tough in the 19th Century for the average person,
pretty much anywhere and everywhere.
Most people were illiterate -- poverty was the norm.
As it so happened, many wealthy people in Victorian England
and elsewhere shared the sentiments of Scrooge. Back then,
charitable donations couldn't be itemized on tax forms.
In much of Europe for centuries, generosity was reserved for
Boxing Day, which fell the day after Christmas.
On this day, the wealthy would give their servants some token
gifts and time off to spend with their own families.
Throughout much of Western Europe and in America, times
have changed for the better since Dickens penned his
Christmas tale; however, most people across the planet still
live in abject poverty.
If you are able to read this, count yourself among the lucky.
Unlike most people in the world, you and I are blessed with
literacy.
In Afghanistan, two-thirds of the population still cannot read,
even though the U.S. has had a military presence there for
nearly a decade.
In much of Africa, where children are often drafted into child
armies, where rape and butchery are too often practiced,
where slavery, starvation, and superstition are still all too
common, only one in five can read. A person there has a better
chance of getting HIV than a solid education.
If you are reading this, chances are you are living somewhere
where ideas can be freely expressed. Over a billion in China do
not have freedom of expression like we in the United States do.
Also, like me, you probably also can afford time.
I’ve had the time to sit down and write this. You’ve made the
time to sit down and read this. Far too many men, women and
children work six or seven days a week from sunup to
sundown just to survive in many parts of the world.
This is how it is for millions upon millions in the world's
largest democracy, India.
Chances are we have had the blessing of a public education and
no matter what our conditions are relative to other
Americans, we are far more blessed than most people on this
planet. We do not have to live under oppressive rule. We do
not have to be enslaved to superstition, to ignorance, to
brutality.
That being said, we still have our problems in the U.S.A. Food
banks have been strained this holiday season. Far too many
people are out of work. Very recently, insurance companies
have been able to hijack well-intentioned health care
legislation. Credit Card companies have also found loopholes
in this year's legislation. Premier Bank out of South Dakota
will be charging some customers 75% interest rates.
Evidently, the love of money still is the root of evil.
The Scrooge award, however, should go to First Data
Resources in Omaha, a credit firm that threatened punitive
measures against employees who didn't arrive to work in
Omaha on Christmas Day...
This was during a blizzard when all the roads were closed,
transit systems were stopped, and travel was not advised and
was not even allowed on many roads.
(My father risked driving my sister's handicapped neighbor to
this "place of employment" in these conditions, so she
wouldn't lose her job. He took off before my sister and I could
tag along – probably because he knew she and I would have
told somebody there what we thought of their work
conditions.)
This is too often how it goes in the world for far too many
people. But we do live in a democracy and if enough people
know and care, we can make positive change...
The past decade might have been the worst most of us
Americans have seen in our lifetimes -- a war waged under
false pretenses, Constitutional freedoms disregarded in the
name of “Patriotism,” science blatantly ignored in the name of
profit, an economy taken to the point collapse -- but it looks
like things are getting better.
Here's hoping the next ten years will be far better than the last.
m.c. merrill
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