Ignorance and Want

Ignorance and Want

Even before watching the 1951 version of "Scrooge" this year, a favorite tradition, I was thinking about the scene in the photo above, where two children are found clinging to the inside of the Spirit of Christmas Present.  The Spirit tells Scrooge, they are Ignorance and Want.

This scene, came to mind after listening to a recent interview Bruce Springsteen gave with David Remick for the New Yorker podcast, Episode 58,  during which Springsteen said the following, about some of the voters in 2016, looking for hope in the presidency of Donald Trump:

Well I think if you look at the history of Youngstown or any of the places you've mentioned, you see that, basically I've written about the last 40 years of of de-industrialization. Globalization hit a lot of people very, very, very hard and their concerns , problems and issues were never addressed by either party, so there's a sea of people out there who are waiting and hoping…It's a con job, but I completely understand why a voice like that would be appealing.

It was refreshing, after all the finger-pointing to hear someone offer an explanation, without pointing fingers, understanding that there really is "a sea of people out there" waiting, hoping, and wanting.

Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol nearly 175 years ago, in large part, as a social commentary, an alternative to the social pampjlet he originally planned to write, highlighting the plight of children and families living in poverty, as the Industrial Revolution ramped up in both the United States and Britain. What would Dickens think to learn that nearly 2 centuries after his novella, one-third of the children in the wealthiest country in the world live in poverty?

As Scrooge said to Marley's ghost, "But you were always a good man of business, Jacob," so perhaps this is all just collateral damage of capital, unfettered markets doing there own thing, the winners and losers?  Marley responded, "Business! Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business."

Business as usual, as Springsteen suggested has left a lot of folks out in the cold, with real issues and concerns that neither party has historically addressed, only one of which, is that we permit, in this country, one in three children to live in poverty.

In A Christmas Carol, nearing the end of his time with the Spirit of Christmas Present, the Spirit opens his robe at his feet to reveal two neglected-appearing children. In answer to Scrooge's inquiry of who they belonged to, the Spirit replied:

They are Man's,...And they cling to me, appealing from their fathers. This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. Beware them both, and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the writing be erased.

 Ignoring Want surprised many of us this past November at the Electoral College vote tally, when the slim margin of victory for the popular vote was overruled by our republic's Electoral Collage process to grant the presidential election to Donald Trump, who knew, if nothing else, there was a void to fill.

"Most of all, beware the boy (Ignorance)..." Whether or not it will be a 'con job', as Springsteen suggests may require the perspective of his actions as a president. One thing is certain though, today as much as 175 years ago, as the Industrial Revolution was just gaining momentum, we ignore Ignorance and Want at our peril. The Spirit of Christmas Present continued, "Deny it. Slander those who tell it ye. Admit it for your factious purposes, and make it worse. And abide the end."

Moving Forward

Guest blogger, Ron Sacco, sent the following in response to my forwarding Garrison Keilor's OpEd from the Washington Post on November 9, 2016, and Jonathan Pie's YouTube blaming Lefty elitists for the Trump win. He didn't approve of either position as an "uplifting message," and responded with the following:

I read the Keillor op-ed and listened to the video.  I was hoping for something uplifting but I suppose that would be an illusion.  I don't agree with  either point of view:  Hillary (Fucking)[Note: Pie repeatedly uses this adjective in his video]  Clinton was a horrible candidate because the anti-democratic rhetoricians have been running a counter-campaign since 'ninety-two.  Nothing stuck but she developed a negative patina that repelled people.  She WAS probably the most qualified candidate ever to run for the office.i don't  disagree that she is about as charismatic as a spreadsheet and had no crusading message of cultural renewal.  Presidents don't actually punch people out of airplanes.  She would have been a steady, competent bureaucrat.

I also disagree that we should wait for the incoming administration to crash on the rocks and expect the masses to accurately attribute causation.  Bush couldn't  find a thousand ragged men in the rocks and then attacked the WRONG country and this is Obama's fault as well as all the other conflicts that rippled from the instability.

The oligarchy has effectively hid behind the government, the
AstroTurf political movements, and the professionals who profit by attracting ears and clicks by outrageous, counterfactual ,conservative commentary.

There are people who make their living by such pursuits as analyzing residence records to enable precise gerrymandering or the best way to muddy a message. we  have to become better at controlling the message so it carries through.  We have to actively attack people who are generating lies or using information out of context to obscure meaning.  It's not enough to counter their output.we have to stop them from continuing their task.  Much of what is coming out now has no basis in reality.  You can't debate fantasy;  (See Trevor Noah's monologue on 'are goblins faster than unicorns').

There was a good social structural reason why revolutionaries killed  the clerics, servants, etc. who surrounded the autocrats and profited from the status quo.  We need to find ways to squash false news purveyors whether they are just selling advertising or manipulating information to allow themselves to profit unfairly at others expense. 

In discussions of false news sites, I hear advise about how to be more discriminating.  I am not sure how many people want to question news that agrees with what they want to believe.  Does anyone really believe that the Clinton's are running a child prostitution site out of a pizza place that isn't looking for an excuse to grab his guns and play hero?This victory was partly due to the rise of the poorly informed voter.    We ignored them and the chickens cane home to roost. 

I don't know where to go with this .  we need to form networks that share techniques that can not be turned against truth for the public good.  simple, incorrect messages are attractive, especially to people who are dreading the future.  We need to find ways to reach those who aren't trained to process information or who actively find it threatening.

As for uplifting messages, after the election I sent each of the members of my family some TED talks that I hoped would cheer them.    I believe they have had zero viewings.  I now just dig a hole and shout into it.



Thank you Ron!!