"Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses?" - Spirit of Christmas Present, A Christmas Carol, 1951
When the Spirit of Christmas Present quotes Ebenezer Scrooge's words back to him in the movie adaptation of the classic Dickens tale, A Christmas Carol, they're meant to shame Scrooge with his own meanness. Because this was a work of fiction, the Spirit was successful, and Scrooge's remorse led him to repent his cruelty.
Hokey as it was, maybe that movie needs more screen time.
Recently, news surfaced that six states are jailing people for unpaid bills to private companies, as these wistfully nostalgic comments by Peterson Foundation spokesperson David Walker on CNBC made the rounds:
"You talk about debtors prisons, we used to have debtors prisons, now bankruptcy is no taint. Bankruptcy is an exit strategy." - David Walker, Peter G. Peterson Foundation, CNBC, June 10, 2010
I didn't know there were real, live people who wanted to go back to the days when it was a crime to be poor. Now I know better.
Not to be outdone for malice, talk radio host Rush Limbaugh has just suggested that instead of extending summer food programs for hungry children, those children should just eat junk food or dumpster-dive.
After mocking advocacy for summer meal programs as an accusation of neglect towards poor parents, Limbaugh made these suggestions for hungry young people:
LIMBAUGH: I think, you know what we're going to do here, we're going to start a feature on this program: "Where to find food." ... And, of course, the first will be: "Try your house." It's a thing called the refrigerator. You probably already know about it. Try looking there. There are also things in what's called the kitchen of your house called cupboards. And in those cupboards, most likely you're going to find Ding-Dongs, Twinkies, Lays ridgy potato chips, all kinds of dip and maybe a can of corn that you don't want, but it will be there. If that doesn't work, try a Happy Meal at McDonald's. You know where McDonald's is.
... There's another place if none of these options work to find food; there's always the neighborhood dumpster. Now, you might find competition with homeless people there, but there are videos that have been produced to show you how to healthfully dine and how to dumpster dive and survive until school kicks back up in August.
I have no illusions that the old-style aristocrats at the Peterson Foundation, or a professional hatemonger like Limbaugh can be shamed into treating people who are less fortunate than themselves as human beings worthy of dignity and respect. As fellow members of a human family whose common fate we share.
Though I do wonder whether our lawmakers can find it in their hearts to reject the economic policies put forward by the likes of Walker and Limbaugh, policies that inevitably increase poverty and make it harder to escape.
I wonder if lawmakers that considered a bank bailout to be must-pass legislation can bring themselves to act as if legislation to feed hungry children was a must-pass priority.
