A Modern Christmas Carol

Charles Dickens’ classic tale, A Christmas Carol, delights audiences with its story of hope and redemption.  We are all familiar with the story, of course, wherein a hard-hearted businessman discovers the true meaning of Christmas and in the process saves a young boy from an early demise and then reunites with his own family.

The man and the word have become synonymous with miser, tightfisted, uncaring, selfish. Certainly, one wants to be referred to as a ‘Scrooge.’ Yet, in our work at Northern Kentucky Community Action Commission, we see evidence of Scrooges all about us.

Dickens tells us that Scrooge rationed the coal for Bob Cratchit’s work space and threatened to fire him if he complained.  How many of our clients have to ration their own fuel knowing that they will be unable to afford a propane delivery should they run out. Too many families face the untenable choice between buying food or paying the electric or gas bill. Right here in Northern Kentucky, there are many families who live for weeks at a time without electricity while they try to save enough money to pay their past due amount. The network of human services agencies and churches tries to help, but we can’t reach everyone, and there is never enough money to meet all the need.  The children of 2010 get sicker and more frail, just as the legendary Tiny Tim did in 1843.

In recent years, we have seen three troubling trends in our work with low income families. First, families are struggling more to make ends meet. This is in part due to the economic conditions over the past three years, I believe, but it is also due to the higher cost for the basics– food, rent, heat, medical care.  Families must make tough choices between food and utilities or rent and medicine – and not just at Christmas. Many ignore and deny the struggles that low income families face (another troubling trend), but at NKCAC we see the sadness and hopelessness every day, especially during the winter months when fuel bills rise.

Second, there seems to be much more of a “blaming the victim” mentality from many sectors of the community.  In A Christmas Carol, a group of caring businessmen paid a visit to Scrooge, seeking his help to support those less fortunate, imploring that all “should make some slight provision for the Poor and destitute, who suffer greatly at the present time.” Scrooge’s response belied his lack of compassion. “Are there no prisons?” he said. The story reveals that tradition for helping the poor is long, as well it should be.  But the recent trend toward blaming is unsettling. Scrooge has returned.

Third, and probably more troubling, is the fact that low income families, neighborhoods, and communities are being targeted by businesses that prey on the poor, taking advantage of their limited choices. Scrooge is alive and well in Northern Kentucky, preying on families who can least defend themselves.  And it’s not just the traditional predators like loan sharks, thieves, and drug dealers, either.  Most are disguised as legitimate businesses, but their impact on the lives they ruin with their predatory practices is just as devastating. Perhaps it is more so, because our society views them as free enterprise, thereby condoning this Scrooge-like behavior.

Where are the ghosts of A Christmas Carol, showing the way toward compassion and empathy? We need them to warn us away from the obsession over money, power, and gain that Marley and Scrooge so single-mindedly pursued and which many twenty-first century Scrooges are repeating.

Of course, Scrooge was changed in the end – changed forever.  His fictional contemporaries said of him, “he knew how to keep Christmas well.” How can we as a region – and as individuals – relearn the lessons that Dickens taught us? How can we learn to keep Christmas well in our own hearts?

I have a couple of suggestions. (You knew I would, didn’t you?) First, find ways to develop empathy and awareness about what low income families must face on a day to day basis.  Northern Kentucky Community Action Commission conducts Poverty Simulations for various groups throughout the year, and we would love to include your employees, church members, or civic club in our next event – or organize one just for you.  Click here to learn more about the Poverty Simulation, and how you can schedule one in your area.

Second, you can donate to organizations who help the poor – not just at Christmas, but throughout the year. Of course, I think you should donate to NKCAC, because I am absolutely sure that the donation will do considerable good (Click here if you’re so inclined).  But if you have a different favorite charity that you support, that’s okay, too. The important thing is to give in support of those who have not been so largely blessed.  As A Christmas Carol, remind us, “It is a time, of all others, when Want is keenly felt, and Abundance rejoices.”

Merry Christmas, everyone!

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