Hello my friends, family, and fans;
I saw a post the other day that shook me and I’m still having trouble with it.
The post was a typical leftist meme that said, “We’ve all watched A Christmas Carol countless times but you still blame Tiny Tim for his fate.” I thought it was a little over the top and was looking forward to reading comments roasting the poster for being overly dramatic. Wow, was I surprised.
The comments were mostly about how it wasn’t Tim’s fault but his parents. How they were irresponsible for having so many kids and not being able to support them. I swear I heard Scrooge’s voice asking, “Are there no prisons?”
It makes me sad that people still believe poverty is a character flaw and not a trap. I grew up poor and I saw the shame on my Mom’s face when she had to accept donations so we could have Christmas dinner. The only flaw in character my mother had was her taste in men.
It saddens me that, despite all our fiction promoting empathy and tolerance, people seem to have missed the message. There’s this weird thing in western culture where we all feel like we’re the underdog and anything we achieve is due to our hard work and striving. That applies to the poor, middle class, and billionaires. We all seem to think we’re Cratchit, even when we act more like Scrooge.
Believing we’re special is the first step to treating others as if they aren’t.
Every person is important and deserves life, dignity, health, freedom, and love, no matter what their level of productivity or their lot in life.
This winter is going to be a bad one for a lot of people. If you can, please consider donating to a food bank. We will be making a donation directly to the Ottawa Food Bank.
Stay safe and be kind,
Éric
