A Christmas Carol -- Ignorance & Want

In the film version of Dicken's classic, A Christmas Carol, starring Alistair Sims,
the Ghost of Christmas Present tells Scrooge about the wretched creatures under his robe: "They are man's. They cling too me for protection from their fetters. This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. Beware them both. But most of all beware this boy.

Scrooge asks: "But have they no refuge. No resource."

The Ghost mocks Scrooge with own words: "Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses?"

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[McWonderAzn]

why does he hav 2 small children in his robe that dont belong to him

[JayandKayProductionz]

They scared me when i was little...and in the new one the sD one, I saw it this weekend, they are realllllly scary!!

[standinstann]

@standinstann Lastly: You said ""As for promoting the general welfare, that means staying out of people's lives so the free market sytem can thrive"" First: if you remove government regulation you get monopoly within 10 years, which does not constitutte "thriving" Second: How exactly do you "promote" something by not doing anything? The general welfare clause states that Government should not onle cease to hinder, but 'help' man in his pursuit of happiness.

[standinstann]

@standinstann It is those institutions that are making necessary the espansion of government programs, as government is now the ONLY institution that is promoting the general welfare, and providing for the have not's. It is the restructuring of those institutions, who have become the most powerful in the country; that will set this problem right, not the abolition of the programs that are made necessary by them.

[standinstann]

@standinstann We were meant to have economic independence of: and leverage against, the government; by the very rights of property. We can't have that when the vast majority of wealth and capital is concentrated in the hands of a very few. You continually finger the government as the culprit in this problem, but you need to remember that our financial and corperate institutions have a LOT more control over our day to day lives than the government does (con't)

[standinstann]

@okefixico The reason that a record number of people are dependent on government programs to survive is that oppertunity has been sold out to countries that don't have any labor protections, the government didn't outsource a single job or lower a single wage.

To your second point: unless by "welfare" they meant "economic" welfare, the clause is redundant and overlaps the other two. We, the people; were meat to have tremendous independence of government (con't)

[okefixico]

@standinstann We are human beings who should not depend on Massa Gov'met to survive. The hunting and gathering days were much better than this modern society that sets people up to fail. As for promoting the general welfare, that means staying out of people's lives so the free market sytem can thrive, which means very, very low unemployment. Those who are sick and old might need some government assistance, but too many who aren't either are getting a free ride...on the taxpayer's dime.

[standinstann]

@okefixico to your secon point, you can't possibly mean what you said. If the govenemnt shouldn't be "rewarding" the poor with basic necessities that they can't get; then why should anyone else. The fact is, "barely-subsistence" government aid isn't a "reward" it's a provision for the have not's. And as our preamble reads "promote the general welfare", I fail to see why the government shouldn't be the one to promote it. It is in fact charged with doing so by the constitution.

[standinstann]

@okefixico

To your first point: The poor do not loose insentive to work by virtue of the fact that government assistence is 'avaliable'. We are not Pavlovian Dogs, we are Human beings, we seek to know and better our selves innately: what's more, nobody who recieves the whopping $800 a month is content to stay on government assistence, they do so because they have no choice. Government aid went up with unemployment, not the number of lazy people. (con't)

[okefixico]

@standinstann I can answer that for him. The government enslaves the poor because the poor become dependent on the handouts and lose all incentive to work, while government loses incentive to stay out of everyone's lives. The poor and needy are rewarded for not working and for having children out of wedlock. Charity via churches and other private organizations are better at providing aid without becoming a master to the needy.

[angelinajoanie]

This is the scariest version on film.

[XxwagaahxX]

@jayandkayproductionz I agree! When I saw the new SD one, I closed my eyes the whole time IGNORANCE and WANT were on the screen. I have no idea wat happened except the second ghost died!