A Christmas carol...?

Ignorance and Want.

You must remember that the story was written in the times of Victorian England's history. As Scrooge mentions in his office, there are Workhouses, (debtors) Prisons, and the treadmill. These were places that separated families into males and females... put them to work..they could nevere escape to PAY their debts.

The businessmen in Stave 1 are collecting money for the poor. ' A few of us are endeavoring to raise a fund to buy the Poor some meat and drink, and means of warmth. We choose this time because it is a time of all others, when WANT is keenly felt.."

The modern day word for Want is NEED.

At Christmastime (ghost of Christmas Present) we feel the needs of others more closely. We see that many people do not have what we are lucky to have. I know of one church in my city that provides 3000 free meals at Thanksgiving AND at Chjristmas. The boy, representing WANT, is found most often at Christmas time.

IGNORANCE is the problem. Society does not always solve the problems by getting to the cause of the problem. We are ignorant of the causes, the reasons... so society just throws money at the problem hoping to temporarily solve it. WHY DO 3000 people need a free meal at TG and XMAS?

Do the families need a job? a house with a kitchen? a mother is gone?

Could we create more jobs? could we build better housing with public funds? Could family counselling convince the mother to return? STOP ignorance and we can solve problems.

People think more about others at Chrismastime... therefore, these 'children' of Christmas hide under the beautiful exterior layer of CHRISTMAS.