Denying Ignorance And Want

To the Editor:

My favorite moment in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol occurs towards the end of the Spirit of Christmas Present’s visit with Ebenezer Scrooge. Before the spirit departs, he opens his capacious robe to reveal two sickly children. Scrooge inquires if they are the spirit’s, and he replies, “They are Man’s and they cling to me appealing from their fathers. This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. Beware them both and all their degree, but most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the writing be erased. Deny it! Slander those who tell it ye! Admit it for your factious purposes, and make it worse. And bide the end!”

Written a century and a half ago, the metaphor is as potent today as it was when Dickens first put pen to paper. One needs only to mention Iraq, Katrina, Terri Schiavo, Enron, Bankruptcy Bill, and Medicare Bill to paint a sad picture of how as a nation we have suffered by admitting Ignorance for factious purposes and proliferating Want at home and abroad. In our miraculous republic, we still have the power to shape our destiny. It would appear that since the tragedy of 2001, we have relinquished much of that power and responsibility to people who have abused and squandered it. We have also allowed a media to flourish which reports in mind-numbing detail the naughty behavior of beauty queens, lacrosse players, and movie stars, and infuses them with absurd importance.

We would do well to heed the wisdom of Charles Dickens and “deny” Ignorance and Want. A Christmas Carol is a story of hope and enlightenment. The celebration of Christmas is one of hope and enlightenment. I hope 2007 is a year of enlightenment.

Martin Blanco

8 Pheasant Ridge Road, Newtown                        December 20, 2006