Ebenezer Scrooge and Bob Cratchit on Christmas Eve

In this parody, Ebenezer Scrooge represents the top 1 percent

Bob Cratchit  represents the Middle Class

Scene Christmas Eve:  Scrooge let’s Cratchit know that there will be no raise this year, because there was no inflation (Ha!) and for the last 25 years all extra profits go to Scrooge.

Cratchit should be angry with Scrooge because 1) he had just spent $3 trillion bailing Scrooge out of a banking crisis. 2) he had just spent another $3 trillion on the war that gave Scrooges manufacturing plants huge profits and the war had no practical results.3) he has $1.3 trillion in student debt.4) he is being charged 15 percent on his credit cards by Scrooge 5) he can’t afford healthcare insurance offered by Scrooge. 6) he has most of his budget paying  $700 billion for the military and Scrooge wants to spend more and more on the military

As a result of the above Cratchit has experienced cutbacks in expenses for education, infrastructure for roads and bridges, environmental protection and social programs.

However, Cratchit is not outraged with the above. He is angry because of illegal immigrants, Planned Parenthood, gun control, Muslims and not winning the war.

Ghost #1The Past: Scrooge is reminded of those terrible 36 progressive liberal years between Roosevelt and Johnson when Congress  enacted the Glass Steagall Act, Social Security, Medicare, The Clean Air Act, The Urban Mass Transportation Act, The Wilderness Act, The Food Stamp Act, The Housing Act, The Freedom of Information Act, The Age Discrimination Act, The Gun Control Act, The Endowment for the Humanities, The Endowment for the Arts, and The Public Broadcasting Act that has given us PBS, and NPR, Higher Education and Facilities Act, The Elementary Education Act and the Vocation Education Act , The  Civil Rights Act and The Voting Rights Act, The Economic Opportunity Act and the ‘War on Poverty’ during which the Johnson Administration,  reduced the percentage of Americans living below poverty  from 23% to 13%. It was a nightmare!

Ghost #2 Today : He reads the Lone Bear Letter on the Investment Strategy blog.      Another nightmare.

Ghost #3 The Future: The middle class is so diminished it can no longer afford the consumption that keeps the engine of capitalism going. Oil prices go to $15 a barrel and all the bonds that depend upon income from natural resources default. As a result, banks close, industry shuts down and the government is paralyzed.

Christmas Eve morning: Scrooge is so happy that he is still alive and he still has an opportunity to prevent his demise by future events. As a result he decides to build higher walls around his home, to make his gates more secure and to prepare the police to put down any rebellion.

Bob Cratchit: Decides to vote for Trump

Tiny Tim says:

  • “Blessed are those who discover the glory of the divine within themselves. Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hall-e-lu-lu-jah
  • Blessed are we who gaze in amazement on a starlit night. Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hall-e-lu-lu-jah
  • Blessed are those who see children in a moment when they are really children. Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hall-e-lu-lu-jah.
  • Blessed are those who know love in their hearts. Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hall-e-lu-lu-jah
  • Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hall-e-lu-lu-jah
  • Blessed are they who mourn: for they shall be comforted. Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hall-e-lu-lu-jah
  • Blessed are they that hunger and thirst for justice: for they shall be fulfilled. Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hall-e-lu-lu-jah
  • Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hall-e-lu-lu-jah
  • Blessed are the innocent of heart: for they shall see the divine within themselves, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hall-e-lu-lu-jah
  • Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall find salvation. Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hall-e-lu-lu-jah
  • Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice sake, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hall-e-lu-lu-jah
  • Blessed are those who are last, for they shall later be first. Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hall-e-lu-lu-jah
  • Blessed is the newness, the fulfillment and the purity of our divine vision, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hall-e-lu-lu-jah
  • Blessed are those that join us in our cosmic dance of love and compassion. Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hall-e-lu-lu-jah”

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!