March 15: Derived Good, Not Profited, Fred for Prez

"There are many things from which I might have derived good, by which I have not profited, I dare say," returned the nephew:  "Christmas among the rest.  But I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round--apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin, if anything belonging to it can be apart from that--as a good time:  a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys.  And therefore, uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!"

This speech is one of the most famous in A Christmas Carol.  It's delivered by Fred, Scrooge's nephew, and pretty much puts Scrooge in his place for about five seconds.  But it's a good speech, full of principles that, if followed by everyone all the time, would make the world a much better place.  Scrooge comments to Fred in the next paragraph that the nephew should go into Parliament, and, in this year of presidential politics in the United States, Fred does sound like a presidential nominee at a campaign stop, eating grits or pancakes and telling the common folk where he stands on the issue of Christmas.

The portion of the above passage that always strikes me is about people opening up their "shut-up hearts" and thinking of "people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys."  Its a very Kum-ba-yah sentiment, Fred reminding Scrooge (and us) that we're all in the same boat.  If my neighbor doesn't have the means to buy food, and I just walk by him, wave, and say, "Have a nice day," then I'm part of the problem.  And I'm an asshole.

If Fred were running for President of the United States right now, I'd vote for him.  Of course, given his little exchange with his uncle above, it sounds like Fred would be a Democrat.  If there was a person running for the office who I truly believed shared Fred's convictions about treating everyone as "fellow-passengers," I'd vote for her/him in the blink of an eye, regardless of party affiliation.  I haven't seen a man or woman like that so far during this election.  The person who comes closest is President Obama.  (He is the guy who pushed for universal health care, after all.)

Maybe I should start a write-in campaign to get Fred elected to the presidency.  Think about the Christmas parties at the White House!  He could make putting a Christmas goose on everyone's dinner table part of his platform.  We could wear goose hats and sing Christmas carols at his campaign rallies.  We'd play blind man's bluff at his Inaugural Ball.

Saint Marty is voting for President Fred this year.

This guy's voting for Fred!