Mr. Scrooge and Conservatives

[iolaire]

A few weeks ago we ushered for and saw A CHRISTMAS CAROL by Charles Dickens.  During the lines at the beginning really hit me how much Mr. Scrooge sounds like the more vocal conservatives whose quotes we read in the newspaper and internet. 

But then looking back now I have to say he is even more compassionate modern conservatives since he was doing nothing to remove the support systems of the prisons, Union workhouses, and the treadmill (unlike many of the conservatives who want to minimize public support systems such as Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, Food Stamps, public housing, etc...).  I hope the conservatives movement has a Mr. Scrooge realization and starts once again to care for all of the people in this world.

MR. BENTLEY: At this festive season of the year, Mr. Scrooge, it is more than usually desirable that we should make some slight provision for the poor and destitute, who suffer greatly at the present time. Many thousands are in want of common necessities; hundreds of thousands are in want of common comforts, sir.
SCROOGE: Are there no prisons?
MR. BENTLEY: Plenty of prisons.
SCROOGE: And the Union workhouses. Are they still in operation?
MR. BENTLEY: They are. Still, I wish I could say they were not.
SCROOGE: The Treadmill and the Poor Law are in full vigor, then?
MR. BENTLEY: Both very busy, sir.
SCROOGE: Oh, good! I was afraid, from what you said at first, that something had occurred to stop them in their useful course. I'm very glad to hear it.
MR. CHARLTON Under the impression that they scarcely furnish Christian cheer of mind or body to the multitude, 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, and Abundance rejoices. What shall I put you down for?
SCROOGE: Nothing!
MR. BENTLEY: You wish to be anonymous?
SCROOGE: I wish to be left alone. Since you ask me what I wish, gentlemen, that is my answer. I don't make merry myself at Christmas, and I can't afford to make idle people merry. I support the establishments I have mentioned - they cost enough; and those who are badly off must go there.
MR. CHARLTON Many can't go there; and many would rather die.
SCROOGE: If they would rather die, they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population. Besides -- excuse me -- I don't know that.
MR. CHARLTON But you might know it!
SCROOGE: It's not my business. It's enough for a man to understand his own business, and not to interfere with other people's. Mine occupies me constantly. Good afternoon, gentlemen!






sp mod Cas

[kickingandscreaming]

I see no great Scrooge awakening coming for the GOP/Conservatives.  They are truly the most soulless, heartless, bloodless bunch of people in this country. They are selfish and shortsighted.   "I've got mine. Screw you!" is their battle cry.







sp mod Cas

[SutureSelf]

I see no great Scrooge awakening coming for the GOP/Conservatives.  They are truly the most soulless, heartless, bloodless bunch of people in this country. They are selfish and shortsighted.   "I've got mine. Screw you!" is their battle cry.

sp mod Cas

From an article in the NY Times - " The “generosity index” from the Catalogue for Philanthropy typically finds that red states are the most likely to give to nonprofits, while Northeastern states are least likely to do so.

The upshot is that Democrats, who speak passionately about the hungry and homeless, personally fork over less money to charity than Republicans — the ones who try to cut health insurance for children."

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/21/opinion/21kristof.html



Conservatives Donate More Than Liberals

" Being willing to donate the taxpayers' money is not the same as being willing to put your own money where your mouth is.

http://www.newsmax.com/ThomasSowell/Conservatives-Donate-Liberals-compassion/2012/09/10/id/451295/


"Do “conservatives” give more to charitable causes than “liberals”? According to Syracuse University professor Arthur C. Brooks, they do. Dr. Brooks, a professor of public administration at Syracuse’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, was quite astounded with the results of his own research, which was so at variance with the common perception of the generous “liberal” and the Scrooge-like “conservative.”
In his book, Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth About Compassionate Conservativism (Basic Books, 2006), Brooks discovered that approximately equal percentages of liberals and conservatives give to private charitable causes. However, conservatives gave about 30 percent more money per year to private charitable causes, even though his study found liberal families earned an average of 6 percent more per year in income than did conservative families."
 
http://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/castingstones/2008/04/conservatives-give-more-to-cha.html#h4eG3fLzcOukrqA9.99

[iolaire]

From an article in the NY Times - " The “generosity index” from the Catalogue for Philanthropy typically finds that red states are the most likely to give to nonprofits, while Northeastern states are least likely to do so.

Interesting and good response.

[kickingandscreaming]

Conservatives Donate More Than Liberals

I'm afraid I was unclear in how I stated my Scrooge comment.  I was not referring to garden-variety individual conservatives on the street as stingy (heartless, bloodless, etc.).  I was really talking about the people these people elect.  I was really talking about conservatives in power (mostly in Congress) who are very generous to the very rich (see tax breaks for those who don't need them) and very Scroogelike to the rest of us.  Giving tax breaks while they shred the safety net for the vulnerable and redistribute the meager wealth of the middle class upward to the .01%ers.  Taking food out of the mouths of babes to feather the nests of the corporations and the very rich.

And as an aside, much of the vaunted charitable giving is given to religious organizations as conservatives are more religious than liberals (a generalization).  Utah is the most givingest state and much or most of that is to the LDS Church (so not exactly spread around and certainly not replacing food stamps and children's health insurance, etc.).

[KarenInWA]

I can't tell you how many times over the years I've had a conservative-leaning individual say something to the tune of "why should I have to pay for your healthcare???" And they say it like they're never going to face health challenges at anytime in their angry little lives.

KarenInWA

[Simon Dog]

My answer would be simple: I paid an insurance premium (Medicare tax) for this my entire working life, and in fact, paid above average because of my earnings.   I might as well ask you why other homeowner's insurance policy holders should pay you if your house burns down.

The real question in any "tax the other guy" scheme is the underlying question - what is the moral right use firearms(*) to take money from person A to give it to person B.   As much as I like some of the benefits of money being taken from others to benefit me, I find it hard to morally justify.

* - All tax collection is enforced using the police power of the government and that means guns, though, in a civilized society, there is an escalation path so that in the vast majority of the time only the threat of violence, and not actual violence, is needed to collect a tax.