The Man That Was Scrooge
By: Kevin Tracy

In Britain many, many decades ago, there was a man hated by many who was visited by four ghosts, a deceased friend and business partner and three other ghosts of Christmas. After the eve of the 24th, the man hated by so many changed his ways and became loved by all, he was generous and delightful to be around.

To many, the Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens is a timeless classic that brings high spirits to all who hear the story or watch one of the many versions of it on television.  But while countless enjoy the holiday cheer from the tale, I shed a holiday tear.  For Scrooge, perhaps the most famous capitalist of all time, was stripped of all that he worked so hard for all his life.

I believe we all know the Christmas Carol like the back of our hand, so I won't review the story with you, If you have any questions, please ask me or refer to one of the movies.  But Scrooge was a greedy man; he took advantage of every situation and never wasted a minute of his time to anything that wasn't business, until that restless night.

As we learned in the story, Scrooge was sent away to school and only came home during the holidays. His sister was given the same privilege and went to the same town as him.  But when the holidays came around, and all the children and sister went home, he stayed in the school.  Learning and improvement was all that mattered to Scrooge then.  While his classmates left the school for Christmas fun and games, Scrooge stayed with the head master and worked, very hard. Young Abenezer was not a gifted child, just a dedicated one.

This hard work paid off greatly, when he graduated with a degree in business; Scrooge was quickly taken under the wing of Jacob Marley, a well-known (and very rich) businessman.  The two became best friends and together rose to the top.  While working together, they accomplished much and the well-educated Scrooge proved a valuable investment for Jacob.  But when Jacob died, he left his partner with work enough to occupy two men.  But Scrooge decided he could handle it all himself instead of hiring a partner.

That doesn’t say Scrooge didn’t need help, he kept the staff him and his partner had, lead by James Crachet.  James and Scrooge developed what was as close to a partnership as possible without actually having a partnership.  It’s safe to say that if Scrooge died, he would have either given all of his business to James or his nephew.

Scrooge’s nephew, as we all know, was his last living relative.  Scrooge had often offered him a partnership but he always denied because he wouldn’t have time for his family that he couldn’t afford. It pained Scrooge deeply to see his last relative a looser when he could have been great like Scrooge himself.

Crachet was probably never offered a partnership for a similar reason.  He made a salary probably enough got himself and a wife, but look at what happened.  He had children, and more than a few at that.  Finally, he was taught a lesson and was given a sickly cripple.

Scrooge and Marley saw this the way all people should have, Jim Crachet was irresponsible.  Scrooge and Marley on the other hand were both very responsible and never had families that would be a burden on them financially.  Scrooge, as you remember, was engaged to a beautiful woman when he was young, but he could not afford a marriage at that time.  That is when Scrooge learned that he had to focus on what was important, his dream.

His dream was the American Dream, it so happens that this was taking place in Britain, but it was still the American dream, work hard and reach great heights.  That’s what he did, all his life up to that night, he worked and he became the most powerful man in the area with thousands, maybe millions dependent on him.  Scrooge made it so that the poor could afford the dark and drafty houses, and he made it so that businesses wouldn’t shut down, and he did so drawing in as much money as possible. He kept everything working that could; things that didn’t work didn’t deserve to exist.  They truly were and still are drains on the tax paying people and an eyesore in the cities.

Abenezer Scrooge was a great man with a vision.  He saw the opportunity in everything and worked hard to get his power.  And the people resented him for that.  They had not worked hard in their lives and didn’t deserve the power he had, yet they still wanted and craved for it deep inside, while on the outside they made jokes and ridiculed the man that was responsible for keeping them alive.

I personally believe Scrooge did not have Christmas Ghosts visit him Christmas Eve, instead, Scrooge probably did suffer from a bad piece of cheese or something else that would give him food poisoning. That night as he lay in bed, he either suffered hallucinations and was close to death, which would explain the visions of Christmas Past, Present, and Future and the ghosts of those realms and his deceased best friend.  After a restless and horrific night, Scrooge, like any man scared by four spirits, would be a little more of a Communist towards the lazy underclass.  So, for the children, there was a happy ending.  But for the fiscally responsible and others more intelligent and mature than children, the story had an awful ending.

Scrooge saw the holidays for what they were, economic stimuli, which meant more profits and better business.  So this Christmas, go out and spend your money, buy things for others or even yourself.  Because while you do it in the name of the Spirit of Christmas, you are also doing it to fulfill someone’s American Dream.
 

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