Paul Krugman:The Humbug Express

[cal04]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/24/opinion/24krugman.html?ref=paulkrugman

Hey, has anyone noticed that “A Christmas Carol” is a dangerous leftist tract?

I mean, consider the scene, early in the book, where Ebenezer Scrooge rightly refuses to contribute to a poverty relief fund. “I’m opposed to giving people money for doing nothing,” he declares. Oh, wait. That wasn’t Scrooge. That was Newt Gingrich — last week. What Scrooge actually says is, “Are there no prisons?” But it’s pretty much the same thing.

Anyway, instead of praising Scrooge for his principled stand against the welfare state, Charles Dickens makes him out to be some kind of bad guy. How leftist is that?

As you can see, the fundamental issues of public policy haven’t changed since Victorian times. Still, some things are different. In particular, the production of humbug — which was still a somewhat amateurish craft when Dickens wrote — has now become a systematic, even industrial, process.

[lonestarnot]

1. K & R!

[MisterP]

2. back in like '81 or '82 Ed Meese the Hutt said that Scrooge got a bad rap and Cratchett had it too

good

[StarsInHerHair]

3. recc'd to 13

nt

[demandTheGoodLife.co]

4. Republicans should ban Christmas - all that free gift giving is socialism

[hfojvt]

5. humbug is defined as deception or lying

I am not sure if that is commonly known. We all know that Scrooge walks around saying "bah, humbug" when people wish him a Merry Christmas, but it's not really clear what that means. I always sorta took it to mean basically "bite me" much more than I would think it meant "Christmas is a fraud".

[xchrom]

6. it can also mean 'nonsense'.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/humbug


hum·bug
   /ˈhʌmˌbʌg/ Show Spelled Show IPA noun, verb, -bugged, -bug·ging, interjection
–noun
1.
something intended to delude or deceive.
2.
the quality of falseness or deception.
3.
a person who is not what he or she claims or pretends to be; impostor.
4.
something devoid of sense or meaning; nonsense: a humbug of technical jargon.
5.
British . a variety of hard mint candy.
–verb (used with object)
6.
to impose upon by humbug or false pretense; delude; deceive.
–verb (used without object)
7.
to practice humbug.
–interjection
8.
nonsense!
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