Cheryl Nelson Costumes

I was in a pretty bleak mindset for a while because of the news. One report said that the gap between the richest and poorest people in society has never been greater, not just in modern times, but, as far as historians can estimate, across all of recorded history, even compared with the wealth of ancient kings and rulers. The same report spoke about struggling food banks and the growing number of people who rely on benefits simply to survive.

It made me think about the Victorians and their idea of the “worthy poor,” and about stories of starving children like The Little Match Girl and the works of Charles Dickens. I found myself feeling both saddened and angered by the thought that, despite there being people alive today with enough wealth to make a meaningful dent in world hunger, it is unlikely to happen because of greed.

I thought about billionaires who pay their employees minimum wage, even though raising those wages to a reasonable level would cost them less than a single day’s investment returns. I thought about the super-rich who reduce human beings to disposable assets and numbers on a spreadsheet. And now we are beginning to talk about trillionaires, people whose fortunes are so vast that I can barely comprehend the scale of the wealth they control.

They remind me of dragons, jealously guarding their hoards, sleeping atop mountains of gold while destroying anyone who dares to take even a fraction from them.

Those thoughts inspired me to create a poster. I wanted to combine the image of faceless men passing judgment and making decisions that affect millions of lives with the desperate plea of Oliver Twist asking for more, while Scrooge coldly asks, “Are there no prisons?” Disturbingly, that question feels more relevant today than it should, as stories emerge of people committing minor crimes simply to be sent to prison for the winter, where they know they will at least have food, warmth, and shelter.

There is an old saying: those who cannot learn from the past are doomed to repeat it. It often feels as though those in power are not simply refusing to learn from history; they have become indifferent to the suffering of those their decisions affect was in a pretty bleak mindset for a while because of the news. One report said that the gap between the richest and poorest people in society has never been greater, not just in modern times, but, as far as historians can estimate, across all of recorded history, even compared with the wealth of ancient kings and rulers. The same report spoke about struggling food banks and the growing number of people who rely on benefits simply to survive.

It made me think about the Victorians and their idea of the “worthy poor,” and about stories of starving children like The Little Match Girl and the works of Charles Dickens. I found myself feeling both saddened and angered by the thought that, despite there being people alive today with enough wealth to make a meaningful dent in world hunger, it is unlikely to happen because of greed.

I thought about billionaires who pay their employees minimum wage, even though raising those wages to a reasonable level would cost them less than a single day’s investment returns. I thought about the super-rich who reduce human beings to disposable assets and numbers on a spreadsheet. And now we are beginning to talk about trillionaires, people whose fortunes are so vast that I can barely comprehend the scale of the wealth they control.

They remind me of dragons, jealously guarding their hoards, sleeping atop mountains of gold while destroying anyone who dares to take even a fraction from them.

Those thoughts inspired me to create a poster. I wanted to combine the image of faceless men passing judgment and making decisions that affect millions of lives with the desperate plea of Oliver Twist asking for more, while Scrooge coldly asks, “Are there no prisons?” Disturbingly, that question feels more relevant today than it should, as stories emerge of people committing minor crimes simply to be sent to prison for the winter, where they know they will at least have food, warmth, and shelter.

There is an old saying: those who cannot learn from the past are doomed to repeat it. It often feels as though those in power are not simply refusing to learn from history; they have become indifferent to the suffering of those their decisions affect. That lack of empathy may be the most troubling part of all.