Idly watching the superior original adaptation of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory yesterday, I realised that it pretty much described Secretary of State for Social Services Iain Duncan Smith's dreams. It's full of rancid poor people wasting their money on lottery tickets and sponging off the state. All it needs is a stimulus and they can be up and working in seconds. They're just too dependent on benefits to make the effort.
The magic happens at this point, when lazy Grandpa gets literally handed a Golden Ticket. ATOS will soon put an end to this kind of nonsense.
2 comments:
You missed the parallel of Wonka the capitalist encouraging immigration to supply a workforce willing to endure worse working conditions and wages than the native workforce.
(I'm reading the book at the moment with my daughter, and the poverty bit at the start of the book really upset her... how come a 5 year old can care about poverty but a fully grown Tory adult can't?)
You're right. Dahl was a complex man. Cherish your daughter - hope the world doesn't wear down her sense of humanity.
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