As I get older, they seem wiser. Alceste. Scrooge. Palpatine.

It's been harder every year of my life to get into the Christmas spirit, as it were, because the world seems to lose its luster exponentially through time. I contend that this dulling of the finish gets greater through the eyes of my generation for we are on the cusp of memory for the simpler times and the first who are forced to adapt to the teeming Towers of Babel constructed each year.

It turned me into a bit of a Scrooge this year. When I walk down the street, I no longer look at people as various stories of trial and hardship. I look at them as opportunists, willing to sacrifice anyone around them so long as it furthers their gain just a little bit.

It's easy to condemn someone like Scrooge. It's easy to call him evil. Too easy, just like it's too easy to say that Alceste needs to lighten up and let it go. It's too easy, saying Scrooge needs to change - when he is right that there is nothing the world condemns like the pursuit of wealth, while damning those without it. The world sucks, and the people in it are hypocrites. Everyone gets on their soapbox, and ignores the plank in their own eye.

Further, what was he doing which was so bad as to earn him a spot in Hell? He was making a living. Sure, he was a little cold about it, but who besides his nephew made any real effort to reach out to him? We want to make sure that recidivist killers and thieves are 'understood' and 'rehabilitated', but a hard-working man successful in a relatively crappy job? Burn him at the stake.

You mean to tell me that it does not stick in your craw, just a little bit, that you are taxed for services which are falling apart, do not deliver or which you cannot even use? Doesn't it bother you that when you get just a little bit ahead, someone takes just a little bit more, demands a little bit more, and then people call you selfish when you want to keep some for yourself and buy a TV or a new pair of shoes?

Hollywood stars are among the worst. They campaign for equality and fair treatment, they sponsor causes for helping the poor and appear on telethons to ask that we dig deep and donate to the world. But why do they need a $5 million dollar house? Why can't they just buy the same type of house you or I live in, and then save a little extra. They'd still have a few million dollars to relieve the suffering in different parts of the world. And when they preach about environmentalism, why not stop flying everywhere in a private jet, which burns more fuel in one trip than I burn in a year, and drops it directly into the upper atmosphere, where it takes longer to dissipate and disrupts the ozone more directly?

Maybe they could buy American cars and put the unemployed union laborers of Detroit back to work. Maybe Theresa Heinz could bring back her company's jobs that are "out-sourced" over-seas. Maybe John McCain could have left the UFC alone and let it be pure, instead of bowing to his gambling masters and campaign contributors who saw it as a threat to their boxing PPV revenue.

I look on in amazement as people can agree that all politicians are worthless scumbags interested in the advancement of their own power, but then reserve that judgment for the ones they wish to support. It's just Palpatine that is the bad guy, not the Senators that fed into him. Not the ones that held him high and offered him greater strength in exchange for their own gain. Orn Free Taa, he must have been a good guy, right? Wrong! (Of course, I fully expect to be corrected on that by some of you EU-ers out there. I only know his name because of HS articles, and I know zip about him except that he's blue and a Twi-Lek.)

And before any one of you goes playing Party politics with that, remember one of the most important lessons in the prequels: it's not the guy you think is the villain, but often the one accusing them of villainy. Poor Valorum fell victim to Palpatine masterfully painting him as the corrupt one. Question the politicians who are quick to shout "corruption" when they want some attention. There are some skeletons in there, among the Savings and Loans, the Nevada Boxing Commission and Chappaquiddick. It's across the board.

And this is the real brilliance of Palpatine's plan. He lets them all bicker. He lets them all beg. He lets them all accuse each other of crimes and misdemeanors. Because then, with enough chaos, everyone calls for order. They call for a strong hand. They call for someone to lead, to take the responsibility away. Someone they can trust...to take the pressure off of them.

Can you blame him for taking the opportunity that others had created? Honestly?

As I get older, Palpatine makes more sense. Scrooge makes more sense in the beginning than the end. Why not twist back a little? Why remain open to the hypocrisy? People suck. Get what you can and get away. Let them decry your "value judgments" when you point out a behavior as wrong and disgusting.

And yet.

There is still that dying ember of idealism in me, one that I hope is fanned back into a flame someday when I start to discuss things with my child. I still try to make some decisions based on emotion instead of logic. I still try to make a positive difference in this world, and hope that someone out there follows my example.

I'll try to ignore that little whisper in the back of my mind that sounds like Ian McDiarmid, asking me, "Why"?

You can hear him, too, can't you?