Starry-Eyed Dreamers

Henry Potter: "Now take this Ernie Bishop. . . you know, the guy who sits around all day on his brains in his taxi. I happen to know the bank turned down his loan, but he comes here and we're building him a home worth $5000. What does that get us - a lazy rabble instead of a thrifty working class. And all because a few starry-eyed dreamers like Peter Bailey fill their heads with a lot of impossible ideas."

George Bailey: "Now just a minute, Mr. Potter. You say a workingman has to wait and save until he has $5000 before he can even think about buying a house. Do you know how long it takes a workingman to save. . . Wait? Wait for what? Until their kids are grown and gone? Until they're so bent over from years of work that. . . Just remember this, Mr. Potter. That rabble you talk about, they do most of the working and playing and living and dieing in this town. Is it too much to ask that they work and play and live and die in a couple of decent rooms and a bath? My father didn't think so. To him, human beings were people. But to you, a warped frustrated old man, they're cattle. Well in my book he died a richer man than you'll ever be."

Potter: "Sentimental hogwash!"

Call me a sentimental dreamer, and I'll bet all my readers are too. In the last few years over a million homes have been foreclosed and several million people have been cast out off the homeowners class and fallen into renting again. Undoubtedly, many are in the clutches of the Henry Potters of this world. And it's an American tragedy.

(I shortened the lines from "It's a Wonderful Life" here.)