50 year old cartoon about American Life - Must See!

ISMs are bad? Then capitalISM is no exception. What if people just don't want it? Evidently they shouldn't be free to choose another ISM. I guess the idea is stop any other competing ISM before it has a chance to start.

That is NOT freedom. It is one ISM saying the rules shouldn't apply to me.

Sorry. It's quite possible I might have watched that propoganda cartoon as a kid and now I see it for what it is. I might not have then because I was an ignorant kid. There were constant attempts to brain-wash me as a kid in the 1960s. As an adult I look back and see them as despicable.

You know what. I'm not a communist or anything, but...

I'm sure if this cartoon was made in USSR, and it was about communism, about how that -ISM was the best thing in the world and capitalism was evil, people would post it here and say it was made by the devil, and it was a horrible propaganda to brainwash those poor little soviets.

But, because it was made in USA, it's just a cute little cartoon to show how America is the best place to live in the world.

Man it really scares me to read some of the responses so far and see how many people (on a "deny ignorance"-themed conspiracy website no less) drinking the kool-aid and praising this blatantly manipulative-sentimental-condescending NWO snake oil.

I'd say more but I think pieman summed it up quite nicely in previous posts. It's just shocking that 60 years later - after this imaginary American dream has clearly exposed itself as a corporatist controlled nightmare (see the bailout - they're not even trying to hide it from you anymore) and people are still eating this crap up like it was apple pie!

This is one of those moments where that von Goethe quote really hits home:

None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.

reply to post by patmac


Excellent post patmac. The cartoon is many things. Prescient, accurate, funny and frightening. Thank you I will share this!

The cartoon is wonderfull! How can anyone say otherwise? A man or women has an idea and borrows to bring the idea to market, thus earning a return from his or her brilliance and labor. This is a major concern of mine at this current moment. What has the American dream come to when there are politician and even worse "people to support them" that the capitalist system is defunked. Good lord almighty!!! Where and how else would this ingenious inventor and hard worker whom seeks the "American dream of prosperity" borrow the money to bring this dream to reality??? Where? Tell me now, where , where where. Do the majority now believe that the government can provide for them without the profits and prosperity of the capitalist system. THE GOVERNMENT DERIVES ALL OF ITS INCOME FROM TAXES. TAXES COME FROM INCOME AND WITHOUT INCOME, TAXES WILL CEASE TO EXIST. SO NOW IF THE CAPITALISTS "THOSE WITH THE MONEY" DONT FIND PROFITS WITH AMERICAN INVESTMENTS THE ONLY ALTERNATIVE LEFT FOR THE GOVERNMENT IS TO INCREASE TAX ONTHE WORKING CLASS. WITHOUT INVESTMENT THE WORKING CLASS WILL BE OUT OF WORK SOON ENOUGH. SO TO COUNTER THIS, THE GOVERNMENT WILL INVEST MONEY TO "STIMULATE" HOWEVER THIS STIMULOUS MONEY IS DERIVED FROM TAXES THAT WONT APPEAR DUE TO THE FACT THAT THE CAPITALISTS HAVE BEEN TAXED INTO THE RED. tHE GOVERNMENT CAN ONLY THEN BORROW MORE MONEY, OR AS THEY SAY "PRINT MORE MONEY" WHICH WILL DEVALUE ANY AMOUNT OF CURRENCY YOU HAVE SAVED THUS FAR TO THE POINT EQUAL TO THE GDP "GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCTION" EVENTUALLY LEADING TO A DEBT WHICH EXCEEDS THE AMOUNT THAT THE USA CAN POSSIBLY REPAY WITH INCREASED TAXES OR DEBT. tHAT IS BANKRUPTCY.
A WORD FROM ME>> aiminc86 AT yahoo dot com. If you are a lazy ill intended maggot whom votes for the sake of having the rest of working society pay your bills because you have absolutley no inginuity or ambition of your own, you think money is made on a printing press and just wish to provide the ink. You think the capitalists are the enemy for loaning the money which provides your employer the financing necessary to finance his or her INGINUITY AND AMBITION which in turn puts you to work. You think wrong and will reap what you sow. Being that you sow nothing that then is what you will reap. You should fear the reaping of NOTHING more than any interest rate because nothing literally nothing. So vote as you wish for "income redistribution" you've already proven than you cant otherwise produce a dime that wasn't first layed before you. Worse is that you can't save a nickle and borrow from the very capitalists that loan money inorder to support your despicable self. Now without any income to support your wanton lifestyle you will support the politicians that tell you life is easy and you've been cheated. YOU CHEATED YOURSELF AND YOU KNOW IT. Anyone that tells you life is easy is selling you something and any politician that is selling something is a fraud because the only product they can produce is funded from taxes which will exponentially reduce investment and growth. You will be left with nothing and even without the universal health care you were to cheap to purchase yourself while you buy ciggerettes lottery tickets and alcohol.
THIS SERIOUS, YOU LIVE IN THE GREATEST MOST PROSPEROUS COUNTRY IN THE WORLD, TEN FOLD, AND YOU SIT THERE AND DO NOTHING BET BEG. Some can claim a legitimate reason for public assistance, and they know who they are. BUT YOU, how dare you leach off the inginuit, ambition and hard working people. People with families that work to provide and better them. I must cut this short but you know who u are and a maggot is more favorable.

reply to post by Halkomelem


Alright I'll bite. There are plenty of people that leech of the welfare system and plenty more who would benefit from redistribution. But what about the successful capitalist who advocates welfare distribution? What about the middle class people making more than 47k a year (47k is our gdp per capita) that advocate distribution despite the fact that they will lose money. Are they too maggots for wanting a fair and balanced equilibrium? Are they maggots for wanting to help those less fortunate? What about the hardworking people that probably put in more hours than you do that are told that their labor is only worth 20k a year or less? Because they are fighting for higher wages so they can support a comfortable yet modest lifestyle they are maggots?

I can't believe we have reached a point where altruism is despised and the concept of the greater good is considered the greatest evil of all. So we are maggots? Then that makes you a pig. A selfish, corrupt egoist pig who walks over the needy in the street without a second glance.

Fantastic cartoon!

I believe I have seen this as a kid.

reply to post by Halkomelem


I'll be honest I didn't read most of your post because it's one giant block of text and it hurts my eyes - but I'll respond to this first part because I don't think we need to go much further anyway:

A man or women has an idea and borrows to bring the idea to market

Ding! And there we are - the WHOLE PROBLEM with the system in the first couple of sentences of your post.

From the beginning you are at the mercy of the person you're borrowing from - and unlike this cute little cartoon - in real life that person usually isn't Grampa Joe: it's Bank of America, or Mastercard or any of the other major soulsucking corporate empires who make absolutely criminal and disproportionate amounts of profit based on the debt generated by YOUR pursuit of the American Dream.

They realized they could make obscene amounts of money off this system a long time ago - and ever since the only real work any of them have had to do is to make sure no one ever questions it. They do this by keeping their fingers in the back pockets of every major politician who is "democratically" elected by raising the most campaign $$$ and getting the most face time on corporate-owned mainstream media. This politician then usually gets your vote based on whether he/she spits out the most rhetoric about A) "hope & change" - or B) "going back to the way America used to be" and whether or not at the time you happen to be sick of A) "the way America used to be" - or B) "hope & change".

But nothing ever really changes.

The funny thing is last year it almost did. The system proved to be so screwed up that it completely collapsed under the weight of it's own greed. Corporate America was so happy profiting off your debt that they didn't even bother to worry about all the associated reckless spending that came with it - and everything fell apart!

For a minute it looked like their precious capitalist cash cow had come undone - but what did they do to save it? They bailed THEMSELVES out on YOUR tax dollars. And even though all of America was completely outraged they helped themselves anyway without any real vote or democratic process.

And you still think you're free??

The best part is there are tons of people in America who realize they aren't. But every time they speak out - these types of ridiculous propaganda films train the rest of you to immediately call them out as communists or lazy hippies.

Keep drinking the Kool-Aid.





[edit on 24-10-2009 by mc_squared]

Home of the free you Americans say...haha...don't make me laugh...

EDIT: God I love it out here in Australia where I live...veggie patch out the back...fruit trees everywhere...two huge rain water tanks...and I live a couple of minutes from the beach...and the fishing is great if you know the good spots...

EDIT: Now...lets see...don't you need a permit in some states of America to do all those essential things I've stated? Bit by bit they strip you of your rights and freedoms...if your not careful...before you know it, you will need a permit to breath the air...you can't even grow your own food...and the food you can buy is so heavily taxed it could send a man bankrupt...

Looks to me more like the opposite of freedom...they have you all under their thumb...

[edit on 24/10/09 by CHA0S]

First off, the cartoon saddens me because it's prophetic view came true.

Sure, go ahead and argue semantics about how CAPITALISM and SOCIALISM and COMMUNISM all have an ISM in it.
So what.

You get the point of the cartoon right?
it was even stated "sure it's not perfect"..
The point was that even though CAPTITALISM "wasn't perfect", the PROVEN benefits prior to Socialism and Communism had been shown.

The cartoon is only a warning to not let other people rule your lives.

The main point was to secure your freedom as much as possible.

I don't think the authors would have had any probles with an end to capitalism as long as a system was devised that benefited the public as a whole.

who was the hero of the story? John Q Public?
Who was the villain? the salesman..

So for those trying to crap on this cartoon, take your heads out of your arse and realize this for what it is and not for what dictionary term view you have placed upon it.

The end of the cartoon was everyone chasing the fellow trying to steal their freedom. That's all there is to it and is the entire message that was somewhat less than perfect in it's depiction.

It amazes me how the cartoon's point was to bring people together yet such a divide has been shown in these three pages.

sheesh..

b

Great find, star for you !!!

What an insightful cartoon, brought back some childhood memories. If only we could have all heeded warning back then, just imagine how different things would be today.

reply to post by Bspiracy

It amazes me how the cartoon's point was to bring people together yet such a divide has been shown in these three pages.

That's because the point of this cartoon was to bring people together under a disingenuous, hypocritical and downright corrupt ideology that some of us aren't dumb enough to fall for. But the rest of you go right ahead - keep congratulating yourselves on living in the land of freedom without even understanding what that term actually means.

And if you seriously think we're just arguing the semantics of "isms" then I strongly suggest you be the one to get your own head out of your arse.



The fact is whether it's Capitalism, Communism or Socialism doesn't even matter - they are all subject to a much bigger problem that infects all of them:

Corruption.

Specifically, the inherent corruption that goes hand-in-hand with achieving various levels of economic and political power.

Think about it: what kind of people generally climb to these positions - the ones who are the most ambitious right? Well unfortunately the world is a screwed up place and ambition is dominated by greed, not by a desire to "do good".

Communism in Russia was just another naive ideal that completely underestimated the greedy megalomaniacs who corrupted the sytem at everybody else's expense.

But the only real important difference you need to know between Communism & Capitalism is that in Capitalism it's much easier to cover up that underlying greed.

Because in Capitalism everybody's so gung-ho about idolizing and championing "ambition" they don't even notice how much their own freedoms are completely abused by the way other people completely exploit it. And anyone who does begin to notice is automatically cast out with all their crazy "communist talk".

When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a Communist.

- Dom Hélder Câmara

and as for this...

The point was that even though CAPTITALISM "wasn't perfect", the PROVEN benefits prior to Socialism and Communism had been shown.

So what? This is exactly part of the problem. America has always used some sort of outside boogeyman to either draw attention away from, or flat out justify, it's own immoral pursuits. In the colonial days - it was the oppressive British empire - even though most of the forefathers were slave owners. In the last century it was the evil Communists - while corporate America spread it's filthy tentacles all across the "free" world. Eventually some people got real sick of it and now we have Terrorism - which Bush gladly used as a rallying cry to take away more American personal liberties while slipping right back into the Middle East and taking their oil.

I bet everybody who "loved this cartoon" also felt real proud when they saw that "Mission Accomplished" banner.

reply to post by patmac


I disagree with you. This cartoon is a pure propaganda against communism.
Some parts resemble today's situation but nothing more. It is also in some way racist because the people are all white and the man with the contract is clearly foreign.

reply to post by patmac




thank you for posting this video. i don't think our public schools teach things like this anymore. i wish they did. instead we have a generation of pokemon and MTV fed microwave mentality. it's not that our children are not smart. it's just our system is not helping them grow.

as parents we need to get involved in our children's education. read to them when they are young. help them with their homework when they get to grade school. we can't expect elected officials to parent or teach for us. public schools are bad. but what's the public's excuse for not stepping up at home?

sorry if i am a bit off topic.



-subfab

Excellent lesson.

reply to post by Ahabstar


I'd like to make an exception to your remark that we got the bigger houses. The prices of these houses was inflated enormously. A $30,000 4 bedroom, 1700 sq ft,2 car garage house in 1970 was too expensive for the average person, but sold for $800,000 in 2007. Wages went up, but only about 6 times. Without the banker shenanagins and the FED this mess wouldn't have happened. They planned the whole thing to destroy our country. These ism people used the tax exempt foundations to push communism on our children. They destroyed our economy on purpose.Now they want to solve the problem by turning our country over to the UN. That's the formula: create a problem then find a solution that results with their original objective TAKEOVER

reply to post by mc_squared


You are actually doing what you accuse us of doing. You are blaming "corruption" which is some vague value that is not controllable, except through government regulation and with a corrupt government, regulation will only make it worse. You want to blame this on vague corruption. This approach makes the problem unsolvable, except to hand it over to the villains who are causing it and enabling them to succeed in their crime.
This problem has a concrete finite solution. We need to confront the criminals, and they are real people. We need to end the Fed, end the "endless" War, withdraw from the CRIMINAL United Nations and restore the Constitution. We need to asign blame to the individuals responsible, impeach the POTUS and upper leadership of Congress, outlaw the CIA and DHS and regain control of the military including the weapons of mass destruction, nukes and HAARP. We need to stand up and say who we are as a people. We don't tolerate this garbage.

reply to post by m khan


So your solution is essentially reducing regulation thus granting more power to the wall street criminals that got us in this mess to begin with? And you want to impeach the president? I don't think that will solve anything. Another corporate puppet will just take his place. The solution to problems caused by the free market isn't giving more liberty to the free market and the solution to political corruption isn't impeaching the president. We have to hold him accountable for political atrocities like the bailouts and hold the corporations who received our tax dollars responsible. I agree that the fed is an obvious problem but if the bankers have their way, we will soon have a new world currency produced by an international version of the federal reserve. We have to resist that at all costs.

Originally posted by Unnoan

Originally posted by curiousaboutsky
isn't this cartoon itself a -ISM?

as of American Traditionalism?

freedom and liberty is great, but far more regulation is needed in today's society than yester-years beause of massive global issues we have, that we caused, mostly resulting from the very same thing that gave us the economical power to debate the idealogy of freedom today... the industrial revolution.

too bad there is substantially less industry in America today. wonder why that is? hmmm...

Be cause people are free to send American jobs overseas!!!

God Bless America!

I liked it.

Sure it can be viewed as “Go USA” propaganda but so what? The film was trying to point out (to kids) the differences between a country with freedom and country that utilizes state-control. If you want a nanny-government move to Canada…or simply keep supporting the current Administration’s socialist agenda.