George Rebane
Nevada County’s cartoonist RL ‘Bob’ Crabb published another one of his blockbuster social commentaries in the 19jul11 Union. It graphically illustrates what a good portion of the country has been taught about our nation’s economic ladder and their place on it. And there’s more to say about that.
Before we get to that, let me slip back into yesteryear a bit. In the early fifties I was 12 and we lived on the outskirts of Indianapolis. I then worked my second paper route, and from the saddlebags on my bike delivered the Indianapolis News six evenings a week. The sister newspaper, Indianapolis Star, was a seven-day morning newspaper with a thick Sunday edition that had a big comics section.
Every Sunday morning on WIRE, one of the state’s main radio stations, was a program almost everyone listened to – ‘Uncle Wally Reads the Sunday Funnies’. Uncle Wally Nehrling was central Indiana’s iconic radio personality and hosted all kinds of benefits, fairs, and public events. On Sundays he was surrounded by ten to twenty kids in the studio to whom he read the funnies and had a running conversation with the youngsters. You had to be there to understand the homely warmth that radiated from that program.
All of Indiana that I was aware of at that time spread their funny paper section on the living room floor, and followed along as Uncle Wally took us through all the cartoons. His descriptions and patter were so good that people who did not take The Star would still listen to him.
I was one of those ‘sans funnies’ fans because my family could not afford to take another newspaper, and, of course, we were already a ‘News family’. But that didn’t make a difference, because Uncle Wally was so good that, being familiar with the cartoons, I could just close my eyes and see the whole thing. Sadly, it was a bygone institution because TV was rapidly invading our living rooms, and soon we’d all be watching Hoppy bring in the bad guys on Sunday mornings.
As I looked at Bob’s excellent cartoon, all of this came to mind because with that single picture he has captured so much of the ‘trickle down’ message. One can tell a considerable story from just that one graphic.
The eye first goes to the giant fat cats wearing suits with ties that declare their value systems. They definitely are the upper crust, larger than life, unassailable with the world in their grasp and at their mercy. They can gorge themselves on any part of it to whatever extent it takes to satiate them. We also see that they are co-operating in the consumption of the earth and its riches. They seem to be building nothing, but only tearing away and diminishing what we all have inherited. And, of course, we cannot help but notice that the source of all this wealth is quite high and out of reach.
Looking down, we see that the ground at the feet of the fat cat capitalists is filled with little people hoping to get some share of the crumbs that fall out of the jowls of the obviously selfish eaters. Some little people have found a small piece that will satisfy them, and are carrying it away. A few others have somehow climbed on to the fat cats’ clothing in their attempt to get closer to the source of the riches. But they don’t seem to be making much progress, and are just hanging on precariously as the big guys ignore them and continue stuffing themselves.
Then there are the unfortunate ones who have just been trampled by the wealthy. They have fallen victim to the blind rapacious orgy, and have paid the ultimate price. But not to worry, more people see all the crumbs dribbling down from the selfish feast, and they are rushing up to get their share of whatever is left over that they may be lucky enough to find.
It is clear that the fat cat capitalists have no concern for the little people, they could care less who lives and who dies at their feet. And it is also clear that the overweight gluttonous giants are grabbing more than their fair share of what the earth has to offer. They are taking the bread that in a more just world would belong in and should be put into other mouths.
And finally, the entire scene is wrapped up as the sum and stuff of conservative economic philosophy. If you are having problems in this economy, then this is the takeaway image of what Republicans are really trying to put over on the country, and its unemployed, poor, and less fortunate masses. These giants are the same people who would squish the country’s workers and consumers like so many bugs, and without a second thought. They are totally empty of any social consciousness.
And that, boys and girls, is how the United States of America became the envy of the world that still beckons people to these shores – people who often risk their very lives and arrive with nothing except the knowledge that getting just one of those trickle down crumbs will make it all worthwhile.
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