Funny, when I was watching all those optimistic predictions from Walter Cronkite back when I was a kid, he never mentioned this one.
That must have been the episode I missed.
Pharyngula
Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal
Well, fuck.
A picture’s worth a million angry words…
Plus ça change…
Walter Cronkite’s was an age when Capitalism was regulated and there was an idea that people mattered.
To paraphrase Marx: Optimism is the opiate of the masses. The cultural assumption that “everything will turn out, somehow” is a huge part of the reason nothing ever seems to change.
Sure, pessimists, like myself, are grumpy, misanthropic, assholes, but at least we see the world for the shithole that it is, and, to use another cliché, the first step in fixing a problem is admitting it exists.
Oh wow. Wow. Wow. That is such a simple but strong cartoon. Brilliant.
The problem is conservatives look at that picture and see a ‘welfare queen’ and her ‘anchor babies’ (probably all Mooslims cause they look off-white) who are destroying the country with their hedonistic lifestyle of living big off the poor corporations who, even though they pay no taxes, pay no taxes.
That’s a real punch to the gut. And then when you’re doubled over, it punches you in the kidney.
And conservatives do say something when they say this. They say the magic word “Gedajahb,” which instantly drops a steady job with a living wage into the woman’s lap. They must think that it’s that easy, or else they wouldn’t be saying it so flippantly. It would be like telling a person with AIDS to “get a functioning immune system.”
“Can I get some help going back to school to get a good job?”
“No.”
“Can I get some clothes so I look ok in an interview to get a job?”
“No.”
“Can I get help getting a phone so interviewers can call me back to tell me if I get the job?”
“No.”
“I got a job! Can I get some help with having someone watch my kids while I’m at my job?”
“No.”
“Ok, um, but I just still need some help because the job doesn’t pay all that much. Can I still have some food assistance for me and my kids?”
“No.”
“Can I get public transportation to get to my job?”
“No.”
“Can I get some time off if I’m sick or my kids are sick?”
“NO.”
“I lost my job because my car broke down and I couldn’t get there and my mom couldn’t watch the kids because they were sick and the phone got turned off because I hadn’t gotten paid yet so I couldn’t call in sick and I got fired.”
“SLACKER. GO GET A JOB.”
Rinse and repeat.
^^ I find no fault in that portrayal. I have actually personally met people who would have been saying no to all of those questions, and not seen the slightest logical flaw in their reasoning.
it’s almost common in certain parts of So Cal.
Just yesterday I responded to a retweet by the SF Muni blog I follow, someone complaining about a man who smelled like urine on the bus. Very privileged complaint.
Reminded the person that it’s worse for the man than it was for him.
The tweeter insisted “no, it was far worse for me, he was asleep” etc.
Then denied having just said that when I pointed out that being a person clearly struggling, possibly disabled, possibly homeless, is worse than a spoiled commute.
They asked why I think I’m so “Godly.” Heh. Don’t think they expected my response to THAT.
San Francisco is horrible this way. Elitist, iPad WholeFoods Prius Liberalism (and then there’s the conservatives that live there) – and Berkeley is getting there, trying to pass an ordinance that bans the homeless from the sidewalks.
Jafafa,There are many things you can say to Atheist Conservatives and Libertarians (Conservatives who like their hookers and blow). But if people are talking about being “Godly” while shitting on the poor there’s always this:
Berkeley changed drastically even in the 4 years I was there.
just in that time period, most of the homeless shelters were closed, and most of the mom & pop stores on telegraph and around campus were replaced by chain stores. It was actually kinda shocking just how fast things changed.
did it improve the neighborhood, as the city council had hoped?
having lived through it, I can truthfully say…
FUCK NO.
Ichthyic, Berkeley is now talking about closing more independent shops on Telegraph to make room for a Target.
And parking. Every city council meeting report I read has people insisting they need much, much more parking.
Parking!
Won’t somebody think of the Parkers?!?‽!!
a Target? FFS, why not a Walmart while they’re at it.
glad I’m not there to see it.
Sorry, but could someone explain the finer points of the cartoon to a non-USAnian who has never seen Cronkite on TV? I get the thing about how the bright future turned out, but was the slogan on the wall something Cronkite promoted? Something about being all civic-minded and working to get things changed?
Maybe someone saw the homeless and said something: “Get rid of them!”
@anuran #13: I wonder if the Evangelicals have named themselves after the part of the Bible they never got round to reading?
The cartoon itself doesn’t reference Cronkite–that was just PZ reminiscing about his childhood. The “If you see something, say something” signs are part of the Big Brother-like reaction to 9/11.
OK, thanks. I wonder if creating a starving underclass will really help make the country safer.
And this…
OK, thanks. I wonder if creating a starving underclass will really help make the country safer.
Of course it will. Starving people don’t have the energy to assemble and plant explosives or hijack vehicles.