http://www.cagle.com/2012/03/mega-millions-perspective
Haider Kareem
Samantha Warwar
Lisa Young
This political cartoon draws attention to the national economic situation and governmental spending/debt issue by presenting how average, middle-to-lower class Americans view and treat $540 million in comparison to how the Federal Government views and treats $540 million. We notice that the image on the left depicts innumerable blue-collar Americans in street clothes lined up at a tiny gas station to buy lottery tickets in hope of winning the $540 million jackpot, while the image on the right depicts a luxurious, expensive government building with no one visible. The captions illustrate that average Americans view $540 million as a jackpot while the Federal Government have no trouble spending the same sum of money in a little over one hour. These contrasts bring up questions about the problems with governmental spending and debt, the "rich get richer while the poor get poorer" conundrum, and tension towards the Federal Government. Who does the cartoonist think would be more responsible with or deserving of $540 million and why? How does the cartoonist view the spending of the Federal Government? What impression is the cartoonist trying to make on average Americans reading the cartoon? Federal Government workers?
I find it interesting that the cartoonist depicts the cartoon as a definition of perspective. Perspective is a word that is often used, but many people do not use it when referring to an example of this scale. It is hard for the average American to comprehend how much $540 million really is, while $540 million is only a fraction of government debt. This is a two-page cartoon that is short and simple but criticizes the federal government's spending habits. This criticism suggests that the cartoonist does not agree with government spending and probably thinks that office holders are not responsible with money.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your post Anthony. The criticism of the government by the author is made obvious by the fact that the time frame in which the money would be spent is in red lettering, signifying a warning of sorts.
DeleteI feel that the cartoonist depicts the common people (us) to be more deserving of the jackpot than the government. Why should the government get the money if it burns up in their hands so quickly? The artist might be trying to tell the audience of the blue collar people that the government is very loose with their money. They might be giving the government workers a little slap in the face to show them that they are not deserving of such a large sum of money.
ReplyDeleteI feel like this cartoon shows how differently an individual views money compared to how a large organization views money. The government would probably spend the money in 80 minutes, but they also have much more responsibility than an individual citizen. This money could possibly be spent in order to reduce the national debt.
ReplyDeleteI agree. There are are a lot of snap judgements made when discussing government spending just because government spending is so high, and I think people automatically assume it is money wasted. But government spending is a necessary evil.
DeleteI fell that the cartoon simplifies how our federal government spends money. It's not like the government spends money like a individual person does; their job is to regulate money throughout the country to fund projects, schools, organizations, and other things that will improve our country as a whole. Sure, their are things that the government waste money on, but that is why we have elections; they give us the opportunity to elect government officials who we feel will proficiently place money where it needs to be placed.
ReplyDeleteI think you made a good point here. True the creator is making a point in how the government is spending money and by the tone of it, the creator is siding more with the public. But it is also important to realize the ratio when comparing. That does seem like alot of money but only to our perspective of it. The government gets elected to deal with that large amounts of money. We elect them to maek choices about goverment spending. So maybe the creator could also be trying to get us digging deeper and realize that hey the government does spend alot of money but we need to starty thinking on how we can get involved and work together with the goverment in reference with elections and such.
DeleteThe cartoonist definitely deems the average American more worthy of receiving the $540 million because of how quickly, as depicted in the cartoon, the government seems to be spending large amounts of money. As Anthony said in his post, that large sum of money is such a small amount in the eyes of the government because they are so far behind in the national debt. The cartoonist thinks that Americans would be more responsible with the money and put it towards actually stimulating and growing the economy, as opposed to wasting it which is the vibe I felt from the cartoonist's use of words and pictures.
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ReplyDeleteI feel like this cartoon portrays the feelings of many people towards the government. The average person could live their whole life on $540 million dollars, whereas that would be spent in minutes with the government. The average person spends their whole life living pay check to pay check and the government can just go and blow large amounts of money each day. I feel like this cartoon is trying to get that across.
ReplyDeleteThis cartoon shows a huge difference in how individuals and a powerful organization treat money. 540 million is such a huge amount of money that everyone wants to try to get that money while the white house does not take it very seriously. With the huge comparison, the cartoonist criticized the government does not treat the money carefully and this amount of money should be given to the poor tax payers that need this money. People may not notice any change while huge sums of money are spent by the government in such a short time. In this case, giving this tax money back to them might be a better way to improve their lives.
ReplyDeleteThis cartoon portrays how the typical American views 540 million dollars and compares it to how the government does. The cartoonist is saying that the government thinks of this amount of money as pocket change and can spend it within 80 minutes without hesitation. While a working American waiting in line to get a small chance at this money would not waste it all in a little over an hour. I don’t think the cartoonist is necessarily saying the government wastes money as much as the cartoonist is saying that the government spends too much money.
ReplyDeleteThe cartoonist of this cartoon uses many contrast: a small poor gas station and a great government building with neat yard, crowded people in the left picture and no one in the right. The cartoonist put "$540 million" and crowded people together may imply that people have more demand of the money. On the other hand, the vacuum yard in front of government building shows government's indifference about the money, so they spent it very quickly. Although $540 million may not be a big mount of money for federal government to use for much a big country, cartoonist wants to cause government's attention and advise they to use money more wisely.
ReplyDeletei agree with you that the two spaces are portrayed seemingly different. the government building is portrayed as "off limits" as it thrives in its luxurious green grass and open space. the gas station seems cold and unforgiven. almost as if the people that approach it should be ashamed for being there.
DeleteThis comic is direct with what it is getting at. The perspective taken on the idea of potentially having $540 million dollars between the average blue collar citizens, and the government is drastic. The point brought up about how the government has more credibility or responsibility to spending money and financials than the average person is a strong influence to the usage of the money; but doesn't take away from the fact that the government would have done away with the money in a short amount of time. In comparison to the government's usage of the money, the people waiting in line most likely have big dreams and aspirations to put the money towards, making them seem more deserving of it than the government and their plans for it.
ReplyDeleteThe comic displays how the government spends what the average American sees as a financial jackpot pretty much everyday. It shows a serious separation between the government and the citizens of the united states and shows how the average person doesn't relate to the government controlling them. But then again it can also be seen as how the person trying to win the lottery is greedy using the money for themselves and perhaps the government is using the money to better the people, but this point is probably the minority since the government is usually depicted(like in this comic) as using up all the countries money.
ReplyDeleteWho does the cartoonist think would be more fair-handed in distributing funds to the institutions in society that are in need?
ReplyDeleteThe comic is showing how these people (Americans) are willing to take time out of their day to buy a chance to live a different life than they currently are. It shows how so many people let large sums of money dictate their everyday actions and their desire to take the "money" issue out of their lives. Then on the other side we see how this amount of money, that so many believe could change their lives, is being spent by the government in a little over an hour.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I do believe the cartoonist displays that the common people are more deserving of the $540 million, I also believe that the cartoonist is trying to show how we (the common people) waste money on buying lottery tickets. For example, the picture on the left shows people lined out a little store waiting in their daily clothing, no one in suites or anything fancy. Are these details used to help show how middle and lower class people still waste money on things like the lottery?... Overall, I think he's more or less trying to depict how we as a whole* are wasting money that we could be using to save our economy.
ReplyDeleteWhat would you do with $540 million- wouldn't you be tempted to spend it on things you really don't need? Is the government really made up of faceless politicians living in a plush governmental bubble or is it made up of people trying to keep the country together? Do you think that the fact that we aren't in total national chaos or anarchy could partially be attributed to the way the government funds it? Would it be better or worse to cut funds? How does the cartoonist make you feel about that?
ReplyDeleteIt seems as if the cartoon is trying to portray that the government is irresponsible with the money while the american people would put it to better use. Honestly though, when people have a lot of money, what do they do with it? They spend it on things that they don't need. Why buy a Ferrari or Lamborghini when you could buy a more reasonable car that costs between 15k and 30k. I think people are just as irresponsible with money than the government. The government has more legitimate reasons to spend money than the people do sometimes, but spend ridiculous amounts of it.
ReplyDeleteThe cartoonist clearly thinks that the average middle class american could be far more responsible with the moneymaking decisions than the government strictly based off of the fact that the people would consider it far more valuable and precious. The cartoonist probably feels that the government is frivolous with its spending. I feel that the cartoonist is trying to raise awareness in a way that will catch peoples mind and show that we need to make a change as well as trying to get the government to consider what they are doing and get them to change.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with what Lisa said. If I had $540 million, a huge amount of it would go to my personal frivolous spending. I believe that most politicians individually would try to spend money on that which would better our country (while ignoring the stalemates the legislative branch has the habit of getting into). Initially, the comic comes across as a jab at the "out of control" spending the government does, but I think the government must spend a certain amount--after all, they're running an entire country.
ReplyDeleteIt is hard to judge who deserve of %540 million more because it is hard to compare personal spending with government expense. I do believe the cartoonist wills to express the critism that Federal Government burn this large amount of money in a short time. However, so many people line up to buy jackpot seems another satire that there are too many people in the society want to reap without sowing. The contract between the stream in front of the gas station and the Federal Government Building also reflects that people care about themselves more than national policy. The result that government spend money uncontrolled maybe because there is too little people to advice, resist even care about it. This cartoon is a fire bell to both public people and the government.
ReplyDeleteI feel that the cartoonist is trying to show that the American people deserve the $540 million more than the government does. They dress the people as average Americans who will line up for a long time just to get a chance at the money which makes it seem as if they need it a lot more than the government would. I also believe that the cartoonist is trying to show that the government is over spending in a time where we need to be saving money.
ReplyDeletei feel that the cartoonist is showing that for us as average citizens we almost drool at the chance to win a sum of money that big where as it is almost like pocket change for the government and something that we could most likely never spend in a lifetime the government is able to spend in a little more than hour. It shows the huge difference in the way we view that amount of money and how the government views it and it puts it in a light-hearted cartoon.
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