Depressingly relevant New Years’ cartoon from exactly 100 years ago, at the end of our previous deadly pandemic.
Cartoon by Dorman Smith, who was the staff political cartoonist for NEA Syndicate here in Cleveland from 1921 until 1932. NEA was owned by EW Scripps, which also owned the Cleveland Press. He was replaced by young Herbert Block!
Herblock won his first (of three) Pulitzer Prizes while at NEA in Cleveland… then would come to the Great Depression and World War II, yeah!
What happened to us ever since?
We were fighting for ideas, now we are back to our primary instinct: fighting for land like we don’t have enough of it, I really can’t believe too few of our institutions are only self-interest and not Humanity concerned. I say that based on all the facts which are abundant; constant, rich on the news.
I started to imagine if God looked down on us while giving us free will, shaking his head and saying: “Damn! Mom told me to have confidence in them but boy! they are so eager to prove me wrong! I can’t believe I am doing this now. I am going to regret this surely. I am going to deeply be held accountable for everything that happens next even if I gave them the choice to do better than me…
At the same time that he will give humanity its free will, I image God, saying to himself, I hope they have understood, what I was trying to do in my time…
Because yes, I have burned Babylon, I had to start somewhere! It’s not like they gave me a choice, those Babylonians. Yes! I burned Sodom & Gomorrah; how about that? I wasn’t going to let them do that, not on my watch. That was old days, people were different, they couldn’t believe it, they were interested only in their social ascension.
I didn’t tell them to be like me. I told them they were made in my image, that’s a little different, isn’t it?
In my time people were telling me they were taking care of each other, but I couldn’t bear to see the poverty, the children and women that were just neglected and invisible for so many.
Drugs were their pleasure to keep citizenship a dream and have no opponent, sex was their weapon against each other and a nice distraction for the city… They were drive-by envy and cupidity, indolent, and had so many hidden threats to keep the poor poorest and the rich, richer… Life was a hard bitch!
Some did not eat their fill while others gorged themselves on excess and gluttony, They were in all the excesses of life and the social varnish was necessary while the civilization was in danger.. That was excessive for me… Governments were there to make all my people in slavery. Life was unfair, people needed hope.
I wanted them to have a love for one another, I wanted them to see another like brother, like a sister, like me… and be able to forgive, understand, believe and take life with the certainty that tomorrow will come if they work towards it.”
