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Ted Rall
Ted Rall is a syndicated political cartoonist for Andrews McMeel Syndication, WhoWhatWhy.org and Counterpoint. He is a frequent contributor to The Wall Street Journal, a graphic novelist and author of many books of art and prose, and an occasional war correspondent. He is, recently, the author of the graphic novel "The Stringer."
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Its a good cartoon, but I would still say it highlights the issue with trying to do real political cartooning in this political/socio/economic climate. Namely there is very little room left for parody or hyperbole. It is hard to sufficiently exaggerate and mock such insanity when it is already so insane and yet perceived as such perfectly normal and acceptable behavior. You made a noble attempt here, but most (potential) employers reading this will go “where is the punchline? I mean they really should earn more money.”
Ted, how about a similar one but with the punch-line: “I’m afraid you’re over-qualified.” (I heard this one time & time again; I think it means: “You deserve more money than we’re willing to pay you.”)
@derlehrer: “overqualified” has become a general buzzword to cover any of a myriad of reasons for not hiring people in the current economy (or lack thereof). While “overqualified” is currently being used to blanket a large number of more specific disgusting reasons for not hiring someone that companies would rather not talk about openly, the most common usage for “overqualified” right now is “you are too old”. You see age discrimination in the US is illegal (as it should be) but this doesn’t actually stop it from happening, it just causes it to get expressed via buzzwords that allow enough vaugery to let companies skirt potential legal trouble;j the most common again being “you are overqualified”.
To some extent you are exactly right, this can be taken as “You deserve more money than we’re willing to pay you” because the only thing companies fear due to someone’s age is the possibility of having to pay out pension or other retirement benefits before too long, i.e. pay more money. If all other things were equal there would probably be reverse age discrimination as older people who have worked longer in a field are generally more productive due to their superior experience base.