Guest Blogger Susan here.
I don’t know what Ted’s policy is on criticizing other cartoonists, but I just had to respond to this one:
http://blog.cagle.com/2011/10/steve-jobs-capitalist-pig-2/
Yes, Steve Jobs was a capitalist pig, but unlike certain other capitalist pigs, Jobs never demanded nor received a no-strings-attached taxpayer-funded government bailout. Nor did he ever threaten to tank the economy if he didn’t receive this big, monstrous trillion dollar welfare check.
Some perspective please, Mr. Allie.
11 Comments.
Why was he a “pig”, Susan? Just because he was successful and rich (wealth he didn’t flaunt, BTW, unlike people far less wealthy)? Is that a crime in and of itself?
At least you don’t stoop to calling him privileged.
Wealth is theft.
Apple massively overcharges for its wares.
Bucephalus, if I had a dime for every time the word “libtard” has been used on the internet, I’d be a capitalist pig myself by now.
Did you actually look at the cartoon? I think it says the opposite of what you think it says.
Wealth is theft.
Then I guess you’re consistent in your unabated faith in socialism, since it’s a surefire way to ensure poverty for everyone. I mean, most everyone.
Socialism is a nice transitional phase before communism, don’t you think? I read that somewhere.
I would rather live in a society in which everyone was poor than a stratified one like ours. Not that that’s the choice, anyway. Under redistribution of wealth, most people would live better than they do today.
There are capitalist pigs, and then there are capitalist pigs.
Eric Allie puts the Wall Street bailout-recipients in the same category as Steve Jobs. Not even close. While Apple did and still does charge through the nose for their products, people have shown themselves more than willing to pay the price for these products over the years—to the point where they wait in line several days for a new line of product.
The bailout-recipients, on the other hand, ran their companies into the ground, and then threatened to do worse damage if they didn’t receive a massive government bailout. Which they received unconditionally. And THAT is the reason for the Occupations (among other reasons, such as the trillion-dollar wars we are fighting).
For Allie to suggest that Wall Street and Steve Jobs are the same thing is an absolute epic fail of journalism.
As a side-note in regards to Apple, you can now get their smart-phone for $50 (with contract). One wonders why they didn’t charge that low back in 2006 when the iPhones first came out?
Oh, yeah, I forgot. It was because of the dummies standing in line for the privilege of paying $600. They could have saved themselves quite a bit by ignoring the gadget until it got down to a decent price, and paid for it then. But Americans have forgotten how to bargain, unfortunately.
And now you can get the iPhone 4 for $100. It’s a really awesome device.
“While Apple did and still does charge through the nose for their products, people have shown themselves more than willing to pay the price for these products over the year.”
Change “Apple” to “meth dealers” or “Nike sneakers” and part of the problem reveals itself. Let us please stop worshipping Steve Jobs as the savior of humanity. He ran a company that manufactured products people were willing to pay a lot of money for. Fine. But the man wasn’t a saint. His company could have manufactured in the U.S. and made only a large profit, vs. manufacturing in hongs in Asia and made a huge profit. Jobs picked money. That’s what businessmen do.
While everyone is arguing about whether a capitalist is also a capitalist pig, let’s take a closer look at this editorial cartoon. Hush children! You won’t soon see again the Hippie Straw Man in his native habitat: Reactionary and Cranky Editorial Cartoons. I thought the Hippie Straw Man was extinct!
These particular Hippie Straw Men have some pretty fabulous plumage. They represent the great unwashed hordes of the OWS crowd, who all “hate” Steve Jobs whilst conspicuously brandishing his entire product line out on the street. What terrible hypocrites these Hippie Straw Men must be! But I guess that’s the whole point.
Since Steve Jobs is self-identified as a Hippie, this cartoon is more disrespectful to the dead than the crude caricatures it depicts.
This cartoon is of the type that Editorial Cartoonlogist Matt Bors refers to as a “Turd”. Let’s see if we can examine it more closely. Aw damn. It collapsed under the weight of its own hyperbole.