New Cartoon: Government To The Rescue!

18 Responses to New Cartoon: Government To The Rescue!

1. 1

   Doug S. says:

   October 10, 2011 at 12:04 am

   Why, it’s almost enough to make one a libertarian.

   
2. 2

   Elusis says:

   October 10, 2011 at 2:28 am

   Right, because then the guy kicking the last bit of support from under you can be an entitled straight white dude with a bunch of guns.

   Oh wait, no it doesn’t.

   
3. 3

   CaitieCat says:

   October 10, 2011 at 8:44 am

   That. Is. Awesome.

   
4. 4

   Sebastian says:

   October 10, 2011 at 11:08 am

   I’ll be doing my maintenance rounds this week… I’ll visit about 20 small and medium businesses in 3 days. I wonder whether I can find ONE person who dislikes this cartoon.

   
5. 5

   Sebastian says:

   October 10, 2011 at 1:26 pm

   Hey, Amp. Data is not the plural of anecdote, but… I showed this to five people, and two of them failed to notice that the person whom the government saved was the moustachioed banker, i.e. they thought that the point was that the government only helps some, not all.

   Now I know that it’s hard to force people to pay attention, but you may have some idea to make that particular point more obvious.

   
6. 6

   Ampersand says:

   October 10, 2011 at 1:41 pm

   Aaaaargh.

   I’m not sure what I can do about that, but I’ll think on it. Thanks for letting me know.

   
7. 7

   joe says:

   October 10, 2011 at 2:21 pm

   Can you add clues as to the professions of the people? Put money in the pockets of the banker, Give one of the other’s a cash register, maybe give one a tool belt or a mop? Also, in panel 3 can the hero look puzzled over who to save? If the banker also says something like “save me or I’ll have to undermine even more people.” is another idea.

   Hope you don’t mine the input

   
8. 8

   Clarence says:

   October 10, 2011 at 7:39 pm

   Amp:
   I don’t usually agree with your political cartoons, but, even so, they are usually funny. This is one of your best ones and I agree with it 100 percent as well, so it’s a double bonus.

   
9. 9

   JutGory says:

   October 11, 2011 at 9:52 am

   Amp,
   I have to disagree with Sebastian.
   I mean, he has an “Evil Mustache” (as if that is not redundant).
   Add in the Evil Smile and the shovel and that should be enough.
   Plus, even without those, the message of ineffective government definitely comes through.
   -Jut

   
10. 10

    gin-and-whiskey says:

    October 11, 2011 at 11:18 am

    Poking my nose into art (always a bad idea, but irresisitible…)
    You might try letting the banker keep the shovel. that way he’s ID’d as the bad guy referenced in the first post. It also reinformces the “…and he’ll do it again!” part.

    
11. 11

    Ampersand says:

    October 11, 2011 at 2:29 pm

    Great idea, G&W. (And thanks for suggesting keeping the shovel too, JutGory.) I’ve done that — hopefully that’ll solve the problem. And yeah, G&W, it’s good thematically too.

    
12. 12

    Ampersand says:

    October 11, 2011 at 2:31 pm

    I knew when I was drawing this cartoon, btw, that although I had left-wing critiques in mind when I drew it (during recessions, governments tend to take actions that make the economy even worse, such as laying out huge numbers of government workers and instituting “austerity” policies), there was an obvious interpretation of the strip that right-wingers would like too (and that I disagree with).

    Sometimes they just turn out that way, I guess.

    
13. 13

    Clarence says:

    October 11, 2011 at 2:51 pm

    When it comes to times like these, I’m very much a Keynesian.

    
14. 14

    Sebastian says:

    October 11, 2011 at 2:54 pm

    You have to give the banker props for reversing his grip on the shovel in mid flight. It’s dexterity like this that gets him the big bucks and government support.

    
15. 15

    Ampersand says:

    October 11, 2011 at 2:55 pm

    Damn! I noticed that after I drew his hand in panel 4, and then thought “oh, well, no one’s going to notice.” :-p

    
16. 16

    Jake Squid says:

    October 11, 2011 at 3:40 pm

    I thought he just swiveled his hand from thumb side up to thumb side down. A cool move, either way.

    
17. 17

    RonF says:

    October 14, 2011 at 6:12 am

    Which is why you don’t want government to come to the rescue – it’s all too easy for it to work out like this. In fact, it’s pretty inevitable.

    
18. 18

    Charles S says:

    October 14, 2011 at 12:48 pm

    (a) No, it isn’t inevitable. Look at the Swedish financial crisis, in which the banks were temporarily nationalized and recapitalized, but the bank owners were wiped out. Or look at the bailouts of GM and Chrysler. Or look at the resolution of the S&L crisis in the 80′s. Etc.

    (b) The do nothing alternative to the bank bailout would have been a complete collapse of the banking system.