It's Everybody's Business | Cold War Era Propaganda Cartoon on Capitalism & Free Enterprise | 1954
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This animated short film is a Cold War-era propaganda product presented by the United States Chamber of Commerce. The main goal of the cartoon is to glorify the capitalism and the free enterprise system.
The film does a great job of demonstrating the basic concepts of capitalism. It explains how business and competition works. It says that we pay taxes to have schools, hospitals, roads, fire and police departments, aid to the needy and obviously national defense. It also says that we shouldn't want the government to provide non essential services since they have to be paid for by higher taxes.
The film was produced by John Sutherland. The Freedoms Foundation awarded the film its gold honor medal as "the best film developed in the United States during 1954 to further better understanding of the American way of life".
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND / CONTEXT
After World War 2 nuclear anxiety, anti-Communism and international political realignments fueled the Cold War-era United States and turned the country's media landscape into a battleground from the late 1940s on. In the press, on the radio, and increasingly through the newly emerging medium of television, business and labor struggled for power over the national consciousness. These opposing forces fought to redefine the economic structure of the American nation.
To most working people, postwar "normalcy" meant a final farewell to Depression-induced privation, access to consumer goods unavailable during the war years, and a redistribution of the economic pie through the newly powerful labor movement. To business, however, the end of hostilities promised freedom from New Deal liberalism. Corporations sought an end to planning and government influence, to communist, socialist and labor movements, and above all, shrinkage of the public sector, swollen in sixteen years of economic depression and war. Both sides characterized their points of view as patriotic and their opponents as un-American.
Business fought for influence through organizations like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Their intentions were presented as lofty and neutral: to educate Americans about their economic system and its benefits. Launching a giant propaganda offensive, these organizations pumped out press releases, published books, organized public and private meetings, bought advertising and produced motion pictures.
Differences between capitalism and communism:
Capitalism and communism are two political theories which can be stated as the complete opposite of one another as their fundamental ideologies contrast each other in the most prominent ways.
Capitalism can best be defined as a financial and a social system that recognizes individual property rights, individual consumption and approves of the private ownership of capital. It gave rise to the industrialization and is based on the rights of the individual and allows individuals unlimited opportunities in creating wealth for themselves. Capitalism also encourages the individual to own as much property and goods that they can afford to buy which in turn results in inequality. This inequality then results in each citizen striving to accumulate more wealth in order to stand above the rest and yet, each individual is supposed to respect the rights of other individuals. The citizens of a capitalist society are provided with equal opportunity when competing as sellers or buyers of goods or property, with the government playing no part in it except setting up certain rules and regulations regarding the process. Capitalism is honest competition and letting the marketplace decide who has the better product for better prices and one sees no oppression of the individual here as a result.
Communism is based on the belief that individual gain must be scarified in order to achieve collective gain. Thus communism allows the state or the community the ownership of all goods and services with the intention of promoting a common ownership. Communism preaches of a classless, egalitarian society where everybody is treated equally and everybody is given an equal standing. According to communists, capitalism is a system within the rich get richer and the poor get poorer as a result of the rich people yielding power when the poor are forced to live under their reign.
It's Everybody's Business | Cold War Era Propaganda Cartoon on Capitalism & Free Enterprise | 1954
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Why do you have to label all these old films propaganda? Is that click bait? Would you label Black Lives Matter films of today propaganda?
WHAT'S the Song at the beginning???
Those ice box was proper expensive. A couple of those and you got a new car
@@reverendbluejeans1748 All, on Credit (Bankers' innovation); at higher, and higher; interest rates (the "treadmill", although it didn't start out, that way).
What's the deal with the novel you wrote in the description? There was a page on Capitalism, mostly negative and then a paragraph glorifying Communism. Also, saying the two systems are polar opposites is false. They are actually two sides of the same coin. Reject both and adopt National Socialism.
"Many men had to work 10 hours a day, six days a week to earn enough money to provide their families with the bare essentials." So basically, we're back to the old days.
Bullshit.
@@jadedoak6255 A number of people are working two jobs, and a number of couples have both partnerss working, to be able to make ends meet.
In the 40s and 50s most people were thriving, it’s just that now it’s not the same
No see OBVIOUSLY we're all doing MUCH better now despite the constant threat of poverty and homelessness and perpetual debt because uh
Uuuuhh
Have you seen how cheap televisions are now?
That is the secret that Wall Street and Wealthy keep to themselves.
Imagine a time in which one single person could work 40 hours a week, and make enough money to raise a family, own a house and a car...
We can do that in Texas, but you can't do that in California.
@@geraldphan7780 Tell that to the countless Texans who cant
That can easily be done. Enter a trade and don't live in California, Oregon, Washington, or New York. It really isn't hard. Sure you can make more money in these areas but the increased cost of living makes you actually make less.
The unions, man. It was the unions.
Thanks equality!
One time I asked my older brother what "propaganda" meant. He looked at me and said "bullsh*t". Then he said if the "propaganda" was coming from the government then it meant "OFFICIAL bullsh*t". I'll never forget. 😊
That's a really bad definition actually.
You might want to look up what propaganda actually means again
did they just praised Monsanto? 16:32
Depends on the Bullsh!t. Good BS can grow good crops, but bad BS will make you sick by growing sick crops.
"PRIVACY IN THE HOME"
That block has been missing for many years now.
By that team in blue & white in the W????....
Explain this comment, please?
I think he referring to the block with that on it that was shown in the cartoon.
@@southsider9638 we don't havr privacy of communication anymore. Since 9/11, everything we say and type can potentially be recorded and used by the government and there are basically no significant legal barriers to stop them watching you for any reason.
@@southsider9638 Alexa, what is 1984?
And then Walmart opened next to Johnathan and offered hats made in the Orient for half the price that he could offer. Johnathan went out of business and and declared bankruptcy. He was eventually hired by Walmart to stock the hats on the shelves because he couldn't afford furthering his education or moving to somewhere with better job opportunities. Because Walmart kept his weekly hours low, Johnathan could not get employer subsidized healthcare, nor could he afford it on his own. He died of dysentery.
DahVoozel
*So accurate*
You can thank Richard Nixon for that because if was because of his policies at the time that started the eternal non payable debt we owe China now but HEY it basically capped off the cold war.
Or move to China and become the cheap outsource.
Sad truth for many. Except the last part
monopoly's are evil.
"we gotta improve the product or get beat by competition!"
Option 1: "no we dont. We just buy them."
Option 2: "are you kidding? They have a monopoly on the supply of the materials we use!"
Note the points about necessary taxes and the shorter workweek, too.
Say what you will about America but the soviet union and China have and had this problem a hundred times worse. China has immense difficulties researching anything because of this and Russia's growth stagnated because their factories had no avenue for promotion.
When the government enforces monopoly, yes.
@@mojus2890 China doesn’t really have to research anything, they just steal every idea and reverse engineer everything invented by American entrepreneurs and make it themselves at low cost and even lower quality.
option 3: "we'll petition our friends in government to bury our competition in litigation and drive them out of business."
Monopolies can only exist with government assistance.
Now if only someone can explain in a cartoon why so much of our manufacturing jobs went overseas out of greed, avoidance of worker safety laws, environmental regulations & no unions to deal with.
Blame environmentalists and unions both corrupt and perverted since their inception
Because Government.
@@MonfangHowlett Yep.
@@MonfangHowlett More like a lack of government.
@@Trashalchemy It's a massive part government making it outright illegal to compete and setting the bar of entry so high that unless you're already an established giant, you're not getting in, paired with incentives and policies to shift work out of the country starting around 1971, precisely on the front of trying to "Fix China" by giving them all our functioning organs.
If one had to drink a shot every time the narrator said "freedom" you'd be dead before Johnathan makes any profit.
*Laughing in Slav*.
For the US to actually do well, freedom was a VERY important concept. (Negative Rights)
If one had to drink a shot every time the poster made a "I'm a progressive who hates America" you'd be dead before you read this response.
I can't imagine our Government supporting this anymore... What a time.
Well yeah, the cold war is over now.
That Taxes part lol hilarious now.
The government didn’t support it then.
It’s a privately made educational cartoon.
People still make stuff like this today.
@@MJW238 Did you miss the giant US Chamber of Commerce title card at 0:15? The government paid for this propaganda, and made absolutely no effort to conceal that.
@@MJW238 the difference is politicians wouldn't publicly call these cartoons fascist propaganda
What an amazing country this portrays. I hope to some day visit. I was born and raised in the USA, so I doubt I'll ever get to see a place like this.
have your tried moving to the PRC then?
Yes! You should go live to China! Or Russia! But you can’t be homeless, they’ll haul you away to a camp! Then brag about having no homeless!!!
@@moderatethinker or you can stay in us where being homeless mean some random person can call cops to kick your arses or arrest your arse if you are a kid that throw tantrum at school or got send to jail for being meantally ill bechause people feel uncomfortable around you and you can't afford treatment for mental ill.
Almost same case in china exept healthcare is almost free, you cannot complain about goverment, you need to be carefull to retaliate against some person who randomly harass you out of nowhere bechause chance are they will made your life in the country a living hell, and last but not least you always need to be ready to get overworked by your employer while in us if you smart enought you can dodge bad deal from your employer most of the time.
@@APOKOLYPES It's easier to open a business there "far less regulation" and they give zero shits about the worker let that sink in.
Not defending China but there's a reason we are being handed our ass on a platter economically.
We and others continue to do business with them..
lol
"In 1900 workers had to work 10 hours a day, 6 days a week for provide their families with the bare essentials”
We regressed 120 years. Alot of workers I know have to work 7 days a week to afford rent.
also they don't mention that only men had to work while the women raised the family. Now it's two people, two full time jobs in many cases. Double the labor supply, half the wages. Feminism is the great equalizer alright, equal in despair.
......under trump my arnold ryd bread was $2.49... .....now it's $5.00 under biden. .....eggs are 5 dollars now ($2.19 under trump. .....cheese is 7 to 10 dollars. .....heating this winter was up 50 to 80%. ......and rent went up &500 dollars on average. .....biden is the worst president in my lifetime.
No. What’s changed is your definition of “bare essentials”. A family 120 years ago would be thrilled to have what you have today.
@@billyb4790 If you think my life is so easy then you work 7 days a week for months on end for me. To pay for heat, food, rent, water and transportation. Those are bare essentials. To afford these and have money left over Incase something happens, I have to work overtime.
@@billyb4790 .........so, .... the "bare essentials " according to you, is the cost from a hundred years ago to not starve, and to justify it together by modern moral standards. .....but not inflation, wokism, or 10% for the big guy?
.....and I wonder if democratic (socialist) cities were hellholes then too? .....I wonder what older standards would have to say?
Everyone has to pay taxes, except big corporations.
Because high corporate taxes are like shooting yourself in the foot
And million/billionaires
Nobody should be forcefully taxed. Period.
Then corpos would never pay taxes and roads would look like shit.
@@avinashhalscon8902roads already look like shit, & if you think taxes go to the roads think again.
"competition leads to improvement" EA, selling mechanics that came with the last game for 40 dollars as DLC:
More like EA buying their next company to ruin.
_For decades at this point and have owned a alarming monopolistic amount (and of also control: on what can happen next) in their respective industry, that has been allowed to go rampant for a rather absurdly longish amount of time now._
Because there isn't any competition
@@LiteralCrimeRave was about to say that, which is a problem.
Because there is any comoetition, still we start to see a comunity growing revolving around pointing thw flaws of the product.
Remember when this never happened. Look at the streets of Portland to see just how this dream came true.
I remember lockdowns and closing down of businesses. The essential vs non essential business was really just large multinational corporations vs small and medium sized businesses.
Sure was. Crazy how "essential" business workers are treated as the lowest of the low. Do people really treat what they need with such contempt or were they actually even essential
When? What was the date of your "look"
@@ericwilliams1659 I think it's pretty obvious they're referring to the passed three years
Hey, you know that bit in the movie about Americans knowing when to take back their freedoms from Government? Have you guys reached that point yet, or are you still busy starting your own civil war against opposition parties? Just wondering, because the world is losing faith in your country.
@@leppender2450 question? How many chances will the world give us(US)??
We promise to change if you would just give us another chance.
And now both parents work sometimes two jobs, and often kids are contributing again.
Because americans are overly invested in buying luxury goods. Massive TVs, the newest Iphones and devices, overpriced clothing, huge houses and state of the art cars that are really out of reasonable price ranges. People break their back to buy their kids trinkets and status symbols. Frivilous expenses have raised colossally, to the point where everyone in the country is clamoring for $500 shoes and $2k phones when they haven't even paid down their student loans yet. This country needs some serious financial education.
The economics of the wife staying home with the kids is better than you think. That's especially true if she appreciates that staying home is a valued job on its own, and she does it well.
Most women today have fallen for the lie that they are taken for granted if they stay at home.
@@krusk3544 Almost none of those goods you mentioned is made in America .
Therein lies the problem
@@deezynar Well sometimes the father simply ditches the mom and her kid. Let‘s not place all the blame on women.
@@pkwaf5863 What is your point?
Child labor ending 'because we had finally invested enough in business' is an.... interesting take. See, if you simply give the wealthy and powerful all the wealth and power, they'll do the right thing! (according to the wealthy and powerful)
*laughs in Nestlé*
It’s really a product of abundance. For the past couple of millennia, it was the norm for children to labor in order to survive. On the farms or in factories. Now, we have a superabundance that makes child labor unnecessary.
@@robertdolcetti1992 You're actually correct. The OP can complain all she wants about capitalism, but we are still benefitting from excess, despite the government-created monopolies and over-regulation, caused precisely by the same people Stephanie here wants to put in office. "A fat, bloated, self-serving tyrannical government is in power! Quick, make it bigger, pass more regulation! That'll show capitalism!" Little does she know, capitlism has left the door years ago. It's now an oligarchic mercantile state, and we've been huffing the success of a departed capitalism and impressively staying afloat all this time. Not sure how longer it will last though.
Touché
Touché Natalie
Can we appreciate, how they created an actually good jingle for fridge.
As opposed to modern "advertising" where you watch the ad and are left with...."WTF did I just watch and what was it supposed to be promoting?"
18:22 "therefore we shouldn't let our taxes reach a point where they destroy our ability to save and invest..." : I
true statement
It's more of a where you get those taxes from problem. We don't provide many of the services taxes were supposed to cover from the film anymore, but the average worker is paying more than ever.
They needed to talk about how small businesses need protection to prevent monopolistic corporations from dragging quality of life back a few centuries in the name of profit, a single worker doing 40hr simply cannot earn enough for a 4 person family anymore.
High taxes haven't "destroyed our ability to save and invest," low wages have. Unless you're wealthy, they've got way more than they could ever need to "save and invest."
@@Syncopator wouldnt a mandatory wage raise for entry level jobs handicap the current investment holdings? Often leading to massive downsizing and unemployment.
@@wulfbooy Decades ago, the minimum wage then was the equivalent of $24/hr now. Where was the "massive unemployment" back then? Didn't happen.
You guys are a great source of oldschool voice samples!
Economy back then: Phew, after 4 grueling hours of work a day, 3 days a week for one week, I now have enough money to retire at age 35 in my three-story house that I'll never have to worry about paying for ever again!
Economy now: After 23 hours a day, 7 days a week, every single day doing grueling manual labor for 40 years, I now have enough money to afford one (1) third of a snicker's bar from 7/11
Lol what a load of hyperbole. Get a grip. Go identify as transgender and get some pity cash or something.
Simple
Drink 5 5 hour energys and enter the forbidden hour of the day
@@garyslayton8340 goat
So true.
Work smarter lol
If only this was the reality we lived in
Mind you, this cartoon is 70 years old and things are bound to change within that massive timespan.
@@skibididopyesdop But did þey have to change for þe worse?
The true nightmare is that it is
The money was undermined, our prosperity went into the hands of corporation, and war became oh so profitable, and shortages abound.
It used to be. Then we the ppl quit demanding integrity & accountability from our elected officials. It went downhill from there
Jobs overseas that is cheaper and requires less to no worker safety makes jobs in America impossible to compete without essentially being slavery. We should just boycott monopolies and start shopping at community businesses instead. No Amazon, no Walmart, and avoid buying gas for cars and tickets for airlines, as those are also monopolies.
Is like Globalism made even workers compete against each other at world level.
Yes stop buying gas. In America? With our transportation infrastructure? Forget it.
I just buy based off who sells the same product for the cheapest price. Force businesses to lower there prices that way
One thing that always confuse me is that the one thing that I learned in school as a law is that monopolies are illegal, but I see multiple net monopolies I see several companies that hold full control over an entire market and if anyone wants to come into the market as a competitor, they just buy them out liquify the assets like I thought monopolies were illegal, but how in the hell is America essentially ran by four major corporations
@@Helfirehydra monopolies are illegal but paying politicians is not. it is completely legal to pay a politician for any reason even including the writing of laws.
120 years ago many man had to work 10 hours a day six days a week to earn enough money to provide their family’s with the bare essentials. Many young people had to work/forego the opportunity for an education. This statement is true today I worked instead of a education so my younger sister would have a chance and even with a partner (women weren’t allowed to work let alone vote then) she works as much as me yet we still cannot save buy property or plan for a family it’s shocking to think it’s worse now than a over decade ago.
Well, americans thought that reaganism an neoconservatism is a good idea. Now you have the result of it.
@@TOFKAS01 yes there is a video on the isms ,ism will break you down slowly and you won't even realize it ,think of it as you being a frog in a pot getting hotter and hotter but by the time you realize it ,your being boiled alive .
Meanwhile countries with Huge Governments like Norway and China are thriving.
Do you feel it trickling down yet?
@@neoxyte That's why they called us peons!
My grandfather never finished elementary school. His father was a drunk, his mother was dead and gone. He worked to live. He always felt he wasn't smart because he never finished school. He knew more about almost everything than I did and I finished school. He was so street smart because of the way he had to live. This was before the Cold War, but I thought I would share his story
Brady Your grandfathers situation made him a good person with strong ethics. His life was way more fulfilling than the youth today. Look at the college kids today, they show up to school to protest and skip class yet they are going to school on our tax dollars through government grants. They show up to school to burn flags. Having an education might contribute to making you book smart but not street smart with common sense. I have a grandparent who was born in the 19th century. Worked as a kid until he was in his 50s and because of that ethic they were able to live comfortable lives.
exactly.
brady robertson That just goes to show how useless the things we're taught in school are.
You should collect his tips and wise words
endria evenhive that's exactly why you Americans haven't change since the 18th centuries. still the same personality..
So america is back again to 1900....low wages...
Bjarne Nielsen australian mcdonalds worker make $16 per hour
not all form of socialism is bad.
australia was the worker's utopia before uncle sam started a coup there.
Add value
Only this time, there's a chance it won't come back up.
@@raynoldregan3669 australian mcdonalds worker make $16 per hour. Yeah, but he has to pay most of it back in taxes. You can't compare wages paid in different countries without factoring in taxes and the cost of living. If you get paid $100/hour and a cheeseburger cost $100, are you really better off? ...and let's not forget liberty. Just making a living is only part of the picture; how about your freedom? What are you allowed to do?
@@lizardking8388 hes not allowed to own gun and protect his family lol salty boi
God this aged like fuckin milk. I've been working different jobs since I turned 14 to have spending money for the future and raise my daughter. I just turned 20 and am back living with a family member. My grandparents would tell the stereotypical "Back when I was your age everything costed a dime or less" story whenever the topic of taxes or sales prices get brought up. Good God I wanna live in those days, where I can actually afford to live a life of independence from my family and not have to pay exuberant prices for the bare bones essentials.
Knowing the cartoons of my youth were inspired by UPA style cartoons like these, I wish this style would come back.
Also love that of our taxes going to schools, health, fire, and police protection, today it all basically goes into police "protection"...
not to mention companies getting so big that improving product to keep themselves afloat is no longer necessary!
I think more people need to watch this video. I think we messed up somewhere…
it was bound to happen, Competition isn't forever, someone has to win it at one point
I disagree. In business, there is always room to improve and evolve. Companies that refuse don’t deserve to keep “winning.”
@@PeachWookiee Sure there is always room to improve, but when it comes to profit, improving and profiting doesn't always align with each other. When a company is big enough they're going to keep winning rather they deserve to or not. You may be familiar with a historical story where in 1924 a group of light bulb manufactures got together to institute plan obsoletes into their light bulbs. In this case the product got worse and the companies were winning.
And there's a reason Standard Oil isn't a company anymore.
It started when þe auto industry blamed pedestrians for getting killed by inattentive drivers. Even made up a word to describe þem, þough I doubt you've heard of it: jaywalker.
@@PeachWookiee no but if they have cartel like powers they don't have to. If one can simply buy out the competition then why bother
Right to privacy in the home, right to own private property, freedom of religion, right to the fruit of your own labor, and right to bargain with your employer are only some of the tools of liberty
Slowly all these rights have been dying.. you may be too old to notice
@@victorherrera6714 excuse me?
LOL, that cartoon was before capitalist outsourcing. Now, the top employer in the US is the service-sector.
Well put together! It would be interesting to produce another one describing what is currently going on, why and solutions.
On the job training was common in 1954 which is the best way to keep people employed. It's silly to require a degree for most occupations. You need a degree for the Sciences like Medicine but everything else is basically up for debate. Come on in California all you have to do is pass the bar exam and you can get a licence to practice law.
On the Job Training is just a fancy way of saying "Free Training" witch still exists today. No one gets paid to Train someone. It should be common practice to pay employees extra money to train new employees. but because they are not payed extra they do not train new employees. they "throw them into the lions den" and then act as tho they have trained them. I would not work in a place that doesn't actively teach me my job.
"just pass the bar exam" lol have you ever seen a bar exam?
@@jasonmnosaj Learning how to do your job is literally what your employer pays you to do.
@@jasonmnosaj What? Idk where you've worked, but everywhere I've worked they have designated "trainers" (who also do normal stuff on average day-to-day, but when new people come in they train them. Like on the schedule their work shift that day says "training") and they specifically get paid more/extra whenever they are training
Sure your job may have trainers, but not all jobs. I've worked jobs that were consistently short staffed, which meant my training was pretty much being shown a few pp slides and then thrown in the fire, with a shadow of course, and even with the shadow I still had to teach myself most of what I needed to know, because they barely knew anything.
team fortress 2 hat capitalism
The part about taxes is very realistic, if you look closely you'll see that vacuum sucks off more money from the "small people". The "Profits" paper bag gets about halved, while the factory worker loses all his money but three bills.
Half of people who file a return pay NO taxes
You do realize that the top 1% of taxpayers pay 40% of all taxes right?
And the top 10% pay 70% of all taxes.
You’re contribution isn’t even noticeable.
@@AlexPerazaTV *Your
@@AlexPerazaTV 50% of people pay NO taxes or get a subsidy
@@wurmfutter8974 You're ;) still wrong about the taxes. Please read Rich dad Poor dad. I'm mispelling you're to make sure you remember this comment deep into your memory.
More people need to see these cold war era cartoons
Yea his stuff is actually good, for the most part.
This was long before the cold War era.
@@renebrock4147 Point still stands that more people need to see these cartoons.
@@renebrock4147 The cold war era began in the 1947-48 timeframe. This film was produced in 1954.
@@renebrock4147 I'ts 1954 - pretty much cold war era
some people might plug that $318 into an inflation calculator and it spits out a MASSIVE number like $3500, but you have to understand that heavy duty electrical appliances and electronics were MUCH more expensive back then due to significantly lower production efficiency and the fact that almost all of them were built in the United States with most manufacturers using almost entirely vertical integration (a now mostly inefficient way of manufacturing). If they used modern cost saving efficiencies, globalization, and horizontal integration like most companies today, they fridge would cost maybe $100 or around $1200 in today's dollars. I really don't like comparing the price of most electrical goods from "yesteryear" with today's goods because so much has changed to significantly lower the price of these types of goods over the years. And yes, $300 was considered a "good" price for a quality refrigerator back it the day, the price of a very high end fridge today.
Our appliances are also much better today: more energy efficient, more adaptable, and less polluting.
Thirty or forty years past, we were all considered as: "Customers"; as in the customer is always right, or customer service, or our valued customers, customer satisfaction guaranteed to please,
Nowadays lately, we are all mostly all considered and referred to as: "Consumers"; as in the useless eaters.
Ahhh good old capitalism
Just remember, the taxes were divided between local, state and federal. Local taxes went to health, not federal.
and back then "health" was more of public health measures that affected everyone such as clean water and sanitation, not an individual's situation such as a broken leg or a disease
long time no see
it mentioned nothing about universal healthcare. I don't think you were paying attention.
they clearly showed a hospital and not sanitation services - so yes they were talking about hospitals... don't muddy the waters.
What they leave out is that workers had to form unions, protest, and strike to get the 40 hour week (often at the threat of violence). They also left Slavery out of the building part at the beginning (Gee I wonder why).
Some of those who set foot on this country's shores had no right to make a better life for themselveds. They were called "slaves".
they would rather live in america than go back to africa today
I know, this thing is so spoof-able.
May I propose a thought to you about that though? Yes slavery was terrible and wrong, but if your grandfather kills a man to get his property, should we just throw away everything you own? No, of course not. Do we need to make sure it never happens again? Yes, of course so. Yes, we are on top of a bloody mess, but so are most other countries, and even if we were the only country to have slavery, throwing away ALL parts of our country is not worth it. To put everything in one sentence, yes our grandparents did bad, but that doesn’t mean we need to punish ourselves, instead let’s just build a better place for EVERYONE.
@@aduckwithgrapes9572 they wouldn't throw it away. If it was a grandfather we should definitely give it back to who it was stolen from.
I can't imagine the current Chamber of Commerce having anything to do with this cartoon. You know, the part about negotiating with the business owner for higher wages given how much the current CoC's support of cheap imported labor that works at below market wages.
that tells you a lot about the power of labour-unions in the US at that time. They were so powerful that no one could ignore them or even be against them.
You do understand that by doubling the workforce by having women join has devalued labor right? You can't blame that on the businesses blame that on women's lib
Not to mention the letter, from later Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell, to The President of The United States Chamber of Commerce; a copy of which was provided to Journalist Jack Anderson and named "The Powell Manifesto", in which Justice Powell outlined how Republicans could gain, and hold, power.
@@jonnymahony9402 Ronald Reagan also gave the "green light; to the "union-busting" already well under way, with His Supreme Court Appointments, His Appointees to the Offices of Secretary of Commerce, of Labor, of the Interior, and Attorney General; and His breaking of the PATCO Strike, after His Secretary of Labor had stalled negotiations, for at least six months. The PATCO Leaders had "miscalculated", and should have taken their case, to The Public, first; because they had legitimate issues to raise (besides pay increases), and apparently felt that Reagan would not fire them, but they were wrong. Reagan's tactic effectively shut down the Airline Industry in The United States, for six months; and told Businessmen that "He had their backs", and could do anything they wanted to, to their workers.
I really do appreciate that while this short tries to still a sort of hopeful optimism it also lets you know that you should be sensible as to what business you're investing your money into
A modern version of this would tell you that "money arrow only go up"
More people in the early to mid 1900's recognized the difference between a need and a want. Contentment now days is highly under rated.
@Dean Clark I do have a washing machine, but no dryer, so hang just about everything. If my washer crapped out and I had to wash everything in my bathtub I would survive. Luckily there is a lake just a few blocks away in case my water were ever turned off. We can laugh at this kind of stuff now but if things keep heading the direction they have for the last two years none of us will be laughing... except maybe the folks in Washington.
essential and non essential enterprise .. this reminds me of something
I love how america was proud of capitalism and freedom in the old days. Now days they are ashemed of it
"And verily, me thinks I'm worth more moolah" - Jonathon, 1954
The temptation to use this
@@TheAlpacalypseIsUponUs I know right?
The major corporations have gone _way_ too far by now, there really should be some laws to better help small businesses, as well as some kind of tariff or law that brings production back to the US, which would not only bring many, _many_ valuable jobs back to the American people, but also would give less reason for the overseas eastern Asia companies to treat their workers like dirt
Fewer laws thanks, smaller govt. The entire federal govt was once run on tariffs.
Simple: prohibit the import of anything that can be/is made in the US. Special low tariffs for anything imported from decent countries like England and Australia. Punishing tariffs for anything imported from China. It will boost American industry, meanwhile starving the CCP. WIN-WIN.
Yeah, bring the manufacturing jobs back to America so American workers can be exploited again with Union busting
that factory looks so dystopian ong
And then a business that's not a monopoly because another business the same size and owned by a bigger business who also owns them both is right down the road begins to lobby laws making it extremely hard to sell his products, keeps the street blocked from pedestrians with anti loitering laws keeping him from advertising, has underpaid workers over seas making them afford to cut prices extremely low and eventually takes over his property after he can't afford and expands their own business or they buy him out and use him for his own designs paying him a fraction of what he'd make on his own.
Well what happens when business owners start producing outside the country to avoid paying taxes, fair wages, and expansion of business?
It’s ironic we call this propaganda when literally all I see nowadays is propaganda.
we need to show this in colleges and universities and schools everywhere
As the way things used to work, businesses dont work like this anymore.
@Charlie Botterell intervention
@Charlie Botterell why you say that?
This version of America doesn't exist anymore. The right of bargaining (mentioned in the video) has been completely destroyed and now the biggest companies like Amazon, Walmart, and Tesla are union-busters.
@@popularhistory6118 the big companies are the ones that make local enterprise impossible because they use the chicoms for labor
This film was a warning about government spending that was not take seriously
It seems no one ever learns that the more you demand from the state, the more the state demands of you.
such a basic principle.
Taxpayers are the wallets of politicians who spend money without accountability.
If you had access to an unlimited account would you budget???
Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.
No, not really. Its just a matter of how and where the state spends its money and to text big businesses instead of the average person. Here in Germany we pay about the same taxes as you Americans but nevertheless we have free colleges/universities, public healthcare, unemployment benefits, etc.
@@niggolas9492 yeah bc your taxes are spent bettering the people/country… in the US most of the taxes collected goes into paying for the military to destroy the Middle East and install fascist dictators into countries that dare doing too much socialism. If the US wasn’t an imperialist hellhole (and if they taxed billionaires and corporations the way they did back when this propaganda toon was made)… they’d be able to pay for healthcare and anti poverty and education initiatives.
But bombing brown people is more important
@@niggolas9492 Hmm. What are gas prices like where you’re from?
There is something wrong at 6:20!
That's not how we do nowadays. You don´t reinvest in your company in order to come up with a better design.
You rather invest in marketing in order to convince the people you have the better product.
Or you pay people to sabotage the competition.
An other legit way is to make sure the fellow politicians make regulations in order to forbid the competition's product. (Greetings to Siemens in Germany).
Or how about outsourcing your production to China? Or get cheap resources from there?
I bet many of my options are more popular but did perhaps not fit the agenda of this movie.
Keep in mind that this was made in the 50's before labor deportation, and lobbying became commonplace thanks to a corrupt government. As for marketing, there's a reason why we have review critics, it's not the company's fault if the consumer is too stupid to notice that he bought an inferior product.
Or, if you live in post communist bloc country, Germany just flods you with its money and investment, sweeping all enterprises away from your people.
Or buy off government to entrench your monopoly.
This business system has one big flaw the management isn't putting money back in to the business its pocketing it
Then why aren't they being destroyed by the Competition?
So?
So this is where MatPat got that footage for the Death Star video
I love this channel, I am glad to have these all in one place.
The Rise And Fall Of Toys R Us Brought Me Here
Nice
An old-school American dream. Good products and continuous improvements for proper profits. It makes (mostly) everybody happy. I love the idea.
Though, it might just be a dream since making people over-excited is much easier to make money.
in the film debtocracy was the same caatoonist who mande the
explanation drawings . was very good about debts .
This seemed pretty spot-on to me, not propaganda. The overall message is to "keep government in check".
I wonder if today's economic system is putting too much emphasis on operating the savings train...
Wondering if anyone is taking into consideration who's ultimately going to pay those extremely large relief allocations, and the pork attached to them.
Today, savings wont make you rich anymore. The economy change, now investing is the new saving.
With better returns too
Yep
@@darnit1944 but why can’t I just work and be able to afford a place to live
@@devonsteny8711 Price hike is a bitch, isn't it?
Omg I remember seeing this on tv as a kid. The good days when cartoons had substance and a message. Cartoons stopped being fun around the late 90’s.
"Back in my day"
@@nathaniel5272 no. I love cartoons. It’s just not easy finding something to watch that makes me laugh, or something that don’t make me feel stupid or brain fried after watching it. Most recent cartoons don’t have a message. Cartons when I was a kid and before I was born all had some sort of message. It usually revolved around just being a kind person or being a patriot. May seems boring to rude punks that obviously don’t care about being nice, but people who grew up learning to be a productive part of society appreciate that art of what animation once was.
@@HaHaHaYouFool9439 oh okay my bad I thought you were just some older person disliking newer cartoons due to not growing up with them
my apologies
@@nathaniel5272 I’m almost 40 and have no problem watching cartoons as long as they are good. Recently I’ve been watching a ton of anime.
I’m not sure I would call this fun!
Johnathon didn’t have to pay taxes as an income tax wasn’t around when Tricornes were popular💀
This should be in every single shop from kindergarten to college.
14:43
This looks very relevant today
The films on this channel provide us a look into the American ideal. Yes, we've lost a lot of ground over the years, but these films can provide a unifying vision for us to get behind and work towards. We need to do more than just complain about what America has become. We need to fight to restore the dream. Cynicism gets us nowhere.
"How to Recognize Propaganda" is a film on this channel you should watch.
From your name, I'm guessing you're the enemy! I know I am!
Half of my family emmigrated to America from Galway during the 50s, my grandfather ended up staying, possibly the best choice of his life despite the economic hardships that would come for him in the 60s-80s staying behind, his descendents now enjoy healthcare privileges, a better and more stable salary then they could've bargained for in America and relative stability in the free market of the EU.
Greetings from Ireland.
These videos have been inspiring to me.
😂😂😂😂😂😂Dream on.
Oh the comments will be so incredibly helpful… 😥
1954: high high quality, low low price
2023: low low quality, high high price
why isn't this atleast shown once in classrooms?
I think maybe it was in 1954-- that was about the last time very much of it was accurate.
When i grew up Most Families where able live on One income And Buy a Home put food on the table pay Bills and have More than One kid
I'm 70 years old. My father had a well paying trade and was union. We had 8 children and lived in a four room apartment which includes the kitchen. There wasn't reliable birth control then and a lot of families were large. When I was young we didn't have a car, we used public transit. (NYC) Mothers as a rule rarely worked especially with many children. All meals were home made from raw products. Freezers were tiny so food shopping was at least every two days. My mother would give me money and a list and I picked up the items on the way home from school. Sometimes for tomorrow's dinner if it was to be soup or stew. They're probably the most economical meals since it goes a long way with few expensive ingredients if any. We got three meals at least out of one chicken. Clothing was hand me downs. As the oldest I got my Uncle's stuff since he was only 5 years older than me. I can show you a photograph of a yellow and white checked shirt with brown shorts worn by my Uncle, me and my two brothers.
The government wasn't all that generous. My father was hospitalized a couple of times over two years and we lived on relief(welfare). It barely covered our food needs. For clothing we were expected to go to thrift stores or hit up the Deacons at church for clothing from the donations of clothes. It was hard on me as I'd entered puberty and had outgrown everything. My Uncle wasn't growing anymore and there were no more hand me downs from him.
But the schools were better and we didn't take buses. No one lived more than four or five blocks from the school. The teachers were mostly Jewish ladies, mostly old. Some of them taught my parents. We were educated by them not indoctrinated.
We could still find a job where the employer trained you for the work. I went to Ma Bell in 1969 where I learned the basics of telephony. After I was drafted I decided to join the Navy. There you could be more than a Grunt. I was put into a field that used my experience plus added additional knowledge not pertinent to telephony. I had leadership experience which came in handy when I was laid off in 1985 and started my own business.
Government left us alone in those days. You made your own decisions and followed your own inclinations. The attitude of many was that government came with too many complications and restrictions for the little help you got. I still believe that and it is much worse today. That's never going to change and in fact it will get even worse as people more and more expect the government to be a family member, mother, father, husband, etc. Every crisis gives the government more opportunity to run our lives.
And then someone elected Reagan who thought "if you give more money to the top 1%, they might spend more for the rest of the country". You know what? They did not ;)
@@nils9853 what are you Talking About i was in the Service when peanut Carter was Presdent and the only People with Money where the socialist Elites . When i got. Outlet Reagan was President i got a Good paying Job and made Money Hand over fist in Labor i was in constuction in LA Business was Booming for everyone Tech was just starting out cable t v companies where Growing industry was growing i dont give a dann about the One precent Sounds like your envious of those who Made it big or where Born Rich Lucky them. Im happen with what I have I worked for it I earned it no one gave me anything so quite blaming others put on your big boy pants and get to work stop whining about Reagan the Mans died get over it.
@@thomasarcher171 Just look up the numbers. Carter and Clinton both had higher rates of job creation then Reagan. Also the percentage of income which was safed by the anerican housholds starts falling step in Reagans Terms.
In economic courses all over the world Reaganomics are tought as the example to destroy the middle class.
@@thomasarcher171 a "socialist elite" is literally a contradictory statement.
Wow its like they had a crystal ball looking into the future to today.
Why?
Its not just propaganda. The cartoon makes some good points. Ahy syatem can be subverted and mainly that is due to interlectual property, occupational licensure, and the high artificial oost of healthcare per unit of care. Add in the private university ripoff and states pulling funding from the per student subsidies for state universities and you have trouble.
But calitalism works. You just have to let it.
1:43 is not just a joke, it's a hint.
This pretty much has changed completely.
Nah, it was lies back then and it still is now.
17:33 this is the crazy train ozzy osbourne was talking about
This is one of the best carton I ever watch ...this is part of history...
Yeah a rather fabricated history
@@robertsimpson8292
It's the truth, you stupid little socialist
@@pmv2015 it's just a adorable, that a child thinks he knows what world is like.
Dumb little stooge of capitalist
15:40 yeah that don't happen like that anymore. Also, 17:20 people really need to learn that lesson.
It's funny stuff about when the principal character Jonathan was being his own boss. That's protect your investments and cut your taxes. It's also good that we didn't fight the 2nd Cold War against Russia.
Those workers in the developed countries like America benefit from the superprofit extracted from the impoverished workers of developing countries. That is the freedom we're talking about.
“Occasionally some of us pick a lemon and have to take a loss”
The Wall Street goons run the casino, you’re always gonna pick a lemon
I don't know what you're talking about. 80% (that might be an underestimate) of my investments turn a profit, enough to give me a solid rate of return after accounting for the losses. The keys are to research your investments, diversify, and invest for the long term.
@@andrewpatton5114 Look at the Nikkei stock index, which still hasn't recovered losses from 40 years ago lol
17:17 “But with our present tax load, we should avoid pressuring government for any new services that aren’t absolutely necessary. Because we all know the more our government provides the more taxes it’s forced to collect.” This statement is something Democrats completely ignored for a last two decades.
Next I want to see them cover Late Stage Capitalism, same style & voice if possible
Only extremely gullible people think Marxism has any valid points.
Oh? And the USSR?
Funny how this old cartoon mentioned nothing about the possibility of National Debt....
"This enables the worker to earn 2x as much as a worker in 1900 in a 8hr workday. This gives us more leisure time to enjoy a standard of living beyond the wildest dreams of anyone a half-century ago." Or 70 years later.
Cold War cartoon predicts future.
Yep, the commies won even though their countries crumbled. It's ironic.
Ahh, so you are an idiot who doesn’t understand what words mean?
"It's Everybody's Business" actually sounds like a communist slogan.
Yes, there you see how much a real democracy and socialism have in common. Strong Individualism and neoconservatism destroys not just dictatorships, but civil democracys too.
@@TOFKAS01 always said that democracy is a tool of commies, finally someone admits it
@@TOFKAS01 bro socialism is literally dictatorship pills
In the credits, it says this film was financed by the DuPont Company, one of the largest chemical corporations which also recently merged with Dow Chemical.
And then the government allowed Jonathan to pay some of his profit to his congressman in exchange for his vote for laws which will make Jonathan more rich than he could have ever imagined.... But Jonathon still needed more, so he did it again
Ain't that the truth. That's precisely what happened next.
*globalism entered the chat*
American, which has been at war since it was created, speaks to us of peace
I love cartoons like this instead of watching superheros which does not exist really..
Skip ahead to the post Reagan years, and we the people can't afford even an apartment.
Maybe because of inflation......caused by the us going off the gold standard in 1971?
@@stevenodland
Inflation isn't the problem. It's wages not keeping up with cost of living that's the problem. That's due to weakening unions, not increasing the minimum wage for decades, and getting government out of the economy and financial lives of billionaires.
Inflation, btw, was happening long before we went off the gold standard, and when Greece tried to return to the gold standard it crippled their economy.
Our solutions do not lie in the past, but in the future.
@@Mechaghostman2 you should do some research on fiat currencies........you’ll see government caused inflation is the most likely cause of your problems.
@@stevenodland
Inflation isn't the problem. The Scandinavian countries also have inflation, but the people there are paid more than Americans compared to cost of living.
It's having weak ass unions, no increase in the minimum wage, and loose laws on the rich that are the problem.
@@Mechaghostman2 I thought Scandinavian countries have loose business rules? And don't they use collective bargaining to determine wage? Also don't some of them not even have minimum wage laws? Or I think that's just Denmark actually.
Minimum wage in 1950 was .75 cents an hour. the fridge they were selling cost 318. That is 424 times the hourly wage. Because of offshoring, fridges do not cost that today. This fridge would cost over 12,000 dollars in todays money. The Chinese will do it for a thousand dollars
424 work hours? Like... ~10 to 12 weeks worth of savings?
I know that min wage in the US is between 7.5 to 15 USDs an hour. 100~200 hours would get you a chinense fridge, about 3 to 5 weeks of savings (~$1500 USD), or 700 hours/~18 weeks of work for the $12.000 USD USA made fridge.
Huh, something seems off.
17:26 "We want more." Except now it's more like "We want less " I actually agree with this capitalist vision of the U.S.. But as it said, our taxes pay for schools, healthcare, national parks and the police and stuff. Back when our standard of living was at Its peak. But now people march in the streets saying that they want less taxes. Less taxes to people who earn $40,000 a year is like $3 every paycheck. That would be considered a major "tax break.". Take the $3 and make our schools good again. Pay for the healthcare of all Americans. No one should have to raise money for a surgery or something. But instead we tie our healthcare to our employer and the result is that we pay way more out of our paychecks than other countries and we get worse healthcare. Capitalism doesn't mean corporatist oligarchy. Obviously common sense restrictions are a necessity.
The government limiting things during ww2 like that. Something i didnt know. Knew about the rationing and bonds, but the economy and taxes i did not know about.
Looks like a major problem is "plowing profits back into the business"ie raises, r&d pensions, etc... instead it seems the phrase profit taking appears way too often when listening to stock market reports.
The problem with profits is that you can get a lot more of them if you close the factory that has been open in Ohio or Michigan for a century and move it to Mexico, Japan, or China. There you only have to pay the workers $40 a week instead of $15 an hour. And no pesky retirement, health insurance, or safety regulations, either. More profits, and all you had to do was screw over generations of workers and the town that made you successful in the first place.
1950s you work a regular job you get a raise based on performance you can save money to make your own business or start your own family or buy your own house and still have money to spare
2023 you work two jobs minimum wage no performance based raises you can barely afford rent you don’t have a choice in what food you can eat. You only can eat the cheapest you could never afford a house or business without a loan. And you’re in mountains of debt just to keep the lights on or to feed yourself and if you have a family you just screwed especially if you don’t have a college career but it to have a college career you have to occur a lifetime worth of debt and then maybe if you’re lucky you’ll pay off the debt before you die and if you don’t or if the unforeseen happens, your family has to deal with that the middle class is disappearing rapidly while the lower class is growing 1% of the people has 99% of the wealth
These things maybe rights that are within America but that doesn’t mean it’s possible anymore because let’s just say for example, I want to start my own hat business and run my own hat store. There is absolutely no way I would be able to work at a hot store, save up money to one day buy my own business and start my own hat store. If I won’t even have a chance, I’ll have to take out a loan and then I would need to also find investors before the business even starts, and if I can get my business off the ground and start getting it going, if I become a threat to my competitors, they will buy me out regardless if I agree or not because they can just buy on my shares, get majority control and then sell off the business just to keep me out as a competitor, which is not a very democratic way to run businesses that you can literally bully your competitors out of business based on the amount of money you already have because how am I supposed to compete against a mega corporation when I just want a small little business of my own but they were literally under cut my prices, or buy my business just to make my business fail, and I’ve seen it happen in my town where the new store comes to town everything it’s cheaper at the local Walmart and then as soon as that store closes, everything becomes more expensive again