The cartoon "Make
The cartoon Make Mine Freedom was developed to encourage people to reject communism and, therefore, showed the detrimental effects that communism could have had on the main social groups making up the US society. These included workers, farmers, and managers (capitalists). The rejection by communism of the major capitalist principle of private property is seen as the basis for developing social oppression and depriving citizens of all their basic civil rights. John Q. Public represents the capitalists system as the guarantee of human development and the protection of human rights and exposes other “ism”, which are both the socioeconomic systems and ideologies and, primarily, communism as the main ideological opponent of capitalism. In the cartoon, John Q.
Public looks convincing enough, as he is more knowledgeable than the other characters representing different social groups and, therefore, understands the manipulative strategies of Soviet propaganda. He exposes it to these other groups, who were almost taken in by the pro-communist rhetoric. However, the statements that people of all creeds and religions were free and equal is an exaggeration, particularly in 1948 when the cartoon was made. The cartoon’s humorous representation of the concepts of human rights and “scenes” from the lives of typical Americans made it more appealing to the audience. The arguments in the film compare the Communist system to the Capitalist system making it a stark contrast, with the advantages of the latter exaggerated and disadvantages ignored, while the former is presented in the opposite way. This approach ignores the fact that rights provided for by the US Constitution have been often violated while Communist countries provided free education and health care to their citizens. Representation of CommunismCommunism is a utopia that promises various rights and privileges but, in fact, deprives people of basic rights
It is a totalitarian system, with the government planning and control of economic relations and citizens’ human rights Private property is forbidden; instead of it, communal property is made the economic basis of society A one-party system with tight control over citizens, which bans any dissident movements
Representations of Capitalism
Private property is the basis of the capitalist economic system
Freedom of speech and assembly is one of the fundamental rights provided in the capitalist society
Entrepreneurship is encouraged and its development is guaranteed by the capitalist system
Different partiers including those opposed to the government system can operate in the capitalist society In this unit, I have learned to see and understand the development of various political and social trends in their close association. For example, different political parties and groups became active after the Civil War, when the country started its new stage of historical development, in conditions that were very different from its pre-war state. The second point that I understood is that the political life of such “intensive” periods is usually characterized by controversies and irreconcilable differences, and the true meaning and impact of political programs and …
