Perspective

[helderheid]

[gateley]

1. God. Sobering and true. nt

[helderheid]

2. Thanks for kicking

[otherlander]

3. k&r

[helderheid]

4. Thanks for kicking

[helderheid]

5. k

[Solly Mack]

6. already R'd it

now I'll K it

[helderheid]

7. Thanks Solly Mack!

:hi:

[El Pinko]

8. This illustrates the comfort level of the artist.

Maybe he is in a big SUV and the gas prices are little more than an annoyance to him.

But the insane runup in the price of oil will translate to homelessness, joblessness and hunger for millions of Americans. It may not be a natural disaster, but it is a disaster that will exact a serious human toll, and the smugness of a middle-class dude who is not REALLY affected by what's going on in the economy is actually a bit offensive to me.

[helderheid]

9. BULLSHIT. You don't know Bagley.

[El Pinko]

10. I know the mentality.

"Oh, we here in America have it so good. Look at what's going on in X country".

Speak for your damn self. There are a lot of people in a dire situation right here, and the oil/gas/credit/RE bubble are creating the perfect storm to deal a death blow to millions of the poor while the wealthy will at most forego a Caribbean vacation or the purchase of a bottle of Dom (maybe).

It must be nice to watch the gas/oil prices soaring without the sense of real dread it gives a lot of people.

[helderheid]

11. I don't think this cartoon is making light of the poor in America.

[El Pinko]

12. I'm sure it's well-intentioned.

Just saying that he seems to have the same blindness to what happens to the underclass in an economic downturn that most middle and upper-class Americans seem to have.

I thought it was appropriate since the title of the post was "perspective" and the only perspective the comic showed was the juxtapotition of well-off Americans in their SUVs vs. those suffering in Asia. Were it only that all Americans were that comfortable!

[EOTE]

13. And he doesn't know the Americans for whom this issue is truly a disaster.

Homelessness and hunger are two very large issues to arise from this.

[kentuck]

14. A picture is worth a thousand words.

More evidence.

[magellan]

15. Bagley's off the mark on this

There's always someone who's worse off than you are. But using the "spoiled American" symbol as contrast to the human tragedies in Burma and China is small comfort to the many American families who have lost loved ones or are living in pain due to lack of access to proper health care, and/or who've lost or are in the process of losing their homes and jobs, and can't afford to put food on the table. Minimizing the suffering of poor Americans, which I think we can all agree is a fast-growing demographic, is counter-productive to getting them the help they urgently need. And they have no less right to that help than earthquake and cyclone victims in other countries.

Bagley would have done much better to contrast the two left panels with two more: representatives of the Burmese junta in full regalia and paunch, and affluent Chinese with iPods and pollution-belching cars.

[El Pinko]

16. Yeah...

...what you said.