Debt Sentence (www.coxandforkum.com, June 16, 2005)
Summary: This political cartoon depicts an overweight white man carrying a briefcase emblazoned with “G8” and giving a thumbs-up to a malnourished, poverty stricken black man wearing a shirt titled “Africa,” who has an enormous ball and chain shackled around his neck that says “Political Oppression.” The white man is saying “Good news my fine fellow! You know that burdensome $40 billion debt? Poof! It’s gone!” and the man representing Africa responds with, “How ’bout ‘poofing’ that?” and pointing to the “Political Oppression” he is shackled to.
Topic: Should the state department of the Obama Administration double foreign aid for Africa?
Category: Citizen Commentator Blog
What Is It? Political Cartoon
Title: Debt Sentence
Publication Information: www.coxandforkum.com, June 16, 2005
Author: John Cox and Allen Forkum
Location: http://www.coxandforkum.com/archives/2005_06.html
Accessed: March 2, 2009
Support:
• Reuters, Bush Pledges to Speed Up Aid to Africa
• Men’s News Daily, Capitalism is the Cure for Africa’s Problems by Andrew Bernstein (via Harry Binswanger)
• South African Institute of International Affairs, The private sector, political elites and underdevelopment in Sub-Saharan Africa by Moeletsi Mbeki.
This political cartoon appears in a blog entry where it is followed by excerpts from these three articles. The excerpts provide context for the cartoon and background information regarding the message contained within the parody. The Reuters article sets the scene and states the facts of the situation. The Men’s News Daily article provides the counter-argument that the solution for debt relief presented in the Reuters article will not work and presents the idea that Africa needs freedom before it needs any more foreign aid. The last article provides support for the second article by re-stating that Africa is not free and that even the private sector is oppressed by its own lack of political power.
Audience and Agenda: This particular cartoon has a fairly small audience. It is on the Cox and Forkum blog, which is primarily used for the promotion of Cox and Forkum cartoons and books. They are not syndicated but their cartoons do appear in such periodicals as Investor’s Business Daily, The Detroit News, and a few appear in the movie FahrenHYPE 9/11. They say themselves that many believe they are conservatives, so that may reflect the majority of their audience. Their blog and website are funded through fan donations and advertisements.
Usefulness: This cartoon argues the point that when the G8 eliminates African debt, it’s just scratching the surface of the problem, so that action alone won’t ultimately achieve its goal. Political oppression is so rampant throughout many African nations that the only way for debt relief and aid to work is for there to be a reform in either the aid system, the African governments, or both. The articles used in this blog are fairly credible and provide good information concerning oppression and why it is the root of the current foreign aid program malfunctions, not just national debt. This cartoon supports the argument that the state department shouldn’t double foreign aid before the recipient countries are free and well enough to effectively handle the funds they receive.
Works Cited:
Cox and Forkum about page
