http://thisishistorictimes.com Tue, 22 May 2012 00:18:36 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 http://thisishistorictimes.com/2011/03/the-invisible-hand/ http://thisishistorictimes.com/2011/03/the-invisible-hand/#comments Fri, 11 Mar 2011 12:04:42 +0000 deephurting http://thisishistorictimes.com/?p=1729

The last time I considered using this kind of imagery was when I was developing this cartoon. In that case, I felt it would trivialize the subject of domestic violence if I tried to make an association between it and petty politics, so I ended up going for something a little more tame. This time, I felt the metaphor was more appropriate, so I went ahead with it, even though it’s sure to make some folks very uncomfortable.

One of the things at issue in Wisconsin, other states, and the nation in general right now is the lowering of corporate tax rates (to the detriment of non-wealthy individuals), and the relaxation of laws and regulations intended to protect people from corporate negligence. As Edward Norton’s character in Fight Club once explained, it’s often more cost effective for companies to just pay off the victims of dangerous product failures than it is for them to self-regulate.

Free-market types like to argue that taxes and regulations discourage businesses from setting up shop domestically, and that if we don’t loosen things up, then they’ll just go someplace that doesn’t have such encumbrances. My feeling is that it’s probably not worth having them around if, in exchange for the jobs they provide and capital they bring in, we have to give them unlimited leeway to harm their customers, their workforce, and the environment.

I tried to emulate the aggressive, high-contrast style of Aidan Hughes, here. He’s the illustrator who also goes by the name “Brute!” and is probably best known for the many album covers he’s produced since the late ’80s for the industrial outfit KMFDM.

]]> http://thisishistorictimes.com/2011/03/the-invisible-hand/feed/ 5 http://thisishistorictimes.com/2010/01/the-hate-of-our-union-is-strong/ http://thisishistorictimes.com/2010/01/the-hate-of-our-union-is-strong/#comments Fri, 29 Jan 2010 13:19:14 +0000 deephurting http://thisishistorictimes.com/?p=998

Those of you who visited this site yesterday may have seen a slightly different version of this cartoon. There were a few things in it that I was unsatisfied with, and some comments indicated they were causing reader confusion, so I redrew the entire thing from scratch–something I don’t often do. I have to say, I’m much happier with this version, though I lost some nice, chunky brushwork that was on the figures in the other one.

Besides that, I had one other approach to this cartoon which didn’t get beyond the sketch stage. I felt it characterized the situation a little more accurately and powerfully than this one does, but I also felt it cheapened what women in abusive relationships go through by comparing that to political posturing. You can see the sketch by clicking here. The approach I fully developed is more even-handed, and doesn’t make me as uncomfortable, despite using similar themes. What do you think? Did I make the right choice, or should I have developed the other sketch instead?

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