Political Cartoons And

Their Connection to
Nationalism
Heidi, Morgan, Beth, and Marcel

Ferguson Political Cartoon

This political cartoon was created by Matt Bors. The cartoon has no known title. The subject of this cartoon is the
police brutality towards black people in Ferguson, Missouri. The topic of the comic is the racism in the police
force which is depicted by having a black boy playing with a BB gun and having a white man telling him that he is
going to be shot carrying it around. The man helps the kid by adding a shirt that is seen as more respectable than
a hoodie and has him wear a hat with military colors. Then the man gives the boy a real gun and tells him to point
it at federal agents. Lastly the man has a fairy change the boys skin color to white and tells him that with the real
gun, his outfit and his newly white colored skin he looks harmless. This depicts the racism in the police force
because it shows that a white male with a gun is less threatening than a black male with a toy gun. The author
perspective is that the police force is racist as shown by his cartoon. Another opinion people have on this issue is
that black men and children were asking to be shot by how they dress and look. I personally believe the police
force is racist so I find this cartoon very effective for what it is trying to show.
The Ferguson shootings is tied in with nationalism because many Americans are depicted as anti-black. You
often see people commenting on anti-black crimes that the black people should go back to where they came
from. If black was replaced with Jew, it would be almost identical to Hitlers anti-semitism propaganda. It shows
that America is edging even more towards the side of ultranationalism.

Low Gas Prices

The issue that this political cartoon is talking about is how drastically low the gas prices are. Marty McFly is
coming out of his car that is known for being able to go back in time. It shows that he believes that he cant be in
2015, he must have gone back in time. Marty McFly in the cartoon believes that he must have gone back in time.
The gas prices are way lower than what they have ever been for many years. Marty McFly is running in panic to
the gas station from his car. This helps to show that he is panicking about how low the gas prices are. Low gas
prices are not a good thing, the lower the gas prices cause the barrel of oil to be extremely low too. Marty McFly
looks scared because having this low of oil prices could cause of country to go into a recession. The cartoonists
opinion on the issue is that the low gas prices are not right. It is not good for them to be this low. We haven't had
gas prices this low for numerous years. Another opinion someone can have on this issue is saying low gas prices
are good. That means that driving for them will be cheaper. These people that have this opinion probably wouldnt
be the ones working in the oil rigs or have anything to do with oil. This means that they would not affected by the
price drop. I did find this cartoon persuasive. The use of the car from the old movie back to the future helped to
show that the gas prices are too low. Its 2015, they shouldnt be this low. The last time that they were around this
price it was 1998. I believe that the purpose for this cartoon was to show that low gas prices are a huge deal. The
lower the gas prices the scarier it is. This could cause us to go into a recession. This links to nationalism because
whatever happens to Canada causes problems in numerous other countries too. If Canada ever went into a
recession we wouldnt be able to trade with anybody anymore. With the low oil prices, it has caused us to be in
more debt. We might have to start considering being less naturalistic until we are able to get back on our feet,
and less in debt.

Influence of the U.S. Military Policys

This cartoon was created by Matt Wuerker. The message that he demonstrates through this cartoon is, of how the U.S. Government
believes to have to make other countries problems into one of theirs. Because as it seems they consistently keep looking to get
involved into wars. The cartoonist demonstrates the idea, of how their involvements in the events, usually end up by screwing over
the country they've been supposedly trying to help. As represented through Afghanistan and Iraq. According to U.S. President
George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the reason for attacking Iraq was to, "disarm Iraq of weapons of mass
destruction, to end Saddam Hussein's support for terrorism, and to free the Iraqi people." This is the official reason of why they had
attacked Iraq. The reason for the U.S. attacking Afghanistan was supposedly because the terrorist attacks on the World Trade
Center, Pentagon, and the White House. The terrorists attacks of Bin Laden, who to that time was in Afghanistan. The Taliban
declined to extradite him unless given convincing evidence of his involvement in the 9/11 attacks. This was the official reason for
their attack on Afghanistan. When the United States decided to invade Afghanistan to grab Osama bin Laden, but failed, they had
still stayed in the country like an unwanted guest. An theory of why, is that Afghans are sitting on some of the worlds greatest
reserves of mineral wealth. This might be an more plausible reason of why an country would go into another country with their army,
because of a few terrorists! the US-led invasion of Afghanistan has resulted in a huge number of Afghan casualties, with estimates
running from several hundred thousand to several million deaths. But whatever the true number, the fact is that the United States
has produced a great amount of death and misery. This fact, strengthens the better theory of why the U.S. would start attacks on
Afghanistan. As for why would an goal of trying to help people of getting rid of some terrorists, lead to such an amount of innocent
deaths! The message that the cartoonist is trying to express through his cartoon, is the fact that the U.S. are officially always put out
to be a country with willingness to help the other countries in need of help. Whereas in reality their reasons and goals in regards to
seemingly helping nations in need of help, was often just a way to carry out their interests. These expression of actions of a Nation
lead to the fact that the nation is based on an fairly extreme nationalistic worldview. As they carry out their interests, even if it means
the death of thousands of innocent peoples. The cartoon summons the idea, that whenever the U.S. carry out operations of
supposedly helping countries it leads to the destruction of the countrys. And therefore, people should start questioning and
reconsidering the aims of this nation, and step up for the countrys that are in need of help.

Dropping Canadian Dollar

This cartoon shows the dropping of the Canadian dollar. In it, there is a loon, which represents the loonie. The
loon has fallen rapidly from the sky, showing how quickly the dollar is dropping. The loon has landed on top of
Mickey Mouse to emphasize the point even more, that our dollar is quite below that of the United States. There is
a little girl asking what it means, and the father replies that they are staying home for March break. They had
obviously been planning a trip to Disneyland, but the loon fell on Mickey Mouse; the dollar dropped too much and
it isnt as affordable to go on vacation anymore. The Canadian dollar has slipped to 79 cents, the first time it has
been 80 cents below the United States since 2009 . The official exchange rate means that it now costs more than
$1.25 to buy one U.S dollar. The message of this cartoon is that Canada is in for some rough economic times.
The terrified look on the young childs face also shows that this is quite scary. This relates to nationalism because
it is a big issue in Canada currently. We are going to have to start thinking less about other countries and more
about our own. Becoming more nationalistic will be the only way to ensure that our country comes out of the
slump it is in. It is a problem that doesnt just affect us, but affects everybody we trade with. However, we are
ultimately losing the money, and we need to think more nationally, or the dollar will only keep dropping.