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1948 Cartoon: Snapshot Into Another Era; Most so-called “Liberal” Americans have no idea what the word used to mean

Thursday, November 7, 2013 18:58

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(Before It's News)

William Hanna, right, and Joseph Barbera pose with some of their cartoon characters at their office in Los Angeles in this 1988 file photo. Barbera, half of the Hanna-Barbera animation team that produced such beloved cartoon characters as Tom and Jerry, Yogi Bear and the Flintstones, died Monday, a Warner Bros. spokesman said. He was 95. Hanna died in 2001. [2006 AP File Photo]

TND Exclusive: By Eric Dubin |

In 1948, Cold War competition with the Soviet Union was well underway. America enjoyed massive military and economic superiority. But it was America’s civic culture and the dream of prosperity through a liberal society that elevated American “moral authority” as a beacon to other nations. Granted, not all was what it seemed. America has always been a nation of contradictions. Iran’s President Mohammad Mosaddegh felt compelled to quote the US Constitution and Thomas Jefferson on Iranian national television, only to be overthrown by America soon thereafter.

Nevertheless, in 1948 there was a greater appreciation for liberty and it’s blessings. There was a greater appreciation for individual liberty and rights versus power concentrated within government. Fighting Nazi and Japanese fascism certainly helped instill appreciation for liberal society, as did the threat of another “ism” – Communism.

Thomas Jefferson and John Locke wouldn’t recognize the word liberal today. So-called liberals in the last 20 years within both Republican and Democratic parties have little resemblance to classical liberalism. Today, we have crony capitalism, and a near total destruction of the letter of the law representing our inalienable rights.

In 1948, the great cartoonists Hanna & Barbera produced a 10 minute animation reel with Jon Sutherland and Harding College. It celebrated what was considered great in American society of the day, and appeared in movie theaters as advance reel before the screening of feature films. It captures the zeitgeist of the era. The erosion of traditional liberalism in favor of the cartoon’s snake oil salesman’s “ISM” was well underway even in 1948.

At one point, the character “John Q. Public” exclaims: “When anybody preaches disunity, tries to pit one of us against the other, through class warfare, race hatred or religious intolerance, you know that person seeks to rob us of our freedom, and destroy our very lives.” Today? Hmm… Well, Trayvon Martin, anyone? How about the US arming Al Qaeda and Islamic extremists to further idiotic foreign policy objectives? Class warfare is the least well understood. The Occupy Wall Street left of center simpletons define the problem as the 99% versus the 1% when in fact it’s a problem of the 0.001% unwilling to let real liberty and liberalism exist versus a crony capitalist system that created their wealth.

This cartoon is dated and simplistic. But it’s nevertheless thought provoking. It’s ten minutes long and well worth your time. Check it out!