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Humor gets your point across

DemLabs blog

September 17, 2021

Get your point across to more people with a political cartoon that simplifies the issue and is more likely to be shared.

How do you simplify complex issues? Increase the chances of your message being shared? Use a political cartoon.

Cartoons are powerful. They get people's attention and are more likely to be shared. Use cartoons to make your point in tweets, Facebook posts, emails and on websites.

"People want to be entertained. It makes them listen. People like things spoon-fed, honeyed and digestible, and humor is the ultimate sweetener." - Stanford Daily

Political Cartoons provides thousands of wonderful cartoons for just a few dollars each or an unlimited supply with a subscription.

Democracy Labs is offering nonprofits two grants worth $1,000 each for an annual subscription license to Political Cartoons. Simply email how you plans to use cartoons and an expert panel will choose the two winners by Sept 30.

Deepak
DemLabs

Here are some of my favorite political cartoons spanning COVID disinformation, the Republican abortion ban, voter suppression, wealth inequality, Mitch McConnell and Facebook.

Facebook spreads COVID disinformation

Why are political cartoons important?

"Political cartoons offer a brightly colored alternative to formal news reporting, providing light relief from the ever-increasingly gloomy political discourse. With the ability to distill news and opinion into a caricature, cartoons present accessible and instant commentary and analysis of current affairs.

The images can cast a powerful interpretation on the day’s news.  They explain and explore stories in manners that articles cannot. More effective than writing or video, they capture the imitable human nature of their subjects in order to humanize the topic they depict. By combining humor with the latest political news, cartoonists can reinforce their messaging, focusing on the frequently ridiculous nature of stories." - Ellwood Atfield

COVID disinformation

DeSantis jeopardizes the health of people in Florida to score political points.

Republicans spread COVID disinformation that encourages risky behavior.

Anti Vaxxers thrive on Republican and FOX conspiracy theories

FOX disputes medical experts to spread COVID disinformation.

Republicans challenge mask mandates that would protect put school children at risk for the sake of scoring political points.

DeSantis lives in Florida by ignoring COVID

Republicans spread lethal COVID conspiracy theories.

Voter suppression

Republicans resort to voter suppression to cling to power.

Republicans cling to office with racist voter suppression.

Republicans tell the Big Lie to pass voter suppression bills.

Republicans rely on voter suppression and gerrymandering to cling to office.

Republican state legislatures like Georgia, Texas and Florida pass hard Voter ID and cut voting hours in order to make it harder for minority groups to vote.

Republican abortion ban

Texas Republicans restrict both voting rights and women's choice to control their own bodies.

Republicans are denying women their ability to control their own bodies.

Texas Republicans make women second class citizens.

Partisan Supreme Court stacked by Mitch McConnell and Republicans is intent on over turning Roe v. Wade

Racist gerrymandering

Republicans use gerrymandering to allocate resources in a partisan manner.

Republicans resort to gerrymandering to create political district boundaries where they cannot be voted out of office.

Republicans rely on gerrymandering and voter suppression to cling to office.

Wealth inequality

The top 1% thrive with Republican tax cuts while the poor struggle to survive in the pandemic.

Corporations use their wealth to get political access not available to regular Americans. This is a result of John Roberts passing Citizens United.
June 14, 2012

The top 1% have made fortunes during the COVID pandemic while the rest of America suffers.

Republicans slash unemployment benefits

Republicans block a living wage to the working poor to reward their rich corporate donors.

Mitch McConnell

Mitch McConnell blocks reforms using the filibuster in the Senate.

Mitch McConnell thrives on corporate donations but tells companies to not get involved in politics.

Mitch McConnell stacks the Supreme Court and blocks any reform in the Senate.

Republicans refuse to talk about th Jan 6th insurrection in Washington DC because they are trapped in the 'Big Lie'.

Mitch McConnell blocks Merrick Garland's nomination and then stacks the court with Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and Barrett.

Mitch McConnell and the Republicans stack the Supreme Court. Roberts passed Citizens United that allows unlimited corporate political donations.

Facebook, FOX and more

Facebook profits from spreading disinformation

FOX News spreads conspiracy theories and polarizes Americans.

Trump calls those who serve in the armed forces as 'losers'.

Greg Abbott is a Texas sized clown ignoring COVID dangers while banning abortions and pushing voter suppression

President Biden proposes to cut the price of prescription drugs. Republicans backed by pharma donations oppose the measure.

Texas Taliban oppose COVID safety masks while denying women control over their own bodies.

Political humor in activism

Saul Alinsky in his book 'Rules for Radicals' summarized in the Citizen's Handbook explains. "Ridicule is man's most potent weapon. It's hard to counterattack ridicule, and it infuriates the opposition, which then reacts to your advantage."

"People want to be entertained — “to be” functioning as the operative words in the sentence. It makes them listen. People like things spoon-fed, honeyed and digestible, and humor is the ultimate sweetener. With a careful consideration for style, activists can put the content on the still-hot back burner to focus on the delivery. Activists who make a smart use of humor temper their scorching indictments with a lightness, with a promise to their audience that they are “only joking,” and that they only intend to entertain.

Convictions made jokingly are more difficult to counter. The nonviolent and engaging veins that run through humor activism make similar approaches effective. Jokes have a certain unifying power — one that does not necessarily have to inhibit action but can help persuade people on the fence about the issue. It also does the necessary work of portraying the activists themselves as a group people would like to associate with — funny and “everyday” sorts of people who nonetheless dedicate themselves to the issue at stake." - Stanford Daily

cartoons,humor,lampoon,satire

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