Rolly Martin Country: Editorial Cartoons 1962-1995 (and 1849)

Littering, driving while drunk and Nazis. It seemed for a while that *'we' were finished with these things - that people knew better.

* 'We' represents my narrow view of humanity - not all 8 billion people on Earth.

What we learn from studying history is that there are always 'reservoirs' of various ideas and behaviours.

Like measles, almost any idea or behaviour can return with some force.

People will sometimes violate norms, and break rules and laws. Others may choose to follow the behaviour.

This is probably because human nature and the human condition are the same down through history.

This is probably why we still quote the ancient Greeks, Romans and Sun Tzu.

* * *

Recently, I strongly identified with the protest sign which said:

I can't believe I still have to protest this sh** !

I once complained that 'our' work to start a local tourist railway was really hard.

My interlocutor was a key officer of a very successful tourist railway: "It's always hard" was his reply.

* * *

I had an quick, easy blog topic lined up ...

However, we are in the midst of a lot of political and societal turmoil - particularly this week with a general election. We are also the proverbial mouse which sleeps with an elephant - affected by its every twitch and grunt.

I own 8 second-hand books of editorial cartoons.

Rather than tacking a single cartoon onto my planned railway post, I thought it would be more appropriate to leaf through all 8 books and find cartoons which address some of the subjects which are in the news today.

Back in the heyday of the professional editorial cartoon, readers might have 1-3 newspapers to choose from in their town or city. They might choose their paper based on its labour or business editorial slant, or its features and special-interest columnists (like a weekly cooking, history or gardening column ... or a weekend magazine insert).

Readers could have a subscription delivered to their door (and deal with a 'paper boy' ... paying them in cash at the door every week at dinner time). They could use coins and obtain a single copy from a box (eg. after a big election or trainwreck). They could go to a newsstand and buy papers from other cities and countries.

Newspapers were often seen as documentary records of current events. Unlike TV news, they were relatively permanent. Journalistic rigour required errors to be followed with retractions or corrections ... in writing in a subsequent edition.

Newspapers were generally filled with factual information. Opinions were limited to a couple of editorial pages. One would also find letters to the editor on these pages - i.e. a reader would sit down and write or type a letter, and physically mail it to the paper where it would be considered for publication. The name and address (the true identity) of the writer was required for publication.

The editorial cartoon was a often bit of 'candy' for the readers. A clever cartoonist would come up with a unique perspective on an issue ... and use their artistic skills and insight to convey their unique funny, satirical or profound perspective about a topic.

* * *

In our society during our lifetimes, we witness our laws and social customs change. ... and these 'lock in' (we believe) progress. For example, the law may spell out human rights ... however true acceptance and reasonable adaptive behaviours by most people may take longer to develop across society.

... In reality, over time, we may find that we're never really finished with a given topic.

For example: littering, driving while drunk, Nazis.

A real nightmare: Nazis who are driving drunk and littering !!!

... It does sometimes feel that we are like Sisyphus when it comes to making lasting progress here in northern North America.

Whether it's Canadian national defence, the capacity of humans to destroy virtually all life on the planet, the state of our educational institutions, or our relations with the United States ... we are not the first Canadians to be confronted with these subjects and the challenges they create.

It may be comforting to realize that this moment does not necessarily represent 'the worst it has ever been!' ... as the social media clickbait 'news bot headlines' distract us from the more difficult work of searching for, and calmly reflecting on, the facts around us. We aren't alone - people in our history have had to deal with similar problems in the past.

* * *

I was particularly pleased that the last cartoon I found and selected ... depicted a political phenomenon which was apparently influential with some voters during our current election - over 175 years after that editorial cartoon was first published.

* * *

It's always hard.

The work to preserve and maintain a healthy democracy is never complete.

Humans are never at 'the end of history'.

* * *

EDITORIAL CARTOONS

from: 11th Annual Collection of Norris; Len Norris; 1962; Vancouver Sun.

* * *

from: Cartoons by Macpherson, Volume 3; Duncan Macpherson; 1963; Toronto Star.

Today, we are concerned that unchecked human-induced climate change will continue to cause species extinctions, and will eventually make areas of the planet uninhabitable and kill millions of people if nothing is done.

In the early 1960s, the US and the USSR were the most prominent testers of hydrogen bombs in the atmosphere. Children of my generation were having their baby teeth solicited by researchers so they could be tested for radioactive strontium. Many have thyroid conditions from childhood absorption of radioactive iodine. Both were products of nuclear testing.

Eventually, President Kennedy and Premier Khrushchev signed the first agreement to stop atmospheric testing. Britain also signed, France did not.

* * *

from: Canadian Rail, CRHA; cartoons by Doug Wright 1964-68 for the Montreal Star.

Continuing with the nuclear threat. By the mid-1960s, it was pointless to consider the construction of urban fallout shelters and to continue the famous 'duck and cover' drills for school children. Urban evacuation in the event of attack would not have been realistic. The warheads on missiles from the USSR were simply too powerful, and the missile guidance systems were too imprecise, to hit their exact targets - such as a city centre.

Below, is a newspaper graphic showing the impact of a medium-sized weapon on Montreal. The dark shading denotes the area of primary economic importance. An air-burst weapon would have been used on a city (to destroy buildings) and Mount Royal would probably have shielded some areas to the west from the radiation and shock wave at the moment of detonation. The rings indicate the distance from Ground Zero in miles.

Nuclear weapons were continually talked about in the press (i.e. as 'The Bomb'). On the radio in the 1960s, I heard an announcer comment that the smoke coming off a big refinery fire made things look like eastern Montreal had 'received a megaton'.

Today, even more countries have an even greater selection of nuclear weapon types and delivery systems. Pakistan and India now menace each other with submarine-launched nuclear missiles - forcing them into a 'launch on warning' guarantee of mutual destruction. Non-nuclear nations are musing about developing their own to protect themselves if the United States withdraws its 'nuclear umbrella', eg. from Europe, Taiwan, Japan etc.

Canada made significant contributions to the development of the atomic weapons of World War 2 and could have created a serviceable little atomic arsenal just as fast as Britain and France did. However, without delusions of imperial greatness, Canada stayed out of that madness.

Although the risk is now probably greater, people aren't very nuclear-literate these days.