Post by Baar Baar Jinx on May 28, 2017 16:58:59 GMT
Rooting around in the extant discussions buried in the ruins of the DCF on the Wayback Machine, there are still a few threads that I feel should be preserved for posterity and possibly reopened for discussion. So maybe I will post a few here. One of them is this one: given its sensitive subject matter, it was hardly surprising that it went off-topic and quickly deteriorated into a heated political discussion, but the first few posts were very relevant to a scholarly analysis of Disney comics, and I feel the discussion was never completed; perhaps we can tread carefully and stay on topic this time.
This is the point where it looks like things got out of control, but maybe we can resurrect this topic?
#1
2012-09-26 04:45, Baar Baar Jinx:
Did Carl Barks ever publicly or privately reveal his political leanings? Rereading some of his early ten-pagers gives the impression that he had distinctly (at least fiscally) conservative views. Two stories spring immediately to mind:
1) The ten-pager from WDC&S 124 (1951). Scrooge is still very early in his development here, and is portrayed as a hard-nosed, greedy, ruthless capitalist completely unmoved by the plight of the less-fortunate, straight out of the most extreme "Occupy Wall Street" caricature. And yet, there's a degree of cynicism in the portrayal of this "less-fortunate"; the old woman who begs him not to take away her washing machine because she has to "support her husband and three sons-in-law" (the implication being that these are three able-bodied men who refuse to work and expect the poor old woman to support them). Scrooge develops an allergy to his money and "bleeding heart liberal" Donald temporarily takes over his fortune, proceeding to be completely squandered out of large sums of (someone else's, in this case, Scrooge's) cash by lowlifes, moochers and deadbeats. It is hard not to read a criticism of perceived "income redistribution" here.
2) "A Financial Fable" from WDC&S 126 (1951). Just a couple of months later, but Scrooge is much better developed. Scrooge (and the boys) are portrayed as hard-working and industrious, whereas Donald is envious of his good fortune but averse to exertion. He and Gladstone basically "want something for nothing". Scrooge's wealth then gets "redistributed" (through an act of nature), leading to complete collapse of society until the "natural order of things" (the rich getting richer again) re-establishes normalcy.
Are there any other examples that hint at Barks' conservatism (or conversely, stories that carry liberal messages)?
#2
2012-09-26 05:15, Robb_K:
You are not mistaken.
He told me that he didn't have much regard for politicians. But he believed in a day's work for a day's pay and people pulling their own weight, He said that if he had to characterize himself, he would say that he had "conservative leanings". He said that he "didn't get too wrapped up in politics".
#3
2012-09-26 05:38, GeoDiaz
I never met him or anything, but from studying his work I can say yes he did have strong views (ideologies if you will) and they where right-conservative-libertarian in nature.
One of the finest examples of Carl Barks' ideology fueling his art is in Walt Disney's Comics and Stories number 126, where his untitled story laid out not only the main economic principles of capitalism (supply and demand) but also displayed Adam Smith ideology of self regulation in free markets (the invisible hand).
In the story all of Scrooges money is scattered by the wind (his wealth was literally spread) and everyone around him suddenly found themselves to be (roughly) equally wealthy. Scrooge shows no fear or worry about losing his beloved money. He and his family all hold true to the Capitalist principles mentioned earlier and maintain their faith in these principles even in the face of opposition. They succeed completely and eventually every dime of Scrooges money is back in its “Corn Crib" and the world is returned to normal. Barks himself has been quoted as saying that this story would have had in a cell in a Siberia gulag someday.
Barks’ used the Soviets as villains by creating obvious caricatures of them in the Brutopians. This name itself is not just a simple pseudonym, but a well thought out description. It combines the word Brute which is meant to represent the subjugation of their people (and their general approach to international politics) and Utopian which represents the ideals to which Karl Marx aspired. Barks has been called “right of Ayn Rand ", but in reality his views where more moderate. He was a classical liberal in the purest form, believing in freedom as the ultimate right. Barks’ own summation “…it’s better to just have free government like we have, where everyone can do as they darn well please, rather than be locked up in Brutopia where you have to obey a bunch of rulers.
This site here serves up several examples as well: www.cbarks.dk/thepolitician.htm
2012-09-26 04:45, Baar Baar Jinx:
Did Carl Barks ever publicly or privately reveal his political leanings? Rereading some of his early ten-pagers gives the impression that he had distinctly (at least fiscally) conservative views. Two stories spring immediately to mind:
1) The ten-pager from WDC&S 124 (1951). Scrooge is still very early in his development here, and is portrayed as a hard-nosed, greedy, ruthless capitalist completely unmoved by the plight of the less-fortunate, straight out of the most extreme "Occupy Wall Street" caricature. And yet, there's a degree of cynicism in the portrayal of this "less-fortunate"; the old woman who begs him not to take away her washing machine because she has to "support her husband and three sons-in-law" (the implication being that these are three able-bodied men who refuse to work and expect the poor old woman to support them). Scrooge develops an allergy to his money and "bleeding heart liberal" Donald temporarily takes over his fortune, proceeding to be completely squandered out of large sums of (someone else's, in this case, Scrooge's) cash by lowlifes, moochers and deadbeats. It is hard not to read a criticism of perceived "income redistribution" here.
2) "A Financial Fable" from WDC&S 126 (1951). Just a couple of months later, but Scrooge is much better developed. Scrooge (and the boys) are portrayed as hard-working and industrious, whereas Donald is envious of his good fortune but averse to exertion. He and Gladstone basically "want something for nothing". Scrooge's wealth then gets "redistributed" (through an act of nature), leading to complete collapse of society until the "natural order of things" (the rich getting richer again) re-establishes normalcy.
Are there any other examples that hint at Barks' conservatism (or conversely, stories that carry liberal messages)?
#2
2012-09-26 05:15, Robb_K:
You are not mistaken.
He told me that he didn't have much regard for politicians. But he believed in a day's work for a day's pay and people pulling their own weight, He said that if he had to characterize himself, he would say that he had "conservative leanings". He said that he "didn't get too wrapped up in politics".
#3
2012-09-26 05:38, GeoDiaz
I never met him or anything, but from studying his work I can say yes he did have strong views (ideologies if you will) and they where right-conservative-libertarian in nature.
One of the finest examples of Carl Barks' ideology fueling his art is in Walt Disney's Comics and Stories number 126, where his untitled story laid out not only the main economic principles of capitalism (supply and demand) but also displayed Adam Smith ideology of self regulation in free markets (the invisible hand).
In the story all of Scrooges money is scattered by the wind (his wealth was literally spread) and everyone around him suddenly found themselves to be (roughly) equally wealthy. Scrooge shows no fear or worry about losing his beloved money. He and his family all hold true to the Capitalist principles mentioned earlier and maintain their faith in these principles even in the face of opposition. They succeed completely and eventually every dime of Scrooges money is back in its “Corn Crib" and the world is returned to normal. Barks himself has been quoted as saying that this story would have had in a cell in a Siberia gulag someday.
Barks’ used the Soviets as villains by creating obvious caricatures of them in the Brutopians. This name itself is not just a simple pseudonym, but a well thought out description. It combines the word Brute which is meant to represent the subjugation of their people (and their general approach to international politics) and Utopian which represents the ideals to which Karl Marx aspired. Barks has been called “right of Ayn Rand ", but in reality his views where more moderate. He was a classical liberal in the purest form, believing in freedom as the ultimate right. Barks’ own summation “…it’s better to just have free government like we have, where everyone can do as they darn well please, rather than be locked up in Brutopia where you have to obey a bunch of rulers.
This site here serves up several examples as well: www.cbarks.dk/thepolitician.htm
This is the point where it looks like things got out of control, but maybe we can resurrect this topic?
). 
).
), but from a more political point of view he was a mystery. Someone thinks that he could have retained some sympathies for fascism even after the war, but there is no proof of that. And honestly, looking at his work where he mocks violently every category of human being it is just impossible to say. Nothing is known about minors authors from the 60's. Cimino became at a certain point a real politician for the socialist party (which had become more of a liberal party starting from the late 70's, and which governed the country in the 80's with the help of centrist allies). Cimino seated in the city council of Venice, and was also condemned to some years of imprisonment for corruption, if I remember correctly (the whole political system, and the socialist party in particular, was very corrupted in the late 80's and beginning of the 90's, so that should not surprise you very much). After that experience Cimino left politics and went back to his job of writer/storyboarder for duck stories. Someone says that Scarpa was not happy at all about his reintegration, but that is one more thing that is lacking a concrete proof. 
