This animated short film is a Cold War-era propaganda product presented by the United States Chamber of Commerce. The main goal of the cartoon is to glorify the capitalism and the free enterprise system.

The film does a great job of demonstrating the basic concepts of capitalism. It explains how business and competition works. It says that we pay taxes to have schools, hospitals, roads, fire and police departments, aid to the needy and obviously national defense. It also says that we shouldn't want the government to provide non essential services since they have to be paid for by higher taxes.

The film was produced by John Sutherland. The Freedoms Foundation awarded the film its gold honor medal as "the best film developed in the United States during 1954 to further better understanding of the American way of life".


HISTORICAL BACKGROUND / CONTEXT

After World War 2 nuclear anxiety, anti-Communism and international political realignments fueled the Cold War-era United States and turned the country's media landscape into a battleground from the late 1940s on. In the press, on the radio, and increasingly through the newly emerging medium of television, business and labor struggled for power over the national consciousness. These opposing forces fought to redefine the economic structure of the American nation.

To most working people, postwar "normalcy" meant a final farewell to Depression-induced privation, access to consumer goods unavailable during the war years, and a redistribution of the economic pie through the newly powerful labor movement. To business, however, the end of hostilities promised freedom from New Deal liberalism. Corporations sought an end to planning and government influence, to communist, socialist and labor movements, and above all, shrinkage of the public sector, swollen in sixteen years of economic depression and war. Both sides characterized their points of view as patriotic and their opponents as un-American.

Business fought for influence through organizations like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Their intentions were presented as lofty and neutral: to educate Americans about their economic system and its benefits. Launching a giant propaganda offensive, these organizations pumped out press releases, published books, organized public and private meetings, bought advertising and produced motion pictures.

Differences between capitalism and communism:
Capitalism and communism are two political theories which can be stated as the complete opposite of one another as their fundamental ideologies contrast each other in the most prominent ways.

Capitalism can best be defined as a financial and a social system that recognizes individual property rights, individual consumption and approves of the private ownership of capital. It gave rise to the industrialization and is based on the rights of the individual and allows individuals unlimited opportunities in creating wealth for themselves. Capitalism also encourages the individual to own as much property and goods that they can afford to buy which in turn results in inequality. This inequality then results in each citizen striving to accumulate more wealth in order to stand above the rest and yet, each individual is supposed to respect the rights of other individuals. The citizens of a capitalist society are provided with equal opportunity when competing as sellers or buyers of goods or property, with the government playing no part in it except setting up certain rules and regulations regarding the process. Capitalism is honest competition and letting the marketplace decide who has the better product for better prices and one sees no oppression of the individual here as a result.

Communism is based on the belief that individual gain must be scarified in order to achieve collective gain. Thus communism allows the state or the community the ownership of all goods and services with the intention of promoting a common ownership. Communism preaches of a classless, egalitarian society where everybody is treated equally and everybody is given an equal standing. According to communists, capitalism is a system within the rich get richer and the poor get poorer as a result of the rich people yielding power when the poor are forced to live under their reign.



This post is for educational purposes only ; it is not an investment advice.
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