This cartoon is by me and Kevin Moore.
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Kevin writes:
Any time I can draw over-the-top, absurd violence with satiric intent is fun for me. I don’t like guns or violence in real life, but in fiction it can be silly or dramatic (or both), and maybe a little cathartic. The violence of governments is harder to exaggerate, because we take so much for granted yet there is so much more than we realize. The sanctions issue is a good example: the focus of discussion and media coverage is on the will of regimes and individual leaders, but the people themselves are ignored despite their suffering. We don’t measure it and we don’t want it to complicate our good intentions.
I don’t think sanctions are absolutely necessary or unnecessary— but beyond apartheid South Africa in the 80s and possibly the BDS movement, it’s hard to think of sanctions that have been effective. Russia does not seem deterred in its war against Ukraine, no matter how many sanctions the west imposes. Iran may have felt pressure by sanctions to join the treaty with the US under Obama, but after Trump scrapped it, I doubt they’ll bend to that kind of pressure again— not so long as the US can’t be trusted to hold up it’s end of the deal. Nonetheless our foreign policy will continue to rely on sanctions, because elites are oblivious (as always) and they don’t want to lose any tools they have.
I love the energy of Kevin’s cartooning here (panel two is my favorite). And I never could have drawn that gun so well!
I should mention that the funniest thing in this comic strip – the decapitated head saying “oh you shouldn’t have” – was made up by Kevin.
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Professor Francisco Rodríguez, in his paper “The Human Consequences of Economic Sanctions,” writes:
The evidence surveyed in this paper shows that economic sanctions are associated with declines in living standards and severely impact the most vulnerable groups in target countries. It is hard to think of other cases of policy interventions that continue to be pursued despite the accumulation of a similar array of evidence of their adverse effects on vulnerable populations. This is perhaps even more surprising in light of the extremely spotty record of economic sanctions in terms of achieving their intended objectives of inducing changes in the conduct of targeted states.
And blogger Daniel Larison writes:
Sanctions advocates often present using this weapon as a peaceful alternative to war rather than acknowledging that it is a different form of warfare, and they do this to make an indiscriminate and cruel policy seem humane by comparison. The illusion that economic warfare is a humane option makes it much easier for politicians and policymakers to endorse it, and the fact that the costs are borne by people in the targeted country makes it politically safe for them to support.
Unfortunately, sanctions seem to be an everlasting, untouchable policy in the U.S., supported by elites of both major parties. But we have to hope for change, and sheesh is this post a bummer.
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When I posted this cartoon on Patreon, I was taken aback to be accused of supporting Russia in Ukraine.
But being anti-Putin – to be clear, I loathe Putin & his government – doesn’t obligate me to support ineffective and inhumane policies.
The U.S. has imposed sanctions on over 20 countries since 1998; studies have shown that sanctions are ineffective at creating regime change (and are in fact counterproductive), and harm the worst-off people in the targeted countries, not the rich and powerful.
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TRANSCRIPT OF CARTOON
This cartoon has four panels. Each of the panels shows an Uncle Sam type figure – actually just a really muscular bald guy wearing a tight t-shirt and a tall stovepipe hat, decorated in an American flag motif. The t-shirt has an eagle design, similar to the eagle design on the official Great Seal of the U.S.A., on front, and a eagle-plus-stars-and-bars design on the back. Sam is holding what Kevin described to me as “a mashup of different hand held Gatling guns I found on a google image search. I went with what looked the most ridiculous.”
Uncle Sam is standing on a small hill. Across a field from the hill, Sam is facing a wealthy-looking man in a suit. The wealthy guy has well-cut black hair and a large mustache.
On the field between Sam and the Mustache dude is a crowd of ordinary citizens, men, women, and children.
PANEL 1
Sam, standing on the hill, is yelling at Mustache Dude. The people standing between Sam and Mustache Dude look around nervously.
SAM: Do what I want you to do OR ELSE!
MUSTACHE: Ha! Do your worst!
PANEL 2
A closer shot of Sam, macho scowl in place, as he points his gatling gun and blasts it. There are lots of ejected bullet casings flying through the air and a huge sound effect that says “BUDDA BUDDA BUDDA.”
SAM: Have some broad economic sanctions! BAM!
PANEL 3
A shot from behind Sam; he is continuing to fire the gun. We can see a bit of the terrified crowd between Sam and Mustache Dude. Mustache Dude is shaking a fist in the air and yelling back at Sam.
SAM: Give up or I’ll sanction you some more!
MUSTACHE: Screw you! We will never give in! NEVER!
PANEL 4
Sam is standing in the field, smiling, surrounded by bleeding corpses. Sam is holding up a decapitated head, smiling at it as he talks to it. In the background, we can see Mustache Dude across the field, completely unhurt, grinning with his arms folded.
SAM: Remember, I’m doing this to help YOU.
DECAPITATED HEAD (small): oh you shouldn’t have.
MUSTACHE: Sanction me some more! I DOUBLE DARE you!
LARGE CAPTION PRINTED ALONG THE BOTTOM OF THE CARTOON: How Sanctions Usually Work.
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On second thought, what I REALLY regret is not replying to you by saying "you didn't find the end times…