It isn’t just US billionaires that you have to fear. I think that much of the pro-immigrant sentiment comes from rich people who hire immigrants, poor people who are immigrants, and people in other countries who are on social media and who don’t care about the US or US workers. Stolen election talk diverts us from what we should be debating.
I want to salute Stephen for this strip. I don’t put all the blame for division on the rich, but there is no doubt that the rich and powerful often love division – the very essence of racism, for example, which is meant to divide and conquer. Thank you, Stephen.
Exactly. Thank you. Also, please listen to Russell Brand’s Luminary/Spotify/YouTube podcasts for counteracting that kind of hatred and indoctrination, staying informed, and bringing people together, all in combination.
Look at the other end. In 1990 35% of the world lived in extreme poverty. Today it is 10%. And that is with an increase of where they mark poverty. We need to look at the entire picture.
His numbers sound too generous. I don’t think the poor people have that much money, but I can’t find out where the line is for the top 1%, which is what most of the stats discuss.
Er, no. They’re not distributing, they’re accumulating.I’ve seen a study somewhere that says when the richest in society make >193 times the poorest, then that society’s doomed. The US has gone waaaaay past 193. America’s f***ed, soon, and let’s hope you come out of the revolution as a society, and not as serfs.
We real!y need the Fairness Doctrine back! That was implemented in the early days of television by the FCC. Reagan vetoed its renewal and the quality of media coverage has declined from there. The Fairness Doctrine required that each position on an issue be reported. That would be beneficial because everyone would hear variations of the same factual news. Just imagine the effect that might have in the country!
Less billionaires who play with rockets into space and more of that money to the working people who actually keep the country going ?! Hey billionaires, you can’t take it with you!
Strange place we live in . We are told to get educated , work hard , earn money . If you are good at it (Earning money) then you are picked on for what you were told to do .
Only in America, If ANY ONE of The 165,000,000 wanted any part of what the 664 have bad enough they could have it too BUT! they are not willing to pay the price! Answer!, the Will to work for it.
This has always been the case. Hundreds of years ago the “rich” way outnumbered all the others. Whether you like it or not that has always been the case. However, on the plus side, the rich are also the ones who start businesses, spend obscene amounts of money on things and generally help fuel the economy. Also, I’ve seen too many times where someone wins the lottery or a big lawsuit and has gone broke (i.e. bankrupt) and are now on the dole. They couldn’t handle the “rich” part.
Odd turn for the Family Circus! Commies and Hell. All kidding aside, Jeff Keane and the Family Circus comes off as sanctimonious goo. But the Keane’s have no problem with other cartoonists doing parodies of the Family. I think PBS and Steve have done takeoffs of FC before.
There is a reason envy is considered a sin. If you’re not happy with what you’ve got either learn to be satisfied or learn how to do better for yourself. Most people are short of money because they waste so much of it on non-necessities. The proof of that is the numerous “Self-storage” businesses proliferating every town and city.
Eh Tu Pastis. Let’s see there are ovber 100 times more billionaires? Do you think that mean that wealth has grown?
Are you stuck in the freshman college economic mistake that believes there is only one pot of money and the only way the rich get rich is buy taking it from everyone else? You know what that is right? That is Marxist “Critical Theory”. It is false and it is the basis of division used by Marxists and global elitists to divide people into class warfare as a tool of creating an authoritarian ruling class? What does that socialist ruling class do after they have divided us with this simpleton view of economic? The elite get all the wealth and the average pleb gets more poor and those who were middle class also become poor. Socialism is the equal sharing of the miseries—-by those who have been chosen by the ruling class to be miserable.
However, those who follow this simpleton argument about wealth inequalities. fail to recognize the true power of free markets and capitalism to raise more people out of poverty than anyone else than any other social and political system in the history of the world. Are there those who earn profits unjustly? You bet. But they are more likely to earn profits unjustly in the big government, corporate-crony systems of centralized planning, socialism and its very very close cousin fascism. That is what we see growing now in America under Biden (as under Obama) and in China: fascism. (The alliance of corporate and state interests). That is what the World Economic Forum wants in its “Great Rest” as characterized by the slogan they use throughout the world “Build Back Better”. As they proudly state: “You will own nothing and be happy”. That is a threat, not a promise.
Embrace freedom and free markets and true capitalism (not crony corporatism) and more people will be wealthy and rise out of poverty.
To be accurate they have more wealth than the bottom 165 million.But few people under age 50 have any wealth, even those living well. In fact a homeless person with $20 in his cup has more wealth than half the nation.Bernie loves to misuse numbers like this.
Funny thing is, if all of humanity stopped buying the stuff made by the 664 billionaires, they would make a lot less money. So the poor and middle classes made the rich wealthy because the rich has cool gadgets that we all want.
George Carlin was saying this in the seventies. He was talking about the middle class versus the working class; but you could substitute black and white, white and indigenous, basically any group not the 1%, and this would still be true. We have had decades of media propagandizing the views that now divide us, and now threaten to destroy us. The media is owned by the same companies that produce weaponry – do you think that they will ever really want peace?
The Republicans want money to go to the rich rather than the middle class because they are beholden to them—the money to finance their campaigns comes from the rich. They tell the public that it will “trickle it down”, and everyone will benefit. This is the standard Republican rationale for giving money to those who are already rich. Trickle down has never worked, as far as raising the standard of living, anywhere that it has been tried. And, it is completely illogical to believe that it ever could. If you are paying a guy to cut your lawn and he’s doing an adequate job, then you get a tax cut, do you raise his pay? Neither will the 1%ers. The only reason to spend more on hired help is that you need more workers to get the job done. The only way more workers will be needed is if there is an increased demand for product- in other words people are buying more stuff. The only reason people would be buying more stuff is that they can afford it. And, the only reason that more people can afford more is that they are the ones getting the tax cuts, not the rich guys. Trickle down just gives the rich guys more money to hide offshore, or more money to buy more politicians to write laws so they have more money to hide offshore. If you want that money to stay in America, increase production, and raise everyone’s standard of living, trickle UP will do the job, not trickle down.
I enjoy the Family Circus bit, however, that mom has a potty mouth! Kinda wonder if Bill Keane approved … or understands. Who cares, great comic today Pastis
So many comments today, I don’t think this one will be read. But Stephan, if they gave Nobel prizes for comic strips, this one should win. You really nailed it with this one. Bravo.
“The media” is such a sloppy, imprecise term. There are thousands of hard-working journalists out there doing excellent work every day shining light on issues that are important to people. It is grossly unfair to paint them all as bought-and-paid-for corporate shills.
When I first read this, I thought maybe Pastis was trying to make some sense of the great social divide in our country. But then the way it ends…hopeless but very funny. At least we can all laugh. Kudos!
Let’s put that in perspective. If you took all that money, it would run the government for about 30 days. That’s all. No sweeping healthcare, no big social programs, just a one time shot of cash that would also devastate everyone’s investments. You could give it to those 165M (as if the government would do that) and they would all get roughly $1500. You could decide that capitalism is evil, but every other system so far has created far far more suffering. There will always be some who are well off and some who suffer. If you want to do something about it, go out in the streets and do it. Don’t tear down government or the economy. You won’t get what you think you’re getting.
Pastis, you portray so much truth and common sense with your brush, pen and truly insightful mind. If you haven’t earned a Pulitzer yet, you should before long. Keep up your sterling work, sir!!
All other conflict – national, racial, racial, sexual – all other conflict – is manufactured to distract us from the fact that the only true conflict is class conflict! If they can keep us convinced that we have problems with each other over fake things, we’re that much less likely to get together and say “Hey – that guy up on the hill is keeping us down; let’s go f*** him up and take our share!”
(And now for the chorus of fools saying “Well, he may be keeping us down, but at least he’s not one of them!” Because so far, it’s working disgustingly well.)
Actually, the total net worth of one third of all Americans is zero. So anyone with a positive net worth has a greater net worth than over 100 million Americans. So the wise ass’s comment about 664 people having more wealth than half of all Americans is actually not as significant as you might think.
And thank you for triggering all the trolls and bots who are now even more readily identifiable since they blurted out all the snowflake comments, deflection, and distraction. And thereby truly helped prove your point as well.
I’ve never had a problem with any individual or company or corporation becoming wealthy. My problem is with all the breaks they get. Tax breaks, subsidies, bailouts, golden parachutes…it’s been collectively called “corporate welfare” for good reason. The problem is not success; the problem is the lack of a level playing field.
It seems a little unfair to use the “Family Circus” family to virtually represent censorship and intolerance. I get that they’re old-fashioned, but I never got the impression that they are how they are being depicted in this strip. But all’s fair in comics, I guess…
I don’t object to people working hard and acquiring wealth through their own endeavors. But how much is too much? To quote St. Augustine “Find out how much God has given you, and from it take only what you need. The rest is needed by others.” Paying a fair wage and a fair share of taxes helps distribute the wealth to those who need it.
Stephan, your artwork is undeniably better these days than the stick figures you started with, but you are still no Bill Watterson, even if he did a few strips with you.
So, we find we doubt you drew the Family Circus scene yourself, and suspect you simply used one of Bil Keane’s scenes, plugging it into your strip, while replacing the text in the balloons. As a former lawyer, we presume you have observed all the legal niceties in the process…
It would, indeed, be helpful if people were not divided into various tribal loyalties, although that is obviously a trait selected for by many generations resulting in the cooperative-group species we are today. It is so easy to trigger people with group loyalty ploys.
Still, being a cooperative-group species has helped us out-compete individual-oriented species, putting us where we are today, like it or not. We can manipulate the natural world in ways that other species cannot, because we can distribute the work to be done across different talents and abilities. This is good.
Unfortunately, we are highly suggestible (makes us more cooperative), and thus easily manipulated. This has lead to various special interests seeking to use and abuse others to further their own group’s interests/agendas. They often mis-represent their real, selfish motives to hide behind a facade of righteousness or caring for others, snaring the unwary in the process.
Between our group loyalty mechanisms and our gullibility, we are often mis-lead to our own eventual detriment.
Which is effectively the point of your strip today.
What a bunch of malarkey! This is not a zero-sum game where one person’s wealth is at the expense of another. There is room in the world for a zillion billionaires and it will not detract from anyone else one iota.
The idea that you do not have what you need or want because someone has it is the greatest evil man has ever invented.
I hope that you do not really believe this BS, Stephan Pastis. I can recommend someone who can teach you a proper understanding of the world if you do.
Why am I the only person who seems to have noticed that today’s cartoon is hilarious? Family Circus mom: “And he’s going straight to hell, Jeffy.” Thanks for the laugh, Stephan!
And if they gave up ALL their wealth (that it took them YEARS to make) we’d be nowhere near paying off the national debt and they’d be broke. Maybe we should make the government spend less. Then we would ALL have more.
So sorry to see that the Family Circus party line of indoctrination has cancelled out Cartoon-Boy’s uncomfortable facts. But the Billionaires Club media owners take care of their own first of all….
Right, a greater distribution among a relative handful of ultra-rich individuals like Bezos who could easily afford to pay higher wages but chooses not to. Ditto for the Walton family (Walmart) who relies heavily on taxpayer subsidies for its workforce (because so many employees make so little and can’t afford health insurance, they must rely on public assistance).
And executive pay is now many times higher than the average pay across all companies, to a far greater extent than it was 40 – 50 years ago. And let’s not even talk about the tax code………….
Ultimately the politicians set the tax rates. The politicians are elected by the people. Time for the people to step up. Or maybe they already have and have decided that while our system isn’t perfect, it is the best that we can expect.
This strip was so perfectly and profoundly true that I actually clicked on “Buy a Print of this Comic” for the first time ever, only to find that I couldn’t afford it. Oh the irony.
one last comment: this attempt at rebirthing the concept of an economically classless society is just misguided.why is the current theme against people who rose to the top by putting in the effort?someone mentioned microsoft and gates earlier – and that’s an apt example.re-examine your point of view – if you live in the western world (and it appears that most if not all the posters are in North America), you already have a leg up compared to former soviet bloc countries and other parts of the world, such as Asia.i’m not a billionaire, but i don’t envy them – they figured out a product to get rich – good for them. i’ve been employed by many companies which were founded by someone now very rich – who got there by their business acumen.tax the rich too much, and they will leave that jurisdiction – taking their investments (jobs, infrastructure) with them.Just like the comic strip said – people being played against each other.
I’ve heard people call for billionaires to give at least a million dollars to everyone on the planet. That way, no one is impoverished and everyone is rich. While this does sound good on paper, if everyone had a million dollars, why would they continue to work? We would all probably quit our jobs and the economy would crash. I face palm every time I hear someone advocate this.
BE THIS GUY over 2 years ago
But there are more billionaires so that means there’s greater distribution of wealth.
Renatus Profuturus Frigeridus Premium Member over 2 years ago
Where is Robin Hood when you need him?
pontiac59 over 2 years ago
Two flaws in attacking the rich:
1. money is not finite, and nothing prevents you from becoming rich also
2. ever get a job from a poor person?
sirbadger over 2 years ago
It isn’t just US billionaires that you have to fear. I think that much of the pro-immigrant sentiment comes from rich people who hire immigrants, poor people who are immigrants, and people in other countries who are on social media and who don’t care about the US or US workers. Stolen election talk diverts us from what we should be debating.
Jesy Bertz Premium Member over 2 years ago
Oh, won’t someone think of the poor rich people?
AtariDragon over 2 years ago
He should have waited until there were 666 billionaires.
Templo S.U.D. over 2 years ago
Ah, good ol’ Family Circus.
Bilan over 2 years ago
A little while back, a guy on 60 Minutes used a great term for what the news media has become: The Hate Industrial Complex.
BasilBruce over 2 years ago
It’s official—the 1950s never ended, they’re just camouflaged.
Cheapskate0 over 2 years ago
Excellent summary of politics today.
If you’re not for protecting billionaires from the rest of us, you must be a Communist and are going straight to hell!
macky87 over 2 years ago
This reminds of a song I heard by the MonaLisa Twins on youtube. “I Bought Myself a Politician.”
Richard S Russell Premium Member over 2 years ago
The true divide in American today is not horizontal (left vs. right), it’s vertical (top vs. bottom).
pokeystick over 2 years ago
I want to salute Stephen for this strip. I don’t put all the blame for division on the rich, but there is no doubt that the rich and powerful often love division – the very essence of racism, for example, which is meant to divide and conquer. Thank you, Stephen.
onespiceybbw over 2 years ago
One-hundred-sixty-five million? What happened to the other 165,000,000?
Zykoic over 2 years ago
Did Russell Brand help write this?
TampaFanatic1 over 2 years ago
Good one Pastis: Upton Sinclair and Eugene Debs would be proud! Somewhere Dennis Kucinich is giving you the thumbs up!
GeorgeInAZ over 2 years ago
Communiss? Or deplorable, alt-right, Q-Anon, Republicans — which of course are all the same, right?
Zeno2099 over 2 years ago
Exactly. Thank you. Also, please listen to Russell Brand’s Luminary/Spotify/YouTube podcasts for counteracting that kind of hatred and indoctrination, staying informed, and bringing people together, all in combination.
Qiset over 2 years ago
Look at the other end. In 1990 35% of the world lived in extreme poverty. Today it is 10%. And that is with an increase of where they mark poverty. We need to look at the entire picture.
ronaldspence over 2 years ago
Zing!
shanen0 over 2 years ago
His numbers sound too generous. I don’t think the poor people have that much money, but I can’t find out where the line is for the top 1%, which is what most of the stats discuss.
wheaters over 2 years ago
Er, no. They’re not distributing, they’re accumulating.I’ve seen a study somewhere that says when the richest in society make >193 times the poorest, then that society’s doomed. The US has gone waaaaay past 193. America’s f***ed, soon, and let’s hope you come out of the revolution as a society, and not as serfs.
srhaymaker over 2 years ago
We real!y need the Fairness Doctrine back! That was implemented in the early days of television by the FCC. Reagan vetoed its renewal and the quality of media coverage has declined from there. The Fairness Doctrine required that each position on an issue be reported. That would be beneficial because everyone would hear variations of the same factual news. Just imagine the effect that might have in the country!
eric_harris_76 over 2 years ago
Billionaires don’t have money. They have things that (currently) are worth money.
Scrooge McDuck is not real. Not even close.
Sorry.
blunebottle over 2 years ago
Hilarious! But how sad and true.
iggyman over 2 years ago
Less billionaires who play with rockets into space and more of that money to the working people who actually keep the country going ?! Hey billionaires, you can’t take it with you!
Gent over 2 years ago
Ah the old divide and rule trick, eh. It always work.
juicebruce over 2 years ago
Strange place we live in . We are told to get educated , work hard , earn money . If you are good at it (Earning money) then you are picked on for what you were told to do .
Cameron1988 Premium Member over 2 years ago
Pinned
Cameron1988 Premium Member over 2 years ago
This includes those who run mega churches and ministries……
jimchronister2016 over 2 years ago
Only in America, If ANY ONE of The 165,000,000 wanted any part of what the 664 have bad enough they could have it too BUT! they are not willing to pay the price! Answer!, the Will to work for it.
Liam Astle Premium Member over 2 years ago
Because for the past two years he’s been depressing.
pudd over 2 years ago
Stephan, stick to the puns.
John Smith over 2 years ago
Made me laugh! Although I do have to admit I agree about the burning in Hell part.
JoeStoppinghem Premium Member over 2 years ago
SP, this is your best comic to date.
Ellis97 over 2 years ago
The Family Circus is the worst comic strip ever.
jel354 over 2 years ago
Is this the closest fans are getting to the return of Danny Donkey?
David in Webb Premium Member over 2 years ago
This has always been the case. Hundreds of years ago the “rich” way outnumbered all the others. Whether you like it or not that has always been the case. However, on the plus side, the rich are also the ones who start businesses, spend obscene amounts of money on things and generally help fuel the economy. Also, I’ve seen too many times where someone wins the lottery or a big lawsuit and has gone broke (i.e. bankrupt) and are now on the dole. They couldn’t handle the “rich” part.
raybrag over 2 years ago
Pastis the Provoker.
PaulAbbott2 over 2 years ago
Odd turn for the Family Circus! Commies and Hell. All kidding aside, Jeff Keane and the Family Circus comes off as sanctimonious goo. But the Keane’s have no problem with other cartoonists doing parodies of the Family. I think PBS and Steve have done takeoffs of FC before.
jpfrasier over 2 years ago
ah, nothing like good ole class warfare to stir the masses.
Willywise52 Premium Member over 2 years ago
LOL!Love it.
backyardcowboy over 2 years ago
Stephan’s trying to teach CRT. (Critical Rich Theory)
Denver Reader Premium Member over 2 years ago
Straight to hell Stephen!
tripwire45 over 2 years ago
So the media tells people that this is all “disinformation” so we can go back to being ignorant and divided.
Gameguy49 Premium Member over 2 years ago
There is a reason envy is considered a sin. If you’re not happy with what you’ve got either learn to be satisfied or learn how to do better for yourself. Most people are short of money because they waste so much of it on non-necessities. The proof of that is the numerous “Self-storage” businesses proliferating every town and city.
Free or Not? Premium Member over 2 years ago
Eh Tu Pastis. Let’s see there are ovber 100 times more billionaires? Do you think that mean that wealth has grown?
Are you stuck in the freshman college economic mistake that believes there is only one pot of money and the only way the rich get rich is buy taking it from everyone else? You know what that is right? That is Marxist “Critical Theory”. It is false and it is the basis of division used by Marxists and global elitists to divide people into class warfare as a tool of creating an authoritarian ruling class? What does that socialist ruling class do after they have divided us with this simpleton view of economic? The elite get all the wealth and the average pleb gets more poor and those who were middle class also become poor. Socialism is the equal sharing of the miseries—-by those who have been chosen by the ruling class to be miserable.
However, those who follow this simpleton argument about wealth inequalities. fail to recognize the true power of free markets and capitalism to raise more people out of poverty than anyone else than any other social and political system in the history of the world. Are there those who earn profits unjustly? You bet. But they are more likely to earn profits unjustly in the big government, corporate-crony systems of centralized planning, socialism and its very very close cousin fascism. That is what we see growing now in America under Biden (as under Obama) and in China: fascism. (The alliance of corporate and state interests). That is what the World Economic Forum wants in its “Great Rest” as characterized by the slogan they use throughout the world “Build Back Better”. As they proudly state: “You will own nothing and be happy”. That is a threat, not a promise.
Embrace freedom and free markets and true capitalism (not crony corporatism) and more people will be wealthy and rise out of poverty.
wongo over 2 years ago
How do I get on the “wealth distribution” list?
Zebrastripes over 2 years ago
Most have their “wealth” in foreign banks hiding so they don’t pay taxes and their fair share…..cheats, greed, liars
Komix Lover over 2 years ago
And point of the comic was proven. See comments above for that proof.
IshkaBibel1 over 2 years ago
To be accurate they have more wealth than the bottom 165 million.But few people under age 50 have any wealth, even those living well. In fact a homeless person with $20 in his cup has more wealth than half the nation.Bernie loves to misuse numbers like this.
Radish the wordsmith over 2 years ago
Anyone to the left of Hitler is a Commie, according to the Republicans.
Huckleberry Hiroshima over 2 years ago
Yipe.
joefearsnothing over 2 years ago
So, if Stephan is successful enough to join the elite rich, he will distribute all to the less fortunate? I wonder!
Goat from PBS over 2 years ago
Funny thing is, if all of humanity stopped buying the stuff made by the 664 billionaires, they would make a lot less money. So the poor and middle classes made the rich wealthy because the rich has cool gadgets that we all want.
kartis over 2 years ago
George Carlin was saying this in the seventies. He was talking about the middle class versus the working class; but you could substitute black and white, white and indigenous, basically any group not the 1%, and this would still be true. We have had decades of media propagandizing the views that now divide us, and now threaten to destroy us. The media is owned by the same companies that produce weaponry – do you think that they will ever really want peace?
Diane Lee Premium Member over 2 years ago
The Republicans want money to go to the rich rather than the middle class because they are beholden to them—the money to finance their campaigns comes from the rich. They tell the public that it will “trickle it down”, and everyone will benefit. This is the standard Republican rationale for giving money to those who are already rich. Trickle down has never worked, as far as raising the standard of living, anywhere that it has been tried. And, it is completely illogical to believe that it ever could. If you are paying a guy to cut your lawn and he’s doing an adequate job, then you get a tax cut, do you raise his pay? Neither will the 1%ers. The only reason to spend more on hired help is that you need more workers to get the job done. The only way more workers will be needed is if there is an increased demand for product- in other words people are buying more stuff. The only reason people would be buying more stuff is that they can afford it. And, the only reason that more people can afford more is that they are the ones getting the tax cuts, not the rich guys. Trickle down just gives the rich guys more money to hide offshore, or more money to buy more politicians to write laws so they have more money to hide offshore. If you want that money to stay in America, increase production, and raise everyone’s standard of living, trickle UP will do the job, not trickle down.
gmu328 over 2 years ago
I enjoy the Family Circus bit, however, that mom has a potty mouth! Kinda wonder if Bill Keane approved … or understands. Who cares, great comic today Pastis
hmofo813 Premium Member over 2 years ago
Hey, a Sunday without one of Pastis’ awful “puns!”
chaight1 over 2 years ago
Spot On! Perfect!
notjimothy over 2 years ago
Keep this up and get banished to the opinion page a la Doonsbury
SusieB over 2 years ago
I wonder if people will ever understand this. We, the 99%, have the power, if only we’d get out of our own way
Jaime Jean M over 2 years ago
Sorry. I kind of missed the point with the Family Circus insert.
ekw555 over 2 years ago
it seems you are over 100 times more likely to be a billionaire than you were 30 years ago.
I call that progress!
Znox11 over 2 years ago
So many comments today, I don’t think this one will be read. But Stephan, if they gave Nobel prizes for comic strips, this one should win. You really nailed it with this one. Bravo.
Dan Collins creator over 2 years ago
Jeffy is making America greater. (Dang! Mom is hot!)
kdandre63 over 2 years ago
“The media” is such a sloppy, imprecise term. There are thousands of hard-working journalists out there doing excellent work every day shining light on issues that are important to people. It is grossly unfair to paint them all as bought-and-paid-for corporate shills.
johndifool over 2 years ago
What do Not Me and Ida Know think of all this?
WCraft Premium Member over 2 years ago
When I first read this, I thought maybe Pastis was trying to make some sense of the great social divide in our country. But then the way it ends…hopeless but very funny. At least we can all laugh. Kudos!
Pgalden1 Premium Member over 2 years ago
Oh Mr Pastis, You never disappoint
[Unnamed Reader - 8f8b37] over 2 years ago
Let’s put that in perspective. If you took all that money, it would run the government for about 30 days. That’s all. No sweeping healthcare, no big social programs, just a one time shot of cash that would also devastate everyone’s investments. You could give it to those 165M (as if the government would do that) and they would all get roughly $1500. You could decide that capitalism is evil, but every other system so far has created far far more suffering. There will always be some who are well off and some who suffer. If you want to do something about it, go out in the streets and do it. Don’t tear down government or the economy. You won’t get what you think you’re getting.
JimValTen Premium Member over 2 years ago
Pastis, you portray so much truth and common sense with your brush, pen and truly insightful mind. If you haven’t earned a Pulitzer yet, you should before long. Keep up your sterling work, sir!!
mpolo11 Premium Member over 2 years ago
517 likes and counting!
John Leonard Premium Member over 2 years ago
You’ll be in good company, Steph.
becida over 2 years ago
I’m glad I got to see this comic before it went away… :-)
Cozmik Cowboy over 2 years ago
PRECISELY!!!
All other conflict – national, racial, racial, sexual – all other conflict – is manufactured to distract us from the fact that the only true conflict is class conflict! If they can keep us convinced that we have problems with each other over fake things, we’re that much less likely to get together and say “Hey – that guy up on the hill is keeping us down; let’s go f*** him up and take our share!”
(And now for the chorus of fools saying “Well, he may be keeping us down, but at least he’s not one of them!” Because so far, it’s working disgustingly well.)
NWdryad over 2 years ago
That must be why Elon Musk built a battle truck.
kyle4kuts over 2 years ago
imagine the country coming together and instead of wanting to distribute the wealth they see it as a useless system and abolish the currency system.
Flossie Mud Duck over 2 years ago
This is one of the better ones. I did literally laugh out loud.
johnschutt over 2 years ago
People aren’t divided over money. They’re divided over morality and whether or not we follow God’s teachings.
Geophyzz over 2 years ago
Democracy/Capitalism ain’t perfect; but ask the people of Hong Kong how Communism is working for them.
BC in NC Premium Member over 2 years ago
In Panel 7 someone asks the media “Who does this?!” They all respond “Not me!” And we see the little ‘Not Me’ ghost running away.
FilmPhanatic Premium Member over 2 years ago
1) Excellent commentary!2) It’s been a while since a Family Circus bombing run.
zeexenon over 2 years ago
If you need me, you can find me at Walmart.
eric_seale Premium Member over 2 years ago
And (surprisingly, if ironically), our local paper chose to print a re-run strip rather than this one in today’s paper. Hmmm….
bunrabbit99 over 2 years ago
nailed it! love that last panel!
gerlach5 over 2 years ago
Actually, the total net worth of one third of all Americans is zero. So anyone with a positive net worth has a greater net worth than over 100 million Americans. So the wise ass’s comment about 664 people having more wealth than half of all Americans is actually not as significant as you might think.
Display over 2 years ago
Kudos
And thank you for triggering all the trolls and bots who are now even more readily identifiable since they blurted out all the snowflake comments, deflection, and distraction. And thereby truly helped prove your point as well.
rhpii over 2 years ago
And if there were zero billionaires that doesn’t mean anyone would have any more money.
JoeMartinFan Premium Member over 2 years ago
I’ve never had a problem with any individual or company or corporation becoming wealthy. My problem is with all the breaks they get. Tax breaks, subsidies, bailouts, golden parachutes…it’s been collectively called “corporate welfare” for good reason. The problem is not success; the problem is the lack of a level playing field.
JoeMartinFan Premium Member over 2 years ago
It seems a little unfair to use the “Family Circus” family to virtually represent censorship and intolerance. I get that they’re old-fashioned, but I never got the impression that they are how they are being depicted in this strip. But all’s fair in comics, I guess…
El-Kabong over 2 years ago
Property belongs to he who claims it and can defend his claim.
If there are two then one will have more.
A commonality does not harmonize good and evil.
joannesshadow over 2 years ago
I don’t object to people working hard and acquiring wealth through their own endeavors. But how much is too much? To quote St. Augustine “Find out how much God has given you, and from it take only what you need. The rest is needed by others.” Paying a fair wage and a fair share of taxes helps distribute the wealth to those who need it.
Mr.doom over 2 years ago
The money that a billionaire has does not affect the amount of money that I can make.
Coocalici over 2 years ago
LOL OH WOW thats a good one
sisterea over 2 years ago
Wow, he actually said the quiet part out loud, too bad no one is listening.
Lana M. over 2 years ago
Stephan, your artwork is undeniably better these days than the stick figures you started with, but you are still no Bill Watterson, even if he did a few strips with you.
So, we find we doubt you drew the Family Circus scene yourself, and suspect you simply used one of Bil Keane’s scenes, plugging it into your strip, while replacing the text in the balloons. As a former lawyer, we presume you have observed all the legal niceties in the process…
It would, indeed, be helpful if people were not divided into various tribal loyalties, although that is obviously a trait selected for by many generations resulting in the cooperative-group species we are today. It is so easy to trigger people with group loyalty ploys.
Still, being a cooperative-group species has helped us out-compete individual-oriented species, putting us where we are today, like it or not. We can manipulate the natural world in ways that other species cannot, because we can distribute the work to be done across different talents and abilities. This is good.
Unfortunately, we are highly suggestible (makes us more cooperative), and thus easily manipulated. This has lead to various special interests seeking to use and abuse others to further their own group’s interests/agendas. They often mis-represent their real, selfish motives to hide behind a facade of righteousness or caring for others, snaring the unwary in the process.
Between our group loyalty mechanisms and our gullibility, we are often mis-lead to our own eventual detriment.
Which is effectively the point of your strip today.
Packratjohn Premium Member over 2 years ago
Oh my, Pastis…that is SO well done!
Otis Rufus Driftwood over 2 years ago
I figured Jeff Keane was done with these crossovers. I stand corrected.
howtheduck over 2 years ago
My daughter laughed at this one — a rare event.
Aladar30 Premium Member over 2 years ago
Good one!
boardgamenerd2026 Premium Member over 2 years ago
there are a few things wrong 1. imflation2. being ritch isn’t bad3. the ritch didn’t divide us all up, the left has problims and thats that.
falcon_370f over 2 years ago
When I give food to the poor, they call me a Saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist Archbishop Dom Helder Camara
ComicRelief over 2 years ago
What a bunch of malarkey! This is not a zero-sum game where one person’s wealth is at the expense of another. There is room in the world for a zillion billionaires and it will not detract from anyone else one iota.
The idea that you do not have what you need or want because someone has it is the greatest evil man has ever invented.
I hope that you do not really believe this BS, Stephan Pastis. I can recommend someone who can teach you a proper understanding of the world if you do.
DaBump Premium Member over 2 years ago
Billion dollars just doesn’t go as far as it used to…
dakota_linda over 2 years ago
Why am I the only person who seems to have noticed that today’s cartoon is hilarious? Family Circus mom: “And he’s going straight to hell, Jeffy.” Thanks for the laugh, Stephan!
nadie1943 over 2 years ago
And if they gave up ALL their wealth (that it took them YEARS to make) we’d be nowhere near paying off the national debt and they’d be broke. Maybe we should make the government spend less. Then we would ALL have more.
xlr8rdoug Premium Member over 2 years ago
SHAZAM !! The best one yet !!!!!!!
Sisyphos over 2 years ago
So sorry to see that the Family Circus party line of indoctrination has cancelled out Cartoon-Boy’s uncomfortable facts. But the Billionaires Club media owners take care of their own first of all….
Croc Holliday over 2 years ago
Right, a greater distribution among a relative handful of ultra-rich individuals like Bezos who could easily afford to pay higher wages but chooses not to. Ditto for the Walton family (Walmart) who relies heavily on taxpayer subsidies for its workforce (because so many employees make so little and can’t afford health insurance, they must rely on public assistance).
And executive pay is now many times higher than the average pay across all companies, to a far greater extent than it was 40 – 50 years ago. And let’s not even talk about the tax code………….
Darryl Heine over 2 years ago
“Who ripped up the bad man’s comic?” “Not Me!”
cj7ole over 2 years ago
Ultimately the politicians set the tax rates. The politicians are elected by the people. Time for the people to step up. Or maybe they already have and have decided that while our system isn’t perfect, it is the best that we can expect.
Squoop over 2 years ago
This strip was so perfectly and profoundly true that I actually clicked on “Buy a Print of this Comic” for the first time ever, only to find that I couldn’t afford it. Oh the irony.
packet over 2 years ago
one last comment: this attempt at rebirthing the concept of an economically classless society is just misguided.why is the current theme against people who rose to the top by putting in the effort?someone mentioned microsoft and gates earlier – and that’s an apt example.re-examine your point of view – if you live in the western world (and it appears that most if not all the posters are in North America), you already have a leg up compared to former soviet bloc countries and other parts of the world, such as Asia.i’m not a billionaire, but i don’t envy them – they figured out a product to get rich – good for them. i’ve been employed by many companies which were founded by someone now very rich – who got there by their business acumen.tax the rich too much, and they will leave that jurisdiction – taking their investments (jobs, infrastructure) with them.Just like the comic strip said – people being played against each other.
198.23.5.11 over 2 years ago
no fair!The way THE FAMILY CIRCUS is presented,they can’t even fight back.
By the way,NEWSDAY censored this one and subbed one where Pig gets a puppy from a dating service.
The Waffles are my friends over 2 years ago
I’ve heard people call for billionaires to give at least a million dollars to everyone on the planet. That way, no one is impoverished and everyone is rich. While this does sound good on paper, if everyone had a million dollars, why would they continue to work? We would all probably quit our jobs and the economy would crash. I face palm every time I hear someone advocate this.
markscottlink Premium Member over 2 years ago
The cartoonist needs to use a left-wing character ripping up his strip, since cancel culture is from lefty’s playbook.
BTO over 2 years ago
I sense there is a noticeable shortage of Trillionaires… is that due to Supply Chain Issues?
hangedman over 2 years ago
Truth be known: The 664 are the communists.
Swirls Before Pine over 2 years ago
Wait, the Family are billionaires? Why do they live in that dump?
Darth Revan II over 1 year ago
I do love it when a single comic strip causes a battle in the comments, it’s very entertaining.