There is no denying that cartoonists are very astute commentators on culture. Often their artwork can even sway public opinion and help shape culture. But in 2007, there is a movement that will see the cartoonist rise to new heights of power and influence in a way never thought possible.
Think about this for a moment…
Our current world leaders are, in most cases, elected by the people, but in doing so make promises they can’t keep and spend untold amounts of time and energy degrading their opposition. Once in power, it seems the aim becomes one of self interest instead of that for the people – unnecessary wars are placed high on the agenda, military spending becomes the biggest budget item and the lives of innocent people are sacrificed for an unknown objective.
Life becomes oppressive. Fun disappears. Laughter fades into memory.
The cartoonists of the world will stand for this no longer and instead unite to restore a balance. Pencils will become the weapon of choice and any policy that can’t be drawn in a three panel cartoon strip will be discarded.
Here’s what we plan to do:
1. Get rid of suits.
Suits are stuffy and stifle creative thinking. All wars are started by men in suits and ties, probably because their tie is done up too tight, restricting blood flow to the brain. When brain circulation is lacking, weapons of mass destruction appear to be a very real threat and the solution becomes “bomb the crap out of everything that moves.”
2. Spend all military budgets on art classes, especially art classes for kids.
Imagine how much better the world would be if instead of every bomb that was dropped, a painting was created. These paintings would become our vision and, in time, the vision would become a reality. Realistic paintings, cartoons, sculpture – the medium doesn’t matter – it’s the art that counts.
3. Create new forms of conflict resolution.
I’ve seen meetings take place where conflicted parties meet, talk, shake hands, and then a week later try to kill each other all over again. The cartoonist has a unique form of conflict resolution that I’m proud to reveal. Firstly, we sit all conflicted parties on a chair in front of a group of caricaturists (people who draw cartoon likenesses of people). Then, the caricaturists draw all of the people who are fighting, but they draw them naked. Then, all of the drawings are revealed to the whole group. Amongst the embarrassed giggles and muffled laughter that follows, the conflicted parties will realize that when you take the clothes away, we’re really all just people. Funny, quirky people that look pretty funny in the nude – and when people start to laugh together, differences become less important and peace is given a chance.
4. Declare that nothing is really that serious.
Well, natural disasters are, and they should be seen as such, but the stupid decisions that we have made as a race deserved to be laughed at. We should be able to laugh at each other. We should be able to laugh at ourselves. As mentioned above, if any topic or agenda can’t be drawn as a cartoon to make people laugh, then it doesn’t deserve our time and effort. See number 3 for why laughter is important.
5. Finally, all elections will be decided on who can draw the best cartoon.
Every ballot paper will be a comic book featuring the artwork of all the candidates, which voters will choose by simply tearing out the one they like and placing it in a ballot box. The successful candidate will then have their cartoon reproduced on license plates for the duration of their term. History books will transform into comic books and learning about our past will become fun!
There are still a few details left to work out, but I hope that even at this early stage, you will be inspired by the way the world could be if cartoonists were in charge. My hope is that in 2007 culture will not simply be influenced by cartoonists, but created.
And created to be FUN.
This post is part of the latest writing project over at Darren’s ProBlogger. Click below if you’d like to browse through some of the other 250+ entries!
A perfect ski vacation is all about unpredecitability and adventure. Why would one want to have detailed travel maps on such a trip? That would make much more sense if one was to fly via some fancy flight like the turkish airlines to a destination that has some grand hotel, like perhaps the amsterdam hotels.
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The Top Five 2006 Money Topics on Free Money Finance by FMF
Top 10 Sports Predictions for 2007 by Aaron
Why People Hate Lawyers - Just Read their Blogs! by Andrew
Why We’ll Fork Over $15.00 to Hear Britney’s New CD in 2007 by Roberta
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Why I Won “Time’s Person of the Year” by Sarakastic
2006 Web Wrap-Up by Robert
Creative Ideas for Business Games by Anna
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The Five Biggest Movie Gambles of 2007 by Dave
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Reviews and Predictions from a Canadian Problogger by David
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2007 Prediction: Blogs will be replaced by Joshua
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11 reasons why 2007 will be the year for plus size fashion by Glen
New Year’s Resolutions For Bloggers by Domtan
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2007 Psychic Predictions by Matt
Sneak Peek : Top News Stories of 2007 by Xaymaca
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Looking Back and Looking Forward by Simba’s Mom
5 Technology Discoveries That Changed My Business in 2006 by Desiree Scales
The Google Maps API: Predictions for 2007 by Cameron
What I expect from the 2007 Chicago Cubs Starting Pitchers by Joe
Reviews and Predictions by Doug Karr
A Preview of What to Expect tfrom bloglinkr by Michael
Motorsports Predictions from The Garage by Gary
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Monetize This by Ken
The Year That Was - For Digital Film Makers by Jason
2006: Revelation of a Video Games Blogger by Patrick
The Biggest Blogging Mistake I Made In 2006 by George
Qigong is the New Yoga by Martial Development
Hopes for a More Conservative 2007 by Adam
Thanks For Making My Year by Kamal
Personal Review 2006 by Tony
Incursion into the Blogosphere - A Post Fairy Tale by Yan
7 Things I Learned Since Becoming An Web Entrepreneur by Griffen
The Top Headlines of 2007 by Stefan
Self-defeating self-improvement shortcuts of the future by Julie
Top Ten Board Game News 2006 by Yehuda
The 2007 Economic Outlook by Jeremy
Tiny Dancer: A Year in Pictures by Erica
Buy and Sell Essay Writing in 2007 by Angel
¿Qué depara el 2007 en la blogosfera española profesional? by Sacha
Tagged with “5 Things” Meme aka Mirror Mirror by Elana
Reflection over my net travels by Luke
Business Blogs Break Loose in 2007 by Brad
Spam killer plugins I used this 2006 by Jhay
Ten Teens and Pretees: Ten Predictions by Claudia
Eliza’s Blog Predictions for 2007 by Eliza
For better or Worse? by Rebecca
Prediction 2007 - blogging community helps cut the crap by CabSav
One Hundred Footsteps by Beth
Finding Opportunities for Big Success is Easy by Benjamin
Stupid Ways to Lose Money by TJP
Thinking of 2007 by Thejesh
Predicting the evolution of Techspot insideout by Ashish
What does 2007 hold for Apple? by fcodc
How old is web 2.0? Look back in Time by Sante
Previsões Para 2007 by Ibrahim
Starting a Hero’s Journey by Matt
Free Sofware in 2007. Or maybe not (portuguese version) by Fernando
Why did I join blogosphere? by Maggie & Will
Looking forward to 2007 by Leroy
Hybrid Cars in 2007 by Mike
A Writer’s First by Leo
Lessons from the Most Talked about Topics of 2006 by nickel
In the Garden of Resolve by Kathy
As I see 2006 in my rear-view mirror… by monchster
Statement for year ended… by Bianca
Top 5 Lessons for Small Business in 2006 by Natalie
‘06: What I’ve learned in under 150 words by Peter
Preaching, Unicycle, Broken Ankle, and Swearing by Scot
Charting the Unknown - 2006 by Shadows
The Year in Review: The Best Websites You’ve Never Visited (and some you have) by Erin
Only You Can Write Your Life’s Coming Attractions by Tony
Oh, the weather outside is frightful by Ian
What blogging has taught me by Madhur
The Year in Television Review for 2006 by Steve
Reflections of the HART-Empire Network for 2006 and 2007 by HART
The Hamster is Back by FosterAbba
The Top 7 Writing Contests to Enter in 2007 by LearningNerd
Teachings I was given in 2006 by Msterlinn
Choose My Haircut 2 by Jeremy
“Set It & Forget it” For the Future? by TMT
You Can Be a Good Example or a Horrible Warning - How NOT to be a Successful Blogger by engtech
2006 Reflection and a Look Ahead for 2007 by Pink Eyed
5 Reasons Why Filipino Bloggers Will Make it Bigger in 2007 by aczafra
The Withdrawing of Forces and Other Predictions for ‘07 by Ronald
Finding the Courage to Fail - Even as a Broke-Ass Student by Jennifer Lynn
Where Was Your Blog This Time Last Year? by Sarah Lewis
*Star Wars* VS The Stark Wok - *Star Wars* VS Stark Wok - Jedi to
make way for Blo-gedi ! by tigerfish
Cooking Korean Food Anywhere: How I’m going to help you in 2007 by Sue
2007: From Productivity to Possibilities by Nneka
How I made $4000 in 2006 with Hypertext by Mark
How I Made It Through 2006 As A Newbie Blogger Without Losing The Rest of My Hair by Robert
Top 10 Lightweight Rowing Stories of 2006 by JW Burk
The State of Gaming, 2007 by Chris
Look Back in Anguish: My Switch to a True Blogging Platform by Mike
The Future of Blogging by Steve
Top 2006 website news terms and buzzword anagrams by Bryant
My Blogging Journey through 2006 and My blog resolutions for 2007! by Anthony
My ball wonders… how bout yours? by Rashenbo
2007 Travel Predictions and Trends by Nick
Nine Baseball Predictions for 2007 by Geoff
Rubbing the Crystal Ball: 5 Technology Predictions for 2007 by Jonathan
The Mac Came Back by Curt
I’ll blog naked throughout 2007 by Andréa
Baby Name Stock Market: My Picks for 2006 by Nancy
Now and Future by WishBoNe
Tiger Woods 2006 Review and Early 2007 Predictions by TP Golf Online
What Google, Yahoo and Microsoft will buy in 2007 by TIm
Review of affiliate Marketing in India by Ashok
May you live gluten free in interesting times… by Lucy
Best Japanese Commercials of 2006 by James
My 7 Blogging Predictions for 2007 by Martin
Seven Sustainability Predictions for 2007 by Mike
Fart Queen and Other Princess Stories - Year End Review by E.B
Looking back at Me in 2006 by Ray
Hello 2008! A look back at 2007 by Phil
Raspberry Season by John
2006: Dead frogs, cows on parade, a kidnapped snowman, and Japan by Jul
Yoiks and Away - Reflections and Directions by Stropp
Baring All by Jennie
Nothing Ventured: a review of 2006, and plans for 2007 by Tom
Meus projetos, em 2006 by Rodrigo
Top 10 “Crzy” Tech Gifts by Nic
A Look Back at 2006: Celeb Fashion, Beauty, and Etiquette by Meg
Sharepoint Predictions for 2007 by Kanwal
Corvette: The 2006 Year in Review by Keith
Blogging in the Rear View by Amanda
The three biggest U.S. soccer stories of 2006 by Josh
My Year In Books by Dave
A Look at 2006 Alzheimer’s Advances by Katelyn
Looking Forward to 2007… A Successful Year by cjcm
Don’t Hold Your Breath in 2007 by Dan
The Future of Lucid Dreaming by Bill
A Writer’s Reflections by Karen
Looking Back and Renewing Priorities by Rob
Top 5 Gospel Gossips of ‘06 by Dee
101 Blog Tips I learned in 2006 by Daniel
Five “gadgets” that made my life easier in 2006 by Shawn
Why did i choose to blog in English? by Aditya
How Christmas Letters Can Make You a Happy Millionaire! by Ben
Reflecting, Refocusing at Working at Home on the Internet by Joe
Blogs are dead - thanks, Digg by John
Evolving Times: The Year In Review by Edward
2007 - The Photography Peak by Mike
Blogging and Money: Six Trends For 2007 by Trent
Warmer but not Comfy: The Year Ahead in Global Warming and Energy Dependence, a Prognostication by Martin
Habe ich meinen Deutschlehrer in den Selbstmord getrieben? by Jörg
The Year of the Ebay Hustler - Go Nuts! by Mike
Me in 2006 by Gary
3 for this Year, 3 for Next by Greg
Are you planning on falling in love everyday, just like me? by Thaleia
You don’t have to be a writer to be a Blogger! by Tim
Yoyos and Peanuts by Sophie
The Next Big Thing: Will it Be You? by John
Arrie-gato by Meredyth
13 Events That You WILL Blog About in 2007 by Easton
2007 Not Everyone’s Year of the Dolphin by Heather
When GPS goes bad!! by Coopz
Top 10 list of “Don’ts” when parenting a Teen-Age Girl: Lessons from 2006 by northern girl
2006 - A Year Of Weight Loss by Darren
Will 2007 Mark the End of Digg? by Kris
2006: My year in anime/manga goods by Danielle
Top 10 Unexpected News Stories on the WWW in 2006 by Tom
Maybe it’s too early in the game by NTE
O Sapo em Revista by Sérgio
Work Less, Live More by Katie
Looking back, reikiblogger’s top 7 posts by TC
You are Enough by Beth
My Top 5s for ‘05 (aka 55405) by Geoff
Wait… Never! by Rob
2006 through the eyes of a Travel Blogger by Darren
The strangeness of food history - a few foul anecdotes by Gillian
Reflections and Forecasts of a Brand New Blog Network by Jon
Be-attitudes For PR Students in 2007 by Kelli
New Year Resolutions for 2007 by Yellow Pages
I predict….. by Joh
Prometo que 2007 será melhor (ou “estrogonoficamente cabriocário”…) by Maikel
2007 Already Happened by Expert Idiot
2006 School Review - Mixed ‘06 by Russ
Public Speaking Disasters of 2006 by Charlie
Prediction: 2007 will find us getting more frustrated as tech support continues to disappoint by Mary
Der Crossgolf Jahresrückblick by enq1981
Anime writers will rule Hollywood - My 2007 prediction by Icaterus
Why Cameras Cell Phones Will Not Replace Digital Cameras In 2007 by Dominic
Kickstart Your Blogging Business and Make Big Money: 7 Reality Checks by Andrew
10 Great Leadership Blunders of 2006 by George
Why Cartoonists Will Rule the World in 2007 by Matt
You Can Live the lIfe of Your Dreams but You Must First Learn to Crawl by Tabs
Vivid Imagination Or…? by Jeremy
Interior Design Trends for 2007 by Wendy
Natação by pjdc
Early Notice Of What He May Be Getting Under The Tree by Justin
The Reviewer’s Best and Worst of 2006 by The Reviewer
My year in retrospect by Rakshith
?????? ?? ???????????: 2006 by Atanas
Top 8 YouTube Videos of 2006 by Todd
Beware - Are you the Weakest Link in Your Team? by Robert
Five blogging tools that every blogger will use in 2007 by Yoav
China 2007: Thoughts and Predictions by fiLi
No doubt: Christmas has come to Japan by Kris
Online travel in 2006 by Kevin
Souvenirs From My Trip Around the Sun by Tillerman
A Blogosfera Brasileeira de 2006 by Tiago
“2007 Will Be Heaven” or “Why The New Year Holds Such Promise” by Thom
Os Últimos Resultados de Buscas! by Bruno
What’s in store for ‘07? by Andy
One year of computer knowledge wrapped up in one blog post by Michael
Online Stock Trading 2006 by mrmike
Web 2.0 in 2007 by Justin
Blogging Lessons Learned in 2006 by Chris
WTF: the Donald, the burger and the other white meat in 2007 by Jenny
eBay - Looking Ahead To 2007 by Gary
Top 5 Revolutionaries of 2006 by Brandon
Companies Are Actually Engaging in Conversations With Customers by Christopher
Thirteen Lucky Predictions for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by Michelle
Reminiscences from Innocence in Retrospective - 1 by Fouad
Top 10 Ugliest Sneakers of 2006 by Terry
Who Will jump on the blog bandwagon in 2007? by Vincent
Using Ubuntu and Showing off on the Internet by Julien
My year of words, design and creativity by SunnySnowy
From Schinveld and Kikase-cho to Dime Box: travel blogging now and next year by Sheila
Looking Ahead - Tech Predictions for 2007 by James
Top 5 Food Business Trends for 2007: These Will Set Your Mind Buzzing and Your Mouth Watering by Barbra
Two Years of Homeland Stupidity by Michael
Reviews and Predictions: The year gone by and what’s to come in
health and fitness by Fitness Mantra
12 Ways The Internet Has Helped Me In 2006 by Ellen
Top 6 Top Sixes for a Top ‘06 by Geoff
Ooh, baby, baby it’s a wired world — but what is going to change in residential real estate in the next 12 months? Almost nothing . . . by Greg
Merry Christmas/Season’s Greetings - in 38+ dialects/languages by James
28 things I did to improved traffic to my website in 2006 by Lyndon
End of Year SGEP Review– The Best Posts of 2006, as voted by YOU!!! by D.T Kelly
No Hesitation: Why I’m matriculating into Yale 2011 by Sam
My AdSense Millions by Nico
A Response to the President’s Order For Us to “Go Shopping” by Randy
Unintentionally Blank Predictions ‘07 by Phil
10 Hot Technologies coming to Mobile Phones in 2007 by Mike
Run to Win in 2006 by Blaine
Microsoft’s Year by Pedro
12 Pictures and Reflections from Paddling with a Camera in 2006 by Marek
This Year; Next Year by sbpoet
2006 Was a Very Good Year to be a Willie Nelson Fan by Linda
Adolescent RSS: Getting her boobs in 2007, thanks to Windows Vista by Ricky-bob
A Year in the Life of ‘Medium’: 2006 by GetSheila
I Don’t Know Jack by Ian
2007: The Financially Savvy Stay at Home Mom by Dana
“Second-Order Distractions” Pursued by Conservatives in Late 2006 by Rob
$12,000 Down…$25,000 Yet to Go by Tricia
More Holistic Than You Could Possibly Expect by Renée
Personalities of the Year 2006 at Filipina Soul by Maricar
Search Engine Reputation Management on the Rise in 2007 by Richard
Six Moments That Changed My Foodie Life in 2006 by Sarina Nicole
What’s Decomposing - 2006 by Anthony
What will you choose to believe in 2007? by Patricia
Top 5 productivity tips of 2006 by Jim
Designs for the Future by James
My predictions for 2007 by Somu
The Award Design Awards by Hurty
Top Peak Performance Articles for 2006 by Graham
Things I Should Have Blogged in 2006 by Billy
Finding my Way: Lessons I’ve Learned in Crafting this Year by Angela
2006 Search Wrap-Up by Kevin
Saving the Planet One Lunch Break at a Time by Lorna
2006 in Review: A Year of My Money Blog by Jonathan
Internet Headlines of 2007 by Chris
…2007 is hard to predict by Cory
Five freeware faves from 2006 by Mark
10 Things That Will Happen to Videoblogging in 2007 by Stephanie
Disruptive technologies for 2007 by NitnK
10 Mistakes I’ve made in 2006 by Randy
The Year of the Baby by Lisa
You’re definitely on to something. Is it time for a third party? The Comicrats? … 2006 was the meanest, nastiest, grimmest year of politics I ever remember. I hope in 2007 people come around to your point of view!
Great post. I am going to have to mention it on my political humor blog. Quite funny.
BTW - my entry to Darren’s project is here.
All the best in taking over the world in 2007.
bring in the new world order, on the shoulders of great cartoonists like you.
I enjoyed your insights. Keep shaking up the status quo for the good of mankind!
good post matt… i’m looking forward to taking over the world together with you. i saw this post over at the problogger contest that i’m also taking part in here.
LOL! I’m all over that art classes for kids thing!
Cartoonists rock! Thanks for the list, I enjoyed reading it.
I found you on the Problogger Predictions and Reviews Participant List and thought I’d stop over and say hello.
Cheers!
Writing Aspirations
Hey Matt,
I was looking for a good cartoonist for a long time. I hope that soon we can work together.
-Yoav
Interesting read, and that is true to an extent. Artists of any type — cartoonist, photographers, musicians, graphic designers — have a great influence on culture. They create the culture! They design ads, make artwork that appeals to people, and can sway thousands of views. (By the way, check out my article for Darren’s writing project if you’d like, about the photography peak. I hate advertising myself like this, but other people seem to be doing it, so it’s not too rude..
Good contribution to the group writing contest!
lol, finally they will decide who wins what a hilarious comment.Good pos i really enjoyed it.
I also got entry in darrens project.
http://technospot.net/blogs/index.php/2006/12/19/predicting-the-evolution-of-techspot-insideout/
And i am feeding your blog.There wont be another chance to meet so many bloggers
Merry Christmas
What a refreshing take on life, the universe and everything! I enjoyed your post very much. Mine is here, good luck in Darren’s contest!
Good argument, but I still think that speculative fiction writers should rule the world. Sorry.
why are you called chewing pancils????????????
i guess you are right we can see a lot of political stupidity in this year and i think cartoonist have the freedom to express their view a lot more openly than others because they dont actually quote any person but a copy of him.
anyways nice info.
thanks
Regards
Amitav Roy
Blog: Web Design and Graphic Design