Judge — June 22, 1929 — page 20: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This political cartoon satirizes literary criticism and recitation culture. The title references Horace Greeley's famous "Go West, young man" motto, inverting it for ironic effect. The scene depicts a man in a prison cell being asked to recite Rudyard Kipling's "If" poem again—visible on scattered papers labeled "STAR INVESTS ALL," "SHORE ESTATE," and other financial/life struggles. The judge figure commands the prisoner recite the poem once more. The satire mocks how Kipling's famous motivational poem was used to lecture people about perseverance through hardship, particularly those facing poverty or ruin. The cartoon suggests this repeated recitation of inspirational verse to desperate people was hollow comfort—essentially telling struggling individuals to simply endure their circumstances with stoicism rather than addressing material conditions. The prison setting emphasizes the cruel irony of offering poetry instead of practical aid.