Life — August 29, 1907 — page 11: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "Ex Oriente Lux" - Life Magazine Page 255 This page contains an essay by Joseph Smith criticizing American attitudes toward Japan and Asia. Smith argues against racist stereotyping of Japanese and Chinese people, advocating instead for fair treatment and respect. The cartoon below depicts a confrontation between three figures: a young man (labeled "Young Man, I fear for yer future!"), an older man called "Idle Rich," and what appears to be a person of Asian descent. The dialogue references the young man's twenty-fifth birthday and "twenty lionesses"—likely a sexual innuendo joke about the young man's romantic pursuits. The cartoon appears to satirize wealthy idleness and possibly racial attitudes of the period, though the exact meaning is unclear from context alone.