Life — April 27, 1911 — page 10: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "See the Unemployed" — Life Magazine This satirical piece debates whether unemployment is necessary for civilization. A wealthy millionaire's wife questions her husband about the unemployed, saying "why on earth are you dressing like that? I'm going down to swear off my taxes." The dialogue presents opposing economic views: one character argues the unemployed are "absolutely necessary to civilization," while another counters that if everyone were employed, there would be no unemployment. The exchange satirizes the wealthy's contradictory attitudes—simultaneously dismissing the unemployed as essential to society while resisting tax obligations that might address poverty. The cartoon mocks upper-class hypocrisy: the wife gestures toward social concern while threatening tax evasion, exposing the gap between professed morality and actual financial responsibility during what appears to be a period of labor unrest or economic debate.