Life, 1911-11-23 · page 13 of 44
Life — November 23, 1911 — page 13: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical piece mocks a fictional "Pessimists' Club" whose members are exclusively negative people who socialize only with fellow pessimists. The illustration shows various character types: "The Sorcerer" (a cynical man) and other archetypal pessimists. The satire describes absurd sub-groups within the club—the "World-Owes-Me-a-Living Class," "Pure Cussedness Class," "Sneerers," and "Introspectives"—each embodying exaggerated negative personality traits. The joke is that the club has become so large despite supposedly composed of "the meanest men on earth," and that pessimists are constantly trying to borrow money or avoid paying their bills, making them hypocritical. The satire targets misanthropic social types and the human tendency toward organized complaining.
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Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
-LIFE- Alas and Alackaday! Be a Member of the Pessimists’ Club—Everybody is Joining—Classes in Melancholy, Fear, anthropy and All Forms of Cussedness Meet Daily—Now is the Time to Abandon All Hope. T is highly desirable that members of the Pessimists’ Club shall mingle freely with other people rather than associate exclusively with their own class. In this way you can meet people who have grievances that you never suspected. At the same time, for the convenience of the members of the club, and in order that they may not miss any of their favorite causes for depression and melancholy, groups have been formed composed of all branches of pessimism. Our Knockers’ Corner is at present largely attended. All new knockers who came to the club are directed to go to the first alcove to the right. Cynics’ Retreat is a little further on. Owing to the intensely disagreeable fact that the club is composed of the meanest men on earth, the headquarters “The Sneerer” have had to be changed almost every week. No matter where they are, however, no one likes th It is a melan- choly fact, in spite of the constant disagreements and bick- erings that the club is constantly growing. Local chapters are being formed all over. In the meantime, we announce the following classes which meet regularly: Piaix Worrters.—Members of this class are in the habit of worrying about anything and everything, no mat- ter how small. “ How to Make the Most of Unimportant Things of Worry” ‘vill be the subject of the next lecture. rer Tue Wortv-Owes-Me-a-Livinc Ciass.—Meets every Monday. Composed of people who don’t want to work, but consider that they are entitled to all the luxuries of the day. Members will relate their personal experiences, and give in detail accounts of conspiracies formed against them to prevent them from getting on. Pure Cussepness CLass meets on Tuesday afternoons. This class is composed of ordinary mean men, who just like to be mean without any reason. If you have a yellow streak that you are proud of, join this class and you will not hear of anything to your advantage. Ciass or Sensitive Sours meets Wednesday. These people cherish secret grievances, and are constantly imag- ining that others are thinking hardly of them. Each mem- ber of this class will be expected to demand apologies from every other member for everything that he says. Snerrers.—Thursdays. To be a sneerer you must have developed the habit of sneering at everything that every- one else has, and showing, in a few ill chosen words, that it is pretty poor stuff. In this class sarcastic, bitter re- marks are the order of the day. Tue Inrtrospectives.—Silent class. class do nothing but stare into vacancy. to read their own minds. Any member speaking will be expelled from the class. Any form of speech to an intra- spective is a sign of too much happiness. The other day a man was admitted to the club; but he hadn't been a member a day before he tried to borrow money from the others. He has been promptly withdrawn from the list of members, as he is plainly an optimist in Members of this They are trying We have just received the following letter: Dear Sixs: If I join your club can I have a safe refuge from my creditors? Mournfully yours, Our reply is, No, sir! Why, a large part of the club membership is composed of creditors who cannot collect their bill This is no haven of refuge for an where we face things. body. No compromise! It is a place © comicbooks.com