Life — October 31, 1912 — page 10: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 2086 This page contains three satirical pieces: **"Scandalous"** (poem by Alben Key): Mocks women's fashion evolution, noting that women's petticoats have gradually disappeared over decades, leaving "only got one layer more." **"Conscience"**: A lengthy essay satirizing the "New England Conscience"—the moral smugness associated with Puritan New England tradition. It mockingly traces how this conscience evolved into Standard Oil's business ethics and political corruption, suggesting American capitalism appropriated moral language while pursuing profit. **"The Political Machine"**: A first-person monologue where a personified political machine boasts of its power to manipulate voters, suppress reform through tariffs and banks, and keep the working poor distracted with entertainment rather than civic engagement. All pieces critique American hypocrisy: fading morality standards, commercialized ethics, and systemic political corruption.