Life — September 24, 1914 — page 12: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Political Satire: Post-WWI Banking and Heaven This page from *Life* magazine satirizes post-war tensions between depositors and banks. The top section, "Results," lists war's devastating social costs: dead heroes, national debt, orphanships, and ruined farmers. The main piece, "If Things Were Reversed," mocks bankers' resistance to depositor demands by imagining a hypothetical citizens' meeting where banks must serve notice before withdrawing deposits—reversing normal banking practice. Bankers react hysterically, claiming this violates "divine wisdom." The accompanying cartoon shows St. Peter denying entry to Heaven to a notorious burglar, who protests that the burglar "never pretended to be anything else"—implying bankers are hypocritical, fraudulently claiming respectability while behaving unethically. The satire suggests post-war financial institutions deserve public suspicion.