Life — February 26, 1920 — page 12: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis This page satirizes Soviet society under communist rule. The main article "Society Under the Soviets" describes a wedding of Miss Murda Inerhart to Mr. Felonious Arson—obviously fictional names suggesting criminality—highlighting the absurdity of Soviet legal proceedings. The bridegroom was a "trial wife" in what appears to be mocking Soviet experimental social practices. The central cartoon depicts a man struggling with income-tax paperwork, captioned as someone "who has been figuring his income-tax problems." This ridicules American tax complexity by implying even communists would find it bewildering. Below, "A Practical Definition" and "The Bolshies" sections offer sardonic commentary on democracy versus Soviet governance, with the Bolshies described as "unkempt, unfettered and unthinking." The overall thrust mocks both Soviet practices and American bureaucratic excess.