Life — April 10, 1924 — page 12: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Life Magazine's War Prize Contest This page announces **Life's War Prize Contest**, soliciting reader submissions for ideas to improve future warfare. The central graphic simply states "We want bigger and better wars!"—a blunt satirical critique of American militarism and complacency about conflict. The contest invites readers to propose improvements across categories like strategy, entertainment value, and military efficiency. Accompanying the contest are mock "suggestions" from named readers proposing absurd reforms: higher soldier wages, all-youth armies, profitable wars, and better dramatic narratives. The satire works through exaggeration: by treating war as improvable entertainment rather than tragedy, Life mocks how society had normalized and commercialized armed conflict. This reflects post-WWI disillusionment with warfare's glorification. The sarcastic tone critiques both militaristic attitudes and public indifference to war's human costs.