The Wasp — 1877 — page 194: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This satirical cartoon depicts the U.S. dollar as an all-powerful monarch, literally crowned and enthroned at center. Surrounding scenes illustrate how money corrupts institutions: Religion (top left, shown as corrupted), Justice (scales held by Lady Justice), an Insane Asylum, Industrial labor, and various social classes below worshipping or serving the dollar. The title declares that wealth—not democratic values or human welfare—truly governs America. The figures at bottom labeled "Poor but honest" and "Rich but an Ass" emphasize class hypocrisy. This appears to be *The Wasp* critiquing late 19th-century American capitalism, where industrial magnates wielded unchecked power over politics, institutions, and society, reducing human dignity to economic value.