The Wasp — 1879 — page 507: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This inverted political cartoon depicts what appears to be a wealthy industrialist or political figure at the top, with money and prosperity flowing downward. Below him, multiple figures—likely representing workers or the general public—strain under the weight of his body and accumulated wealth (depicted as coins/spheres on the right side). The text along the left margin reads "A MONEYED POWER—SEES NOT HOW MORE" (though partially unclear in OCR). The satire critiques wealth inequality and exploitation: the cartoon suggests that powerful moneyed interests literally rest upon and benefit from the labor of ordinary people, who bear the physical burden while wealth concentrates above. This reflects late 19th/early 20th-century labor movement criticisms of capitalist exploitation.