Why Play Leap Frog? (1949)

Cold War-era cartoon aimed at convincing workers that increased productivity brings about greater purchasing power.

The third sharp-looking cartoon in the "fun and facts about American business" series, beautifully animated by John Sutherland Productions. "Joe" (see MEET KING JOE) works at the Dilly-Doll factory as a face painter, and is upset because nearly every one of his raises is offset by an increase in the cost of goods. But the narrator explains that labor costs are to blame (not excessive profits or executive bonuses) and Joe quickly learns to use the system to his own benefit. A Freedoms Foundation award-winner. In Technicolor.

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• Charts
• Graphs
• Animation
• Labor
• costs
• Workers
• Economics
• Money
• Cold
• War
• Anti-communism
• Capitalism
• Economic
• education

[ChickenMagic2]

Marxism and Communism fails. You cannont have a Society where the government makes all decisions and provides all ends and means. Free Markets Revolutionized mankind and created everything around us. The main idea of Capitalism is to earn your money through hard work and willingness, in Communism this does not exist, as no matter how hard you work, you are always rewarded the same as your collegue who does little or no work compared to you.

[shaggylocks]

That's the over-simplified third grade definition of Communism. I work in an office with people who are paid more and do less work than I do but have been here longer. Way to go, free market!

[CrankyYellow]

The workers are perfectly capable of coming up with innovations themselves (as the video shows) and don't need the leeches increasing the costs of goods and services (and depressing their real wages).

[CrankyYellow]

What's funny is that this video is actually teaching basic Marxist economics. Except, of course, the conclusions are different.

The video says that labor is the basis of the cost and worth of goods and therefor the workers must work harder and allow machinery to be introduced to increase their productivity which allows them to reduce the price of goods and their wages.

[YesForHope]

@rebalacion7

$2.00 was a lot of money back in the 40's though.

[rebalacion7]

wtf 2.00$ wtf i can buy and pound of candy for half of a penny wtf is this its realy cheap r they poor or cheap wtf

[temp229009]

@TKainZero People die in the streets in the U.S. every day but all anyone can talk about is the supposedly horrendous conditions of a poor tiny island. Who's to say that Cuba wouldnt have become another Haiti had they succumbed to capitalism? At least now they have some dignity.

Cuba is having a very rough time of it now that many of their trading partners have died off. Think about it: how can a tiny tropical island produce everything that its citizens need without a robust trade program?

[TKainZero]

@temp229009 Well, I have spoken personaly with people who fled Cuba to Florida, from the time of the Revolution, to fleeing in the 80's.

But then again, I guess they were not very sympathetic to those who came and destroyed their village...

Outside of Oliver Stone, and a few other Dictator loving propagandists, everyone is aware of the disatrious conditions in Cuba, which is one of the worst off nations in the entire western hemisphere.

[temp229009]

@TKainZero From international scholarly studies regarding Cuba. If you learned your history from the US, you should seek out different resources and you might be surprised about what is going on in the world.

[TKainZero]

@temp229009 We are screwed.

Where did you receive your brainwashing?

[temp229009]

@ChickenMagic2 Actually, before the Soviet Union fell (the premier socialist trading partner), the government of Cuba had the resources to provide for every single one of their citizens. Nearly 100% of Cuba is literate at an 8th grade level and no one is starving on the streets. Contrary to popular belief, Cuba is not a dictatorship and there exist organizational schemes in which people vote democratically and address grievances.

[scotths]

This was a good video for 1949. From the 1940's to roughly 1980 wages of workers kept pace with productivity gains. As workers produced more they received more, gains were shared between workers and owners/investors. Starting around 1980 the productivity gains continued but worker salaries stagnated while profits to investors increased at an increasingly rapid pace. The middle class spent their savings then borrowed as prices kept rising and salaries didn't.

[mitchellalien]

6:55 classic

[kubaniski]

@CrankyYellow they are able to figure out way to decrees labor cost and increase effincy but most people lack the recourses to intact those changes which is where capitalism comes in, people with capitol invest their money or recourses to the persons idea and since the risked their money they expect to get a high return. They are not leeching they are facilitating.