"Buy America" - An American Satire (Week 3 Reading Assignment #2)

According to SFGate, “Mark Fiore is a San Francisco cartoonist and animator whose work also appears in the Washington Post, L.A. Times and other publications. In his animated satire entitled, “Buy America,” Fiore attempts to present the United States of America as a once-fortunate country that is now in the thralls of financial and social unrest. Due to the recent developments in America’s economy, as well as some of the political and military situations that are also linked to the current undertone of unrest that seems to be plaguing the United States the satire is attempting to show, in a light-hearted sort of way, some of the problems that America is facing in modern times. The Satire begins with a reference to, “Buy American,” having been replaced with, “Buy America.” This in itself is a play on words that would possibly enrage some patriots of the United States, and if they were to respond they would probably do so with a very patriotic and down to earth analysis of the finances and statistics of the United States. However, given the ideals that were a piece of the foundation of American thought, such as Freedom of Speech, this satire is completely within the rights of an American to publish and make their voice known. That is in essence the very foundation of what makes the United States a wonderful place to live.

Before someone can answer a question as to whether or not this satire was successful, one would have to first asses what message exactly was meant to be conveyed. If one goes with the broad generalization that Fiore was trying to present the United States as a once-fortunate country that is now in the thralls of financial and social unrest, then yes, Fiore coveyed this message in a very unique way and was successful in doing so. At the same time, the message was very one-sided and anyone seeing this message would have to assume that there is always another side to every story, so was Fiore successful if his attempt was to actually change one’s opinion of the current financial and social state of America, probably not.

None the less, the satire, “Buy America,” was entertaining and well put together. The specific areas that Fiore used to mock the united states include unemployment, recession, credit cards, and the economy as a whole. His opinions are entertaining but not informative enough to completely sway someone’s opinion toward his own.

Mark Fiore. “Buy America.” SFGate. 23 Jan. 2008. 11 Feb. 2008.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/gate/archive/2008/01/23/fiorebuyamer.DTL