Capitalism Is Kind of Harsh

There's another thing all of this dictator and fascism talk should be reminding you of: capitalism. Because, as in most Dr. Seuss stories, the focus isn't so much one system of government so much as it is hierarchical power structures in general. And that, after all, is pretty much what capitalism is. It's a system in which some people can see great heights, but not without the help of everyone below them that can't.

Before we continue, we'd like to give a major shout out to Philip Nel and Jacob M. Held and friends for helping us think about Seuss in a whole new way.

In 1975, Dr. Seuss drew an illustration that really drove his thoughts home. He called it "The Economic Situation Clarified", and it shows pretty much what we see here in Yertle. For every furry creature that gets to walk up the grade (we here in Shmoopville call that "upward mobility"), a bunch of depressed furry creatures must walk down. Unless, of course, we're all there in the mud together. Yes, it's all about the mud for Dr. Seuss.

Capitalism bothers Seuss not just because of the inequalities it creates, but because it forces us to rely on external things for our happiness. We actually look up to a guy like Yertle, who has more things than everyone else. We reward that, by letting him (or several people like him) rule.

But does Yertle actually seem happy to you? Nah. Because happiness comes from the inside. No matter how high a turtle may rise, he's no more free than the turtles stacked beneath him.