"Isolationism is over"
About this Quote
Four words, zero soft edges. “Isolationism is over” reads less like a prediction than a shove: a curt, poster-ready verdict delivered in the idiom of a cartoonist who understands that the shortest line can carry the sharpest bite.
Ralph Steadman isn’t a statesman issuing doctrine; he’s a cultural alarm bell. The intent is to puncture the fantasy that any nation, especially a wealthy one, can redraw the world as “over there” and “in here.” In a Steadman-ish register, isolationism isn’t a thoughtful policy so much as an escapist pose: a closed door held up as moral cleanliness. The subtext is accusatory. If isolationism is “over,” it’s not because we matured past it, but because reality repossessed the option. Interdependence isn’t idealism; it’s infrastructure.
The line also works as a satire of American cycles: the recurring urge to retreat until a crisis drags the country back into the mess it helped shape. Steadman’s art historically swims in the fumes of late-20th-century politics, media spectacle, and war’s varnished narratives. In that context, “over” is doing double duty. It’s an obituary for a doctrine and a refusal to let audiences pretend they’re innocent bystanders to globalization’s collateral damage.
As a cartoon caption, it has the right kind of ambiguity: triumphant if you want to hear progress, ominous if you hear inevitability. Either way, it denies the comfort of opting out.
Ralph Steadman isn’t a statesman issuing doctrine; he’s a cultural alarm bell. The intent is to puncture the fantasy that any nation, especially a wealthy one, can redraw the world as “over there” and “in here.” In a Steadman-ish register, isolationism isn’t a thoughtful policy so much as an escapist pose: a closed door held up as moral cleanliness. The subtext is accusatory. If isolationism is “over,” it’s not because we matured past it, but because reality repossessed the option. Interdependence isn’t idealism; it’s infrastructure.
The line also works as a satire of American cycles: the recurring urge to retreat until a crisis drags the country back into the mess it helped shape. Steadman’s art historically swims in the fumes of late-20th-century politics, media spectacle, and war’s varnished narratives. In that context, “over” is doing double duty. It’s an obituary for a doctrine and a refusal to let audiences pretend they’re innocent bystanders to globalization’s collateral damage.
As a cartoon caption, it has the right kind of ambiguity: triumphant if you want to hear progress, ominous if you hear inevitability. Either way, it denies the comfort of opting out.
Quote Details
| Topic | Peace |
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