Smiley Spot: Omac, John Stewart and China

It is common that Science Fiction leads to Science fact. Star Trek leads to the i-phone; A Brave New World leads to stem cell research. One can only hope that the Legion of Superheroes will lead to swanky rings that allow you to fly right?

Anyways, this week there was a big one for me. John Stewart of the Daily Show reported on the factory conditions of China called Foxconn. Granted the conditions are horrible and inconsolable, but I was struck by having seen these conditions before. The segment shows that the workers are forced to live in an entire town dedicated to the workforce, where they are forced to perform 35 hour days while only being paid 30 Cents an hour. The suicide rate is immensely high and instead of changing the conditions, the company leaves nets outside their buildings to try and prevent suicides.

What really got my memory racing was the anger relief room where disgruntled employees take out their anger on manikins. This is directly from the Jack Kirby series OMAC! In the first issue, soon to be Omac Buddy Blank works in a deplorable factory where he is an outsider. In the factory, there is a room exactly like the one shown.

It is terrifying to be sure that, unlike Star Trek, which is a utopist, consumer friendly society, that a world like OMAC, which is a starch warning that “The World That’s Coming” can treat people in these horrible ways. The only thing to do is denounce acts so against humanity, and hope that the vilification of the world will bring some justice to us all.

As always long live the King, and thanks to Jack Kirby for showing the world as only he was brave enough to see it.

Dov Smiley