‘So Much For So Little’: Academy Award winning short from Chuck Jones
Here’s one I bet you didn’t know about and probably haven’t seen: So Much For So Little, a short cartoon that Chuck Jones did back in 1949, made for the Federal Security Agency in much the same way that he did Private Snafu flicks during World War II for the War Department. It won an Academy Award in 1950 for Documentary Short Subject.
“2,621,392. A nice even figure. That’s the number of babies who’ll be
born next year in the United States. Of these babies, 118,481 will die
before reaching their first birthday.”
The irony, of course, is now that so many John E. Jones have reached their golden years, they’re convinced that they shouldn’t help the next generation…
The true irony is that many are indeed convinced they should help the next generation and realize that what is proposed is demonstrably short of true help. We have had ample time to study the result in other nations and the inevitable rationing and (so espoused) regrettable denial of treatment to those past their productive potential. Although anecdotal, it's instructive to consider our English friend's reporting of a "miracle." Their daughter broke her collarbone and it was hastily set incorrectly. The follow up exam discovered that the bones were knitting, but unaligned. As a consequence there was a large bump showing where the unaligned bone jutted. The doctor informed them that additional surgery would be performed, but they could reasonably get her in as soon as 8 to 10 months. Since they were anticipating shortly going overseas, the "miracle" was the surgery actually being performed less than a month later due to the death of someone and the opening of their scheduled slot. That is what the John E. Jones are concerned about and these concerns have yet to be objectively faced.