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I recently wrote a blog post on the ways that ducks come to symbolize various elements of American culture.  Specifically, I explored how Scrooge McDuck embodies capitalism in the United States.

It is worth further exploring this notion in light of a recent pop culture display in Saturday Night Live’s recurring sketch Weekend Update, the ever relevant bastion of American satirical news.

You can view the quick sketch here  -

During this interview with the Weekend Update anchors, we see Scrooge McDuck (played by Andy Samberg) gloating about his sound investment strategy of owning pure gold.  By owning nothing but gold coins, he has limited his risk exposure rather than subjecting his financial well being to the ebbs and flows of the US stock market.  I believe this hyperbolic boast has some legitimate economic commentary.

The primary investment vehicle of the average American is the 401k.  However, did you know that you cannot directly own gold (or fine art) with your 401k?  Granted, you can invest in securities which have an interest in gold, but you cannot actually own the precious metal as Scrooge McDuck does.

In order to receive the tax-deferred benefits of a 401k, you cannot invest in a collectible since it creates little to no economic capital for growth.  Thus, the chief vehicle of American investing inherently discourages the conservatism that has yielded so much wealth for Scrooge McDuck in a cyclical economy.

There is a fundamental conflict of interest between the individual investor and Wall Street when the manner of investment is the 401k.  While a 401k can be an excellent tool to grow personal wealth, it also can be a mechanism for a relatively small number of Wall Street bankers to enslave the discretionary capital of the masses via enticement with tax benefits and the illusion of a worry free retirement.

Of course, the intention of the SNL sketch was not to illustrate this point.  However, when one examines the roots of Scrooge McDuck, and his evolving reflection of American capitalism, it becomes apparent that the financial practices which made him wealthy, and the fiscal policies which gave him and all other Americans the opportunity to become wealthy, are today being suppressed by the interests of Wall Street plutocrats.

It is also worth noting that in this SNL sketch we see Scrooge McDuck lament his freakish and isolated nature brought on by his fowlish form.  He claims that he was once a human, but the side effects of swimming in gold coins have yielded diseases polymorphing him into a duck.  He even goes so far as to say, “My life is like a deleted scene from The Island of Dr. Moreau.” This aboration of devolving from a human to a duck , although not a part of official Disney Scrooge McDuck cannon, is similar to my own commentary in which I wrote -

[Scrooge McDuck's] ambition and material greed have placed him up as a duck for sale, owned more by his riches and their ensuing responsibilities than his own character.  Thus Scrooge McDuck may be able to swim through oceans of gold coins in his expansive mansion, but he will always be a goofy, waddling duck – holed up to live in solitude in his fortress of lonely extravagance.

However, in the end of this SNL bit, Scrooge McDuck decrees that “It’s worth it! Gold coins!”

America has a fascination with ducks.  They serve as mascots, heroes, villains, sidekicks, icons, pitchmen, etc. in our everyday culture and society.  We’ve often anthropomorphically portrayed the duck in manner that is reflective of our overall mindset and values.  If one wants to truly understand the American culture, look no further than our ducks…

Thus to explore American Capitalism using the wisdom of our waterfowl, we look to Scrooge McDuck…

Scrooge McDuck embodies the good and bad of American capitalism.

One of the most defining characteristics of the United States society is our commitment to capitalism, and no duck embodies this American drive for wealth and achievement more than Scrooge McDuck.

Scrooge McDuck emerged out of the war-galvanized American ideals of the late 1940s.  He embodies all the economic opportunitites of capitalism, and the ensuing responsibilities and hazards brought on by wealth and achievement.

His name Scrooge is an obvious reference to the cold-hearted miser Ebeneezer Scrooge of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.  When one examines his fictional background, immigrating penniless from Scotland, and becoming and American rags-to-riches success, it evokes the notion of fellow Scotsman and robber baron Andrew Carnegie.  Thus in Scrooge McDuck we see that every American is afforded and opportunity to succeed, but we also see the dehumanization that takes hold when greed and materialistic gain is at the root of endeavor.

Scrooge McDuck often serves as a villain, evoking the public outcry of a dominant titan of industry interested in nothing but profits at any human expense.  American culture as a whole despises him as we despise Rockefeller, Carnegie, and Vanderbilt for their opulence and greed.  The portrayal of these characteristics in a duck somewhat satisfies the American psyche in that as one achieves more and more wealth, they become less and less human.

While Scrooge McDuck owns multitudes of wealth, in some regards he does not even own himself.  His ambition and material greed have placed him up as a duck for sale, owned more by his riches and their ensuing responsibilities than his own character.  Thus Scrooge McDuck may be able to swim through oceans of gold coins in his expansive mansion, but he will always be a goofy, waddling duck – holed up to live in solitude in his fortress of lonely extravagance.

However, our hatred for the capitalistic magnates is conflicted with our enthusiastic joy in the inherent and universal opportunity which capitalism and Scrooge McDuck present to one and all.  This is evident when Scrooge McDuck offers sound economic theory and puts it into practice.  As most of us carry a deep disdain for anyone higher on the capitalistic ladder than one, few of us would give up our own economic freedom which has enabled the financial success of Scrooge and others.  Thus we humbly acknowledge and respect his economic outlook, just as we currently do with capitalistic sages such as Warren Buffet and Bill Gates.

In summary, Scrooge McDuck represents the American love-hate relationship with capitalism.  We hate him for his success, and he hates us back.  We take solace in knowing that even though he swims through money like duck in a pond, he is at times overcome with misery in light of the gravity of his economic alienation.  Furthermore, we cannot deny that even though we hate his success, we would never deny our love for the opportunity to achieve a similar level of financial success.  Thus we always respect the economic wisdom of economic titans such as Scrooge McDuck.