Joe Szabo, the highly accomplished
former political cartoonist,
visited Bucks to shed light on his
findings in world-wide research
and his upcoming new book “The
Image of America.” Szabo spoke
at the Lower Bucks campus on
Sept. 16 and at the Newtown
Campus on Sept. 17.
“I was always fascinated with
the image ofAmerica because it’s
so different based on who you are,
where you live and what you do,”
explained Szabo. So he asked the
world what they thought about our
diverse and often controversial nation.
His interest lead him to write
and research “The Image of
America.”
Szabo has traveled to 69 countries
getting the opinions of people
from presidents to prostitutes.
His lecture depicted the world’s
very diverse and mainly negative
opinion of whatAmerica is today.
Throughout the speech, he cautioned
attendees about the brutal
honesty of the information he was
presenting. Although Szabo didn’t
incorporate his own opinion,
he did justice to those opinions
that he has gathered from citizens
of the world.
One person he interviewed said,
“America is the killer of innocent
citizens.” Another said in regards
to Israel, “America supports dictatorship
in the Muslim world.”
The criticism and protests seemed
homogenous throughout his research.
Along with the frank statements
presented in his presentation came
another striking foreign opinion.
“Many people throughout the
world believe the U.S. government
was involved in the 9/11 attacks.”
Szabo said that not only
do many people believe this, but it
is widely accepted as fact in many
foreign countries.
Being a success in the political
cartooning arena, he included a
multitude of positive and negative
cartoons of various artists from
around the globe. One political
cartoon depicted a large man relaxing
in a bed with a woman trying
to uncomfortably cram in with
him. Szabo translated its message
for the audience, “America leaves
little room for the rest of the
world.”
Although
Szabo must
keep an obj
e c t i v e
s t a n c e
when conveying
his
findings to
s t u d e n t s
across the
world, he
did give an
insightful
overview
of his own
life experiences
in
Ame r i c a ,
where he has lived for about half
his life.
Szabo has given lectures at both
American and foreign educational
institutions.
“I grew up under communism,”
he explains. He was born and
lived in Hungary where he became
the top-ranked political cartoonist
in the country. Years after,
gaining valuable knowledge and
connections with other news publications
throughout the world,
Szabo moved to the United States.
The one opinion he offered the
crowd was regarding the U.S.
healthcare system. His reasoning
was personal, yet he openly presented
his interpretation.
When Szabo moved toAmerica,
he brought his father along to experience
life outside of communism.
Following the move, his
father suffered a minor heart attack.
When it came time for his father
to renew his insurance, the elderly
man was denied coverage due to
his previous ailment. Subsequently,
Szabo’s father returned to
Hungary and shortly after was
struck and killed by a bus. “If he
had stayed here, he might still be
around today.”
Aside from his own views of
the American healthcare system,
Szabo did not go further into any
discussion of his own ideas.
When asked what he hoped to
teach people through the images
composed in his book, he simply
replied, “My goal is not to teach.
There already seems to be an interest,
so my philosophy has been
learning and sharing.”
With his meshing of cultures
and opinions, Szabo is slowly but
surely accumulating a picture of
what people believe of America.
Szabo said he still needs to go
back to India to gather more perspectives.
He explained that because
India is such a populous
country, he would like to have a
correlating amount of opinions
from its people.
Szabo has been working on this
book for four years now, but those
interested in reading the book will
have to wait a little while longer.
“At least another year,” he said.

If any students are interested in
being a part of Szabo’s survey
studies, they can log onto his
webpage, http://joeszabo.us/, to
learn more about his achievements
and research.
If his book is any reflection of
his lecture, it may hold the key to
many foreign opinions that Americans
might otherwise not have
been able to experience and understand.
www.drexel.edu/goodwin
Or call 888-679-7966 for details.
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