2015-02-21
Original: 2015-02-21 on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1:
Teacher (a woman with glasses at a chalkboard reading "civics," addressing a small class): It's very important that every citizen votes in national elections.
Panel 2:
A female student (brown-haired, gesturing): But WHY? Suppose I and one other person in this room are voting against each other. We cancel out. So, our votes are a waste of time.
Panel 3:
The same student: It'd be more efficient to have every person find someone who votes the other way, then mutually agree not to vote. Then, only people who can't find a pair will actually go to a voting booth.
Panel 4:
The student: So, in your scenario, the biggest voting blocs would be people who've never spoken to anyone with an opposing viewpoint.
Teacher: But that's basically how it works now!
Panel 5:
Student: No, no, I was agreeing with you.
Votey:
A dark blue/purple hardcover book titled "POLITICAL ECONOMY" in gold lettering, with a gold pentagram (five-pointed star inside a circle) on its cover, evoking an occult grimoire.
Teacher (a woman with glasses at a chalkboard reading "civics," addressing a small class): It's very important that every citizen votes in national elections.
Panel 2:
A female student (brown-haired, gesturing): But WHY? Suppose I and one other person in this room are voting against each other. We cancel out. So, our votes are a waste of time.
Panel 3:
The same student: It'd be more efficient to have every person find someone who votes the other way, then mutually agree not to vote. Then, only people who can't find a pair will actually go to a voting booth.
Panel 4:
The student: So, in your scenario, the biggest voting blocs would be people who've never spoken to anyone with an opposing viewpoint.
Teacher: But that's basically how it works now!
Panel 5:
Student: No, no, I was agreeing with you.
Votey:
A dark blue/purple hardcover book titled "POLITICAL ECONOMY" in gold lettering, with a gold pentagram (five-pointed star inside a circle) on its cover, evoking an occult grimoire.
Alt text
A five-panel SMBC comic in a civics classroom. Panel 1: a teacher with glasses stands at a chalkboard labeled "civics" and tells her small class, "It's very important that every citizen votes in national elections." Panel 2: a female student objects, "But WHY? Suppose I and one other person in this room are voting against each other. We cancel out. So, our votes are a waste of time." Panel 3: she continues, "It'd be more efficient to have every person find someone who votes the other way, then mutually agree not to vote. Then, only people who can't find a pair will actually go to a voting booth." Panel 4: the student concludes, "So, in your scenario, the biggest voting blocs would be people who've never spoken to anyone with an opposing viewpoint," and the teacher replies, "But that's basically how it works now!" Panel 5: the student clarifies, "No, no, I was agreeing with you." The joke: her efficient non-voting scheme accidentally describes real-world political polarization, and both teacher and student realize they've described the status quo. Votey: a dark blue hardcover book titled "POLITICAL ECONOMY" in gold, bearing a gold pentagram on its cover like an occult grimoire, implying political economy is dark magic.
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.