economist
Original: economist on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1:
Bearded older man (the economist): "I'm an economist. You can't insult me because I perceive all human behavior as arising from emergent systems, over which no one has much control."
Panel 2:
Younger man: "You're ugly, stupid, and you're bad at your job."
Economist: "Ech."
Panel 3:
Younger man: "You're a bad father. Your family hates you. You've failed at everything you've ever aspired to."
Economist: "Meh."
Panel 4:
Younger man (now furious, red-faced, shouting): "You're a rent-seeker."
Economist (enraged, shouting back): "I will kill you dead, you son of a bitch's bastard!"
Votey:
Economist (now calm): "Unless you're referring to my possession of tenure, in which case, yeah kinda."
Bearded older man (the economist): "I'm an economist. You can't insult me because I perceive all human behavior as arising from emergent systems, over which no one has much control."
Panel 2:
Younger man: "You're ugly, stupid, and you're bad at your job."
Economist: "Ech."
Panel 3:
Younger man: "You're a bad father. Your family hates you. You've failed at everything you've ever aspired to."
Economist: "Meh."
Panel 4:
Younger man (now furious, red-faced, shouting): "You're a rent-seeker."
Economist (enraged, shouting back): "I will kill you dead, you son of a bitch's bastard!"
Votey:
Economist (now calm): "Unless you're referring to my possession of tenure, in which case, yeah kinda."
Alt text
A four-panel SMBC comic. A young man calmly insults a bearded older economist, who claims he can't be insulted because he sees all human behavior as arising from uncontrollable emergent systems. In panel 2 the young man calls him ugly, stupid, and bad at his job; the economist shrugs ("Ech"). In panel 3 he calls him a bad father whose family hates him and who has failed at everything; the economist again shrugs ("Meh"). In panel 4 the young man shouts "You're a rent-seeker," and the economist instantly erupts in red-faced fury, screaming "I will kill you dead, you son of a bitch's bastard!" The joke: an economist is unmoved by personal attacks but enraged by the economics-jargon accusation of rent-seeking. In the votey (bonus panel), the now-calm economist adds: "Unless you're referring to my possession of tenure, in which case, yeah kinda" — conceding that academic tenure is itself a form of rent-seeking.
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.