rule-of-law
Original: rule-of-law on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1:
Batman (leaping in): NOT SO FAST, CROOK!
Panel 2:
Batman: THIS IS A VIOLATION OF THE SOCIAL CONTRACT!
Panel 3:
The masked man (an older woman with curly gray hair and glasses standing beside him): WE GRANT THE STATE A MONOPOLY ON VIOLENCE BECAUSE WHEN INDIVIDUALS SEEK VENGEANCE FOR THE WRONGS DONE TO THEM YOU GET AN ENDLESS FEUD CYCLE!
Panel 4:
Masked man: I MEAN LOOK AT YOU! YOU'VE BEEN FIGHTING THE JOKER SINCE WHAT... 1940? YOU WANT EVERYONE TO DO THAT WITH THEIR ENEMIES FOREVER?
Panel 5:
Batman (scratching his head, the older woman now holding a mug of beer beside him): I... I...
Panel 6:
Batman: MAYBE I SHOULD GO INTO LAW INSTEAD?
Panel 7:
Masked man: THAT'S HOW I GOT STARTED!
Votey:
Batman (looking distraught, sweating): JUSTICE IN A DEMOCRACY IS BOOOOORINNNNNNNG
Batman (leaping in): NOT SO FAST, CROOK!
Panel 2:
Batman: THIS IS A VIOLATION OF THE SOCIAL CONTRACT!
Panel 3:
The masked man (an older woman with curly gray hair and glasses standing beside him): WE GRANT THE STATE A MONOPOLY ON VIOLENCE BECAUSE WHEN INDIVIDUALS SEEK VENGEANCE FOR THE WRONGS DONE TO THEM YOU GET AN ENDLESS FEUD CYCLE!
Panel 4:
Masked man: I MEAN LOOK AT YOU! YOU'VE BEEN FIGHTING THE JOKER SINCE WHAT... 1940? YOU WANT EVERYONE TO DO THAT WITH THEIR ENEMIES FOREVER?
Panel 5:
Batman (scratching his head, the older woman now holding a mug of beer beside him): I... I...
Panel 6:
Batman: MAYBE I SHOULD GO INTO LAW INSTEAD?
Panel 7:
Masked man: THAT'S HOW I GOT STARTED!
Votey:
Batman (looking distraught, sweating): JUSTICE IN A DEMOCRACY IS BOOOOORINNNNNNNG
Alt text
A seven-panel SMBC comic. Batman leaps in to stop a robbery, shouting "Not so fast, crook!" and "Batman! This is a violation of the social contract!" But the masked person he's confronting (drawn with an older gray-haired woman in glasses standing beside him) calmly lectures him on political philosophy: "We grant the state a monopoly on violence because when individuals seek vengeance for the wrongs done to them you get an endless feud cycle! I mean look at you! You've been fighting the Joker since what... 1940? You want everyone to do that with their enemies forever?" Batman is stunned, scratching his head and stammering "I... I..." while the woman now holds a mug of beer. He muses, "Maybe I should go into law instead?" The masked man replies, "That's how I got started!" Votey panel: a sweating, distraught Batman closeup laments, "Justice in a democracy is booooorinnnnnng."
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.