2010-08-23
Explanation
This comic satirizes the hypocrisy of parents who complain about the state of public education online while simultaneously neglecting their own children's educational needs. In the first panel, a bald man sits at his computer, visibly frustrated, exclaiming "Dammit!" In the second panel, his child approaches and asks, "Dad, can you help with my homework?" The father dismisses the child, saying, "I told you I'm too busy complaining about public education online!"
The humor lies in the sharp irony: the father is so consumed with criticizing the public education system on the internet that he cannot be bothered to actually help his own child learn. He has become part of the very problem he is railing against. The comic takes aim at a common phenomenon where people spend enormous energy complaining about societal issues in online forums while doing nothing constructive about them in their own lives.
The votey panel deepens the irony. The child tries to object with "But-" and the father cuts in with "I'm trying to set an example!" This adds another layer of obliviousness -- the father genuinely believes that his online complaining constitutes leading by example, when in reality the example he is setting is one of neglect and misplaced priorities.