2011-05-11
Explanation
This comic presents a "Life Tip" at the top: "The world seems much happier if you imagine every person you meet is living life according to a fulfilled longterm plan." The first panel shows a young boy cheerfully declaring: "When I grow up, I wanna be an unwashed hobo, standing on a corner, shouting racial slurs at his own genitals." The second panel then shows an adult who appears to be living exactly that life -- a disheveled, unkempt man -- while a woman walks past thinking: "Good for him."
The joke takes the optimistic life advice of assuming everyone is living their best life and applies it to someone who is clearly in a very bad situation. By following the "life tip" literally, the woman interprets a person who is obviously struggling as someone who achieved their childhood dream, which makes her feel good about the world while completely ignoring the reality of the situation. The comic satirizes the kind of shallow positive-thinking philosophy that encourages people to reframe everything in a happy light rather than confronting uncomfortable truths about suffering and social problems.
The votey bonus panel shows the disheveled man lying down contentedly, saying: "I made it! And nobody believed in me but you, penis." This doubles down on the absurdity by showing the man genuinely satisfied with his situation, as if he really did achieve a lifelong goal, while also adding crude humor with the self-congratulatory address to his own body part -- tying back to the specific nature of his "dream" from the first panel.