2011-07-05
Explanation
This comic is captioned "What if Malthus had been an optimist?" and shows a man (styled as Thomas Malthus, the 18th-19th century economist famous for warning that population growth would outstrip food supply) giving an enthusiastic speech. Instead of his usual dire predictions, this version of Malthus embraces exponential population growth as a positive: "Thanks to the magic of exponential population growth, the future is bright! Imagine driving to work in a carriage made of babies! You stop in a restaurant made of babies for a tender baby sandwich. When you get to work, it''s easy, because your boss is a baby and can''t verbalize commands!"
The joke works on multiple levels. It satirizes the forced optimism of people who refuse to see downsides in trends by pushing that optimism to grotesque extremes. Since Malthus''s concern was that there would be too many people and not enough resources, an "optimistic" Malthus would have to find the silver lining in overpopulation -- which the comic takes to its absurd logical conclusion by imagining a world where the surplus of humans (specifically babies) is treated as an abundant resource to be exploited for construction, food, and labor.
The votey panel delivers a follow-up punchline: someone asks "What do the babies eat?" and optimist-Malthus cheerfully replies, "Babies. Circle of life, man." This adds an extra layer of dark absurdity, closing the loop on the overpopulation thought experiment with a cannibalistic ecosystem that is both horrifying and internally consistent with the comic''s twisted logic.