2013-09-21
Explanation
This comic presents a four-panel grid asking the question: "How do we stop too much wealth accumulating in one place?" Three different perspectives are shown. The Optimist (a cheerful woman) says: "Give to the poor!" The Pessimist (a dour-looking man in a suit) says: "Take from the rich." The Physicist says: "Make all the money out of uranium."
The joke contrasts typical political or economic viewpoints (charitable giving vs. redistribution) with the hilariously literal approach of a physicist. The physicist'''s suggestion to make money out of uranium is funny because uranium is radioactive and extremely heavy, which would make accumulating large amounts of it in one place both physically impractical and genuinely dangerous. If currency were made of uranium, hoarding wealth would be self-limiting -- too much of it in one place would become a critical mass and potentially cause a nuclear reaction, or at minimum give the hoarder severe radiation poisoning. The physicist is solving the problem not through economic policy but through nuclear physics.
The votey shows the physicist character saying "Obviously," with a deadpan expression, reinforcing the idea that from a physics perspective, this solution is so self-evident it barely needs stating -- even though it is completely absurd from any practical standpoint.