cattle
Explanation
The Joke
A group of humans has been abducted by aliens and are being kept as cattle. One human protests, but another points out that by human standards, they have no real cause for complaint: there are no wars, no disease, no taxes, and they live in relative comfort. He goes further, noting that his fellow captives still produce poetry, art, and engage in deep thought. In a final panel, the alien observer notes that "the economics of a vertically integrated food supply chain is fascinating" -- treating the humans' entire civilization as simply an interesting feature of livestock management.
The comic draws a direct parallel between how humans treat livestock and how an advanced alien species might treat humans. The first human's objections mirror the arguments animal rights advocates make, while the second human's counterarguments satirize how people rationalize the treatment of farm animals by pointing out that the animals are "well cared for." The alien's cold, economic perspective at the end drives the point home: no matter how comfortable the enclosure, being kept as cattle is still being kept as cattle.
The Humor
The humor works on multiple levels. There is the absurdist reversal of humans being in the position of livestock, paired with the darkly ironic observation that the humans are rationalizing their own captivity using the exact same arguments humans use to justify factory farming. The alien's detached, business-school analysis of human culture as a feature of "vertically integrated food supply" is the final punchline -- reducing all of human achievement to an interesting footnote in agricultural efficiency.
References
The comic engages with philosophical arguments about animal rights and factory farming, particularly the thought experiment of imagining a more advanced species treating humans the way humans treat animals. This is a common theme in science fiction and ethical philosophy, notably explored by Peter Singer and others in the animal liberation movement.