nationsourcing
Explanation
The Joke
The comic begins with two observations: more and more jobs are being automated, and most wealth is held by just a few people. Meanwhile, science has shown that crowds have better analytical powers than smart individuals (the "wisdom of crowds"). The proposed solution: the great mass of unemployed people will be paid to offer their opinion on what a rich person's situation is -- essentially crowdsourcing decisions for the wealthy.
This means "nobody is out of work, and the rich make better choices." When asked "Is this a horrifying dystopia?" the speaker pauses and says, "Just a moment. I'm going to have the entire population of Scotland tell me how to reply." The final panel shows a person on stage before an audience, saying "Well?" and getting the response: "I can't tell if they're calling me the C-word or telling me to do it."
The Humor
The joke satirizes several things simultaneously: the gig economy, wealth inequality, crowdsourcing, and the "wisdom of crowds" concept. The proposed system is presented as a utopian solution -- everyone has jobs, the rich get smarter -- but it is clearly dystopian, reducing the entire working population to an advisory service for billionaires.
The Scotland punchline works on multiple levels. First, it demonstrates the absurdity of the system by showing it in action for the most trivial of questions. Second, it plays on the Scottish reputation for blunt, profanity-laden communication. The ambiguity between being called the C-word and being told to "do it" (which in Scottish dialect could sound similar) adds a layer of linguistic comedy. The fact that an entire nation's population is being consulted for a single conversational reply highlights the inefficiency and absurdity of the proposal.