Pragmatic Rebellion
Explanation
This comic plays on the tension between workplace dignity and economic reality.
In the first panel, an employee is being addressed by his boss, who says something like "Dave, either improve your numbers or you're fired." The employee defiantly responds, "You can't fire me!" -- setting up what seems like a dramatic act of workplace rebellion.
In the second panel, the employee invokes his dignity: "I have my dignity. I have my self-respect. You can't fire me because..." There's a dramatic pause as he builds toward what seems like a principled stand. Then the punchline lands: "Because I quit!"
The final panel undercuts the bravado entirely. We see the employee moments later, apparently having second thoughts, now standing outside the boss's door with a sign or thought indicating he's trying to get re-hired, or it's revealed that his "pragmatic rebellion" was anything but pragmatic. The joke is that quitting in a blaze of self-righteous glory is only satisfying for about five seconds before the practical consequences of unemployment set in. The title "Pragmatic Rebellion" is itself ironic -- true pragmatism would involve keeping the job, and true rebellion wouldn't involve immediately regretting it.