Suffering
Explanation
The Joke
A scientist announces to the President that they have made a revolutionary breakthrough in the science of human suffering: they have figured out how to end human suffering forever. When the President asks "Isn't that good?", the scientist explains the method -- it involves redirecting all eating of living organisms toward things that are not capable of suffering. The President finds this "interesting" but notes the inevitable result: since scientific economics dictates this will inevitably result in horrified carnivores murdering each other in the streets. The final panel reveals the darkly comic conclusion: "But we've eliminated suffering!" followed by the President's flat response, "We've relabeled it."
The comic satirizes technocratic solutions that technically solve a defined problem while creating equally terrible new problems. The scientists have "eliminated suffering" only by redefining the concept so narrowly that the chaos and violence that follows does not count under their new framework.
The Humor
The humor lies in the gap between the grandiose claim ("we can end suffering forever") and the absurd technicality of how that claim is fulfilled. The scientists are so focused on their narrow definition of suffering that they cannot see the obvious catastrophe their solution creates. The President's deadpan "We've relabeled it" is a perfect puncturing of the scientists' self-congratulatory tone. This is a classic SMBC pattern of taking a philosophical or scientific concept and following it to its logically absurd conclusion.
References
The comic touches on utilitarian philosophy and the problem of defining suffering. It also satirizes the tendency in policy and science to solve problems through redefinition rather than genuine solutions -- a critique often leveled at bureaucratic and technocratic approaches. The mention of "scientific economics" parodies the sometimes-overconfident predictions made by combining scientific methodology with economic modeling.