western-sociology
Explanation
The Joke
The comic presents "A History of Western Sociology" in four panels, each representing a different era. In the Medieval period, a monarch declares "You people are supposed to be divided." During Colonization, a colonial figure states "We are all equally awful." In the Enlightenment, a wigged philosopher proclaims "We are all equal." And in the Modern era, a suited figure announces "We are all awful."
The bottom of the comic includes a note that this comic is related to Zach Weinersmith and Kelly Weinersmith's book "Soonish" (which was published in 2017).
The Humor
The joke compresses the entire history of Western sociological thought into four brutally reductive one-liners that trace a darkly comic arc. The medieval view openly endorsed social hierarchy. Colonialism maintained hierarchy but masked it with a veneer of universal condemnation. The Enlightenment championed equality. And modernity has arrived at the cynical conclusion that equality is real, but only in the sense that everyone is equally terrible. The humor comes from the trajectory: centuries of philosophical progress have not led to a more optimistic view of humanity, just a more egalitarian pessimism. Each era's slogan is just different enough to feel like "progress" while the overall message gets progressively bleaker.
References
The comic broadly references the evolution of Western social thought from feudalism through colonialism and the Enlightenment to modern sociology. "Soonish: Ten Emerging Technologies That'll Improve and/or Ruin Everything" is a book by Zach and Kelly Weinersmith, published in October 2017, which explores upcoming technologies and their potential impacts on society.