Reproducing a cartoon by Tom Tomorrow on the Psychohistory-Historical Motivations Forum, Jerrold Atlas noted that what was depicted in it had actually happened
long ago in Argentina. There, in a chain
action, the ever-rising cost of electricity made it accessible to fewer and
fewer people, who in larger and larger numbers illegally tapped into the power
lines, which forced the electricity companies to raise the price of power higher
and higher on the few who could afford it, and eventually, only one very rich
person paid the bill for the whole country.
Dr. Atlas further noted: “Humor is a coping mechanism and
also signals the group's sense of being screwed. It is a signal of the large
frustration by the many against the few. It is a warning to the few and they
respond in various ways to prevent themselves from losing power – ‘police armies’,
slashing safety nets, ending help for the young/poor/sick/seniors/public
employees/working-middle classes/rigging voting districts/denying voting
rights/corrupting all governance systems/buying congress people and
judges/controlling the media. Oh wait, that's
what they're doing right now.”
