A Calvinesque and Hobbesian look at Antifa

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Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/07/08/a-calvinesque-and-hobbesian-lo-11.html

Tom the Dancing Bug, IN WHICH the spunky little hero Donald and his imaginary publicist John must boldly battle the evil international organization Antifa.

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This is the sort of comic where I read it and am wondering which part is supposed to be clever or funny. Maybe I’m missing it. Was there an antifa? (like maybe the cat did it…) Just imaginary? Where are the elements of humor? Or did I miss the whole thing?

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You missed it.

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You didn’t miss anything. The humor and cleverness was never there. Just because someone draws a strip like Calvin and Hobbes, does not make it Calvin and Hobbesian.

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No, you both missed it.

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antifacontradiction
antifacontradiction828×660 95.4 KB

The followers must feel humiliated by the ostentatious wealth and force of their
enemies. When I was a boy I was taught to think of Englishmen as the five-meal people.
They ate more frequently than the poor but sober Italians. Jews are rich and help each
other through a secret web of mutual assistance. However, the followers must be
convinced that they can overwhelm the enemies. Thus, by a continuous shifting of
rhetorical focus, the enemies are at the same time too strong and too weak. Fascist
governments are condemned to lose wars because they are constitutionally incapable of
objectively evaluating the force of the enemy.

Umberto Eco - Ur-Fascism

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Lyrics at the end are from the excellent song Yes & No by XYLØ:

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Huh. By “secret web of mutual assistance” do they mean “community”? I feel like that’s never been a secret, nor nefarious, and one of several reasons I’ve always wished I was born into a Jewish family. Others include the food, the great customs around holidays, and the trope about having SO MUCH FUN complaining (I blame Seinfeld for putting that one in my brain). It’s like they were New Englanders before New Englanders were New Englanders.

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They mean whatever fits the narrative they are trying to push at the moment.
Continuous shifting of rhetorical focus.

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I respectfully request you or anyone who liked your post to explain how this is funny or clever. Give me an XKCD explainer type explanation. Because I’ll bet some boingboingers are just used to this guy’s comics being here. Hence you are favorably disposed towards the comic and cognitive dissonance made you click that heart. I’m not talking about other strips of his, I’m talking about this particular one.

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If you need “an XKCD explainer type explanation” to understand why portraying Trump as a delusional child is funny, I think you’re beyond my assistance. Sorry.

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No. I get that part. That’s funny premise, not a funny comic. It’s ok, fanboy away.

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Good fucking luck with that.
Feel free to not like it, it’s just a comic strip.

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Thanks for your permission to like something you don’t. I appreciate it.

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You definitely missed it. HID! I was inspecting the sheets was very clever.

I thought this exchange was very funny
Donald: Someone Knocked Down All My Racist Action Figures™!
John: The Fiends! Some Of Those Action Figures Weren’t Even That Racist!

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I can give it a go, I’m a fan of explaining jokes actually!

That does not come over as very respectful though, so I won’t take you at your word that you are just asking for a explanation in good faith.

Alright, starting the explanation:
Little Trump hiding under his sheets is a parallel to him hiding in his bunker. The action figures being knocked down are the statues that have been pulled down by protestors. It’s mostly just lampooning his posturing of toughness while he is actually scared.

For the record, I don’t think this is one of his best comics. Also, I think this series can best be seen as commentary, the jokes are secondary.

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Thanks, @anon61221983.
Whelp, I’m glad I got to see @FGD135’s perfectly appropriate “Welcome to Boing Boing” gif before that thread got nipped in the bud. Classic.
Good riddance to the kek.

Though I did want to ask, if you’re not “pro-antifa” aren’t you then “pro-fascism?”

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Why pervert something like Calvin and Hobbes to peddle a low effort meme…?

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Why create an account on a website to complain about it?

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The comic seems to have hit a nerve. A number of sensitive souls have popped up to insist “That’s not funny!”.

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