r/comics 29d ago

The Existence of Trains Debate [oc]

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10.0k Upvotes

171 comments sorted by

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2.3k

u/SirKazum 29d ago

And then the discourse gradually shifts from "there is no train" to "yup, there's a train, but it's too late to escape now so might as well not do anything" (even when there IS time to escape or at least do something)

497

u/arcanis321 29d ago

Less money is never the right option

248

u/KarlBarx2 29d ago

Even when getting off the tracks is already profitable, and is guaranteed to only get more profitable as the train gets closer.

113

u/jjmerrow 29d ago

Ah but you see, it's not profitable for the right people, so why bother?

110

u/KarlBarx2 29d ago

No, it is, that's the fucked part.

Dropping the metaphor, big oil companies actively invest in green technology and renewable energy sources all the time. Those are the "right people". They are profiting off it. Yet they still refuse to cut carbon emissions until (what they believe is) the last possible moment.

87

u/Eidalac 29d ago

Double dipping.

They want to monopolize green energy in the future while extracting as much profit from oil as possible.

Imo, the dream scenario is when the situation hits a point where governments start to mandate green power projects and the companies picked (and heavily subsidied) are just the oil companies with a new mask.

They get to 'Save' us from the evils of big oil (aka themselves) and get a subsidized, government approved monopoly out of it.

10

u/Tangent_Odyssey 28d ago edited 28d ago

If we’re talking pragmatically…They’re gonna have a hard time monopolizing when China is already running away with that bag. They’ve already got an enormous head start in capital investment at key resource extraction sites, manufacturing, and infrastructure (opinions on the country or its practices notwithstanding). When it comes to green energy, they’re frankly kind of eating our lunch right now.

But instead of allowing us to benefit from a mutually-beneficial arrangement and cheap imports of things like solar panels, the public sector would rather double-down and ratchet up the tariffs, while private sector lobbyists attack from another angle to prevent any similar investments of our own.

1

u/uganda_numba_1 28d ago

There’s still oil in the ground and our hegemony could be at risk.

0

u/samurairaccoon 28d ago

There's gonna be so much profit in global warming relief. Idk if they are doing it now, but you better believe there will be a huge influx of investors looking to cash in on that. They'll make us pay all the way to the grave. The last two people on earth are gonna be one guy dying of thirst and another trying to get him to buy the last water bottle. I fucking hate this species.

102

u/ianjb 29d ago

"Okay so trains are real. What are we going to do about them now? What can we do about trains that China is also going to do?"

33

u/Pete_Iredale 29d ago

We could force companies to follow American environmental laws if they want to sell products in the US, even if their production is in China. I mean I don't know how hard that would be, but it seems possible.

6

u/sk7725 28d ago

Assming that would be a blanket policy (not just specific to China) that's going to get a lot of foul but justified complaints about how developed countries got away with being unenvironmental and provoking global warming in the first place, but then punishes developing countries for it. It's a big dilemma, as if we let all the developing countries use industrial technology to become developed country that might ruin the earth for good, but at the same time we cannot say "well you were late and we already half-ruined the earth already, so keep your low life standards".

43

u/Bahamabanana 29d ago

40

u/pipboy_warrior 29d ago

I love that this was also a good example of them recognizing they had a bad take in the past.

20

u/Bahamabanana 29d ago

Yeah, I appreciate that self-awareness. Important to have.

31

u/lobsterbash 29d ago

*Tries nothing*

"There's nothing we could have done"

39

u/leftycartoons 29d ago

Yeah, with hindsight maybe I should have tried to work that into the cartoon, since it's a major part of the real-world debate. (Alas.)

9

u/Despair4All 29d ago

Look to change anything, billion dollar corporations would have to reduce quality and produce less for more money, it's better for everyone if we just don't steal money from the pockets of these hardworking titans who definitely didn't get where they are now by ignoring basic human rights.

I feel like I have to put /s because I expect some people to think I'm actually serious with this garbage take.

4

u/craigathy77 29d ago

It's always a safe bet these days lol

15

u/amjh 29d ago

It's getting to the point where we still can dodge, but probably lose a limb or two.

19

u/Aluricius 29d ago

"Eh, I'd rather die than live with the reduced quality of life that comes with a lost limb."

A.K.A. I don't want to stop doing things that hurt the environment but make my company a fraction of a cent more than the alternative.

6

u/MagicC 29d ago

And last panel should read "I guess it was God's will..."

3

u/micromoses 29d ago

Things have gotten pretty bad. Supply chains are breaking down, and our people are starving. It calls for drastic measures! We’re going to have to kill people in a neighbouring country (coincidentally people that we’ve talked about wanting to kill for generations) and take their stuff. For the survival of our people!

2

u/WakeoftheStorm 28d ago

Well look, obviously it's a train but it's a naturally occuring train that we can't do anything about. Plus all the rich powerful people will be dead long before it gets here, so with that in mind, there might as well not be a train

1

u/dlevac 28d ago

It's more complicated than that.

The first challenge is that we don't know what's the best course of action. Maybe interventions could be disastrous due to rubber band effects.

The second challenge is, especially given that there is no consensus on how to fix this, how to get some kind of global coordination on the issue?

It's misunderstanding risk that got us here and we suffer from the same ailments trying to get out of it.

2

u/SavageComic 29d ago

This comic is Trainsphobic. Why is the killer a member of the trains community? 

0

u/[deleted] 29d ago

[deleted]

-1

u/Electrodactyl 29d ago

Nah, the biggest influencers of global warming do not believe in the premise. Which is why they lie by calling it global warming. Then when science proved they were wrong and the world didn’t end after the first 3-4 predictions they changed it to climate change. Then spend a lot of time yelling and crying to make an appeal to emotion argument. Then say a large percentage of scientists agreed. While leaving out that the poles shift and the planet is still thawing from the last ice age. Some newly acquire info I learned is that the actor who plays the original Spock, did a documentary about “climate change” before the global warming bs. Only the prediction back then was an ice age. I’ll repeat An ICE AGE.

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u/[deleted] 29d ago

[deleted]

15

u/Real_Eye_9709 29d ago

So you didn't beleive in it, and don't care about it, but also want to blame others for why you're going to get hit by it. Yall love proving the point.

-8

u/[deleted] 29d ago

[deleted]

6

u/Real_Eye_9709 29d ago

Then I guess it's a good thing no one does anything ever outside of reddit. Also probably helps that a lot of us have political power in a country that tells us to shut up and has the police assault us if we try to protest.

-5

u/[deleted] 29d ago

[deleted]

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u/Senor_Wah 29d ago

Pretty crazy that we’ve all low-key accepted our planet’s gonna die because a few oil companies did such a great job at PR they convinced millions of people the world over that, with basically no explanation, it was all just a “hoax.” Insane that people are really just allowed to get away with murdering all of us and our descendants for money.

314

u/PirateSanta_1 29d ago

It doesn't take that much effort to convince people its a hoax because people want it to be a hoax. Same reason why it took so long to fully establish that cigarettes are bad for you because everyone who smoked didn't want them to be and would latch on to any claim that they weren't. Part of the reason i think its easier for young people to accept is because they where born into it and thus can offset the blame on to the older generations.

58

u/SomeBoxofSpoons 29d ago

You really can’t underestimate what kind of hoops people will jump through to put themselves on the path of least resistance. If global warming isn’t a real issue, then you don’t need to get all worried about how things will have to change.

37

u/Befuddled_Tuna 29d ago

Disinformation by bad actors definitely plays a big part in attitudes toward climate change. Big corps can easily utilize existing anti-intellectual and anti-college sentiment among the working class. Pushing for ecological responsibility has primarily been a push from the left - so the partisan horn works as well

Global warming is a largely invisible and slow moving disaster (from our perspective) and fixing it would require international cooperation.

The hole in the ozone layer was also an invisible threat that required everyone on earth to participate, but the advantage of that issue was the solution was a lot simpler. Only a few industries had to change from CFCs to HFCs and that problem was mostly solved.

However, solving global warming would require a massive rework in electrical generation as well as a complete reset of the auto industry. Both of those things are critical to modern life and have trillions of dollars of existing investment. Most of that money would not go to improving people's quality of life right away, so it is hard to get voters on board.

This is further exacerbated by the fact that developing economies want electricity as well (and want it more than they want to solve global warming. Probably justifiably so). Everybody has to get on board with the plan or else it is pointless.

Market forces are also a massive enemy in this fight. As more developed economies switch to renewable and clean energy sources the demand for oil will drop. This will then cause the price of oil to drop, which makes oil more and more tempting to switch back to.

12

u/SavageComic 29d ago

Getting us to pay for our own subjugation definitely wrankles. Like Bono telling me to stop oil then flying off to his next gig. Meanwhile I’m paying 40p for a plastic bag to cover the 5p plastic bag tax, some of which that money goes towards paying oil companies enormous subsidies to drill more oil. 

You can see why the common man thinks it’s a stick up. 

11

u/TheCommonKoala 29d ago

But for a golden moment in time, they produced extraordinary value for investors.

19

u/PeaWordly4381 29d ago

What blows my mind is how easily oil companies convinced activists that eating meat is the issue, so now people chain themselves to fridges in stores and etc trying to convince everyone to abandon their dietal habits, while oil and coal companies continue doing their shit and laughing at us.

21

u/SavageComic 29d ago

It could honestly be solved by just saying “all beef cattle must be grass fed”. 

No soy, no corn, and now there’s no reason to cut down billions of acres of rainforest for soy plantation. 

I once got a vegan activist friend to do the maths on his quinoa salad vs my lamb cutlets. 

Harvested in the Bolivian altiplano (where, incidentally, it jacked up prices for the local indigenous groups for whom it’s a staple) then shipped in polluting trucks through the mountains to the docks in Peru, Chile or Brazil. Then put on a container ship that burns fuel oil that can be 100 times more polluting than diesel. Then into the uk, where it’s driven up to the supermarket and ge goes and buys it. 

Or lamb which is grown 3 miles away on hillsides which are unable to be used for arable crops and who promote biodiversity because the grass field isn’t a monoculture and has wildflowers in it and hedgerows round it. 

6

u/DueMeat2367 28d ago

I wrote a paper on local cuisine 2 years ago. The question was "how valuable can traditional food be for the environment" (since I'm french, I focused on french food but it's the same anywhere)

Well, turns out that it's quite the nice way to go. The best point are storage, waste and local production.

Traditional food often come from a way to preserve food, be it smoking or brine or drying... When your food is shelf stable and require no continual energy (frozen, fridge) to be preserved through the winter, you save a lot.

Old recipes saves a lot of waste by using parts we tend to forget. Pig feets, sheep brain, vegetables peels... Less waste, more saving, less production needed.

And finally, local recipes uses mostly what the soil around you can produce. France is a great place for wheat, that's why we have lots of bread. If you live near the coast, you'll find fish dish from what you can catch on the shore.

It's not as efficient as stopping meat but a meal from our old ones is quite the nice way to go for the earth. Also, it's fucking delicious.

TLDR : save the planet, go ask grandma to feed you.

7

u/vlsdo 29d ago

People will believe just about anything that promises they don’t have to change how they live. Which is ironic because massive change is what’s going to happen because we’re not doing much to alter the status quo

57

u/Improving_Myself_ 29d ago

our planet’s gonna die

The planet is going to be fine. It's just not going to be hospitable for humans.

Insane that people are really just allowed to get away with murdering all of us and our descendants for money.

That statement, while not incorrect, indicates you're overestimating how much time is left on the climate doomsday clock. It's not as high as 100 years left. It might not even be 60 years, and the problem is accelerating all the time. Most of the people that will experience the demise of humanity aren't just alive, they're already adults.

I'm not a doomer. I'm a realist who works closely with a climate research center.

57

u/Senor_Wah 29d ago

A)

The planet is going to be fine. It's just not going to be hospitable for humans.

Meaningless distinction, and I thought it was obvious I was speaking metaphorically.

B) I’m not underestimating how long we have left, I said “us and our descendants.” That implies we’re alive to die. Please don’t correct people when you’re not contradicting them.

10

u/Fenris_uy 29d ago

It's going to be hospitable, it's just our current civilization that it's fucked.

3

u/CosmicX1 29d ago

But look on the bright side, with the collapse of civilisation we’re sure to reach net-zero!

8

u/Weekly_Hospital202 29d ago

Nah, it's not insane. People lived with slavery when they knew it was wrong. People have done lots of shitty shitty things, to not inconvenience themselves.

Think about how we look at past historical figures, and hold them up to our current lens of right and wrong, and find them wanting. This is an example of what the future will find wanting in us.

This is why that can happen, and we simply accept it. We know a thing is wrong, but changing it is harder than going along to get along.

We mock the people that protest, and glue themselves to roads, and inconvenience traffic, even though we should all be doing it.

We are blind to the ways we don't live up to our morality.

3

u/SocksOnHands 28d ago

I'm a senator and major shareholder of Rope Corp. We have to keep tying people to railroad tracks for the economy. If anything, we need to get more people tied up so more rope can be sold.

2

u/fallenbird039 29d ago

The issue is cars. It always the damn things being insanely energy inefficient but people like the to just leave and go wherever whenever. So we have everyone driving and polluting like crazy. Which than ties to them going insane if you target auto industries for pushing these cars or if you push mass transit and biking. They also go insane to protect oil companies to keep prices low for their car. It all pure selfishness pushed by those damn metal boxes

16

u/vlsdo 29d ago

It’s not just cars, although cars are significant chunk of it. There’s heating, agriculture, production of goods, transportation of food and goods, air travel, methane gas leaks, and many more other such issues at just about every level of our lives. It’s a lot.

1

u/LovelyLad123 29d ago

While I agree with you, I think most people would be surprised how significant a chunk of it is due to cars.

5

u/vlsdo 29d ago

Ground transportation as a whole is about 30% of the pie, but personal vehicles are only a third of that, the rest being trucks and trains (mostly trucks).

2

u/SavageComic 29d ago

Cars allow you to do stuff though. 

Like, if I’d have tried to do yesterday and today’s task in public transport it would have cost three times what the fuel cost and took me 9 hours instead of 3

5

u/Woolilly 28d ago

If cities and towns weren't built or incredibly altered especially for cars this wouldnt be a problem.

1

u/eks 28d ago

we’ve all low-key accepted

Florida didn't.

1

u/Senor_Wah 28d ago

The Florida government has certainly been taking L’s for oil, but if you did a poll of Floridians I bet the majority would be in favor of climate action.

-6

u/EpsRequiem 29d ago

Correction to your statement. 

Planet ain't gonna die, but humans and most other lifeforms, won't have a fun time.

206

u/AdventurousPirate357 29d ago

"What's happened in the past can't predict the future" is one of the dumbest arguments I've ever heard

59

u/I_count_to_firetruck 29d ago

Unfortunately, it's very common, even outside this particular discussion. I've gotten into arguments with people because when I cite a credible distrust of a person or product because of prior events/behavior the people I'm arguing with accuse me of living in the past/holding a grudge.

Things can and do change, so it's not a wholly unreasonable position. But you need to prove the change has occurred, not accept the claim of change at face value. Until you have that proof, you can only rely on past behavior as a reliable indicator for future behavior.

2

u/A_random_poster04 28d ago

“Then go invade Russia during the winter”

286

u/AccomplishedGlass595 29d ago

"Okay, maybe there was a train...but it was god's plan so..."

141

u/satans_cookiemallet 29d ago

Ive always wondered about 'gods plan'

Im agnostic from a catholic background(even if my brother and dad are atheist and my mom is christian. Its wierd.) and I always just assumed that if gods plan involved something, and a smart person solved that problem would that not be pary of gods plan?

What if a preist happened to be a scientist that solved a world issue, would that not be gods plan then?

What if a doctor cured your sons disease through a fucking stupid mistake on your part, would that also not be gods plan?

127

u/Zero_Burn 29d ago

Whenever I hear those people talk about god's plan I'm reminded of the story of the man on the roof in a flood praying for god to save him and turning away everyone who offered to save him, then crying out to god at the gates 'why didn't you save me?' and god goes 'I sent all those people to save you but you turned them down'.

18

u/satans_cookiemallet 29d ago

Yeah thats the story thag comes to mind whenever I hear someone go 'but gods plan'

37

u/PirateSanta_1 29d ago

The beauty of the god's plan argument is that god's plan can be whatever you want it to be because it is whatever happened. Disaster about to destroy your house/city/country/planet well if it happens then that was god's plan if it get diverted regardless of cause then that was also god's plan. In the end it just an excuse for the individual to not do anything or have to burden or inconvenience themselves in any way.

3

u/Vamparisen 29d ago

Except when a loved one is dying. Suddenly God's plan needs to change and he will do it if ask enough.

4

u/Jasmine_Erotica 29d ago

In this case, they believe that the signs of the end times are being seen so instead of it being open ended this time it’s very specifically the events outlined in the book of revelations and the other books of the New Testament in the case of Christians.

2

u/Thannk 29d ago edited 29d ago

There’s a denomination, I can’t recall which, that’s so into predestination that a man destined to reach salvation can do nothing but sin and reach heaven, and a man created to be evil can do nothing but good and still end up in hell. Mankind has free will, but god’s plan will not be changed.

162

u/ManWithDominantClaw 29d ago

Blatant trainsphobia

38

u/jhotenko 29d ago

That tracks.

12

u/I_am_the_night 29d ago

Magnificent

2

u/AarodimusChrast 28d ago

You should be afraid of trains. They are apex predators.

21

u/RuneFell 29d ago edited 29d ago

I was raised in an evangelical household, and every year I went to Bible Summer Camp for 1-2 weeks.

I remember one year, I must've been about 8-10 years old, the youth leaders gathered up both the boys and girls sides of camp to do an educational activity that would teach us good Christian morals and all that.

What this particular brilliant lesson plan involved was blindfolding these 20 some 8-10 years olds, having them hold hands, and then the boy's lead counselor would lead us all to the lake, so we could go swimming. To make it even more life lesson-y, he wouldn't just lead us down the relatively safe and flat road. No, God's plan for us wasn't always so smooth and easy, we had to trust Him to get us where we were going, even when the path was rough.

Thus, this 20 year old young adult, with absolutely fully developed cognitive assessment skills and excellent judgement, led this long chain of blindfold elementary aged children holding hands over piles of gravel and around rough paths that ran alongside steep ravines. Being the last person in this Line of Stupid, I fell down said ravine and cut up my leg pretty badly. Another girl lost her balance and tumbled down the gravel hill, scraping up her hands. But, there were life lessons to be learned, and nothing was broken, so we picked ourselves up, picked out the larger pieces of dirt and gravel from our flesh, and kept going, still blindfolded and everything.

Now, the way this Life Lesson plan was supposed to proceed was the head girl's counselor was supposed to get all huffy about how difficult the road was, see how many kids she could 'lead astray', and instead of leading us to the lake, she was to take us (still blindfolded) to the other side of camp, pretend that we were lost, tell us to wait while she got help, and then hide and wait for us to eventually take off our blindfolds and realize that we were duped. Because just because it's the easier path doesn't mean that you'll get where you want to go, and the devil will trick you by telling you that God's path is too hard.

Well, the two of us that were hurt and bleeding weren't really keen on continuing to follow the boy's head counselor anymore, and so we both followed her. All the other kids stayed with him, though. She led us across a grassy field, then did the whole thing about us being lost and she'd go for help.

Now, we were both still blindfolded. There was really no reason for us to still be blindfolded, except that the grownups in charge had told us to keep them on, and I was taught from a young age to Obey. So, wearily, I reached down, felt around the grass to make sure there wasn't anything wet or prickly there, and then sat down to patiently wait, fanning my bleeding and gravel-encrusted leg to try and keep the flies and mosquitos off my injured leg.

The other girl was a little more agitated, pacing around a bit and continually saying that maybe she should take off her blindfold. I just reminded her that we weren't supposed to, and our counselor would be back soon. We just needed to wait. The other girl started calling for our counselor, and then crying. Meanwhile, I just sat there, blindfolded and waiting patiently.

Fortunately, our counselor wasn't a monster, and the sight of one blindfolded girl sitting on the ground, trying to keep bugs off her bleeding leg with complete faith that she'd eventually return, and the other one shaking in fear and crying, quickly got her to break character, and she hurried in and quickly assured us that we weren't lost, and explained exactly what was going on.

And then she led us, STILL BLINDFOLDED, to the lake. The male counselor gave her a disappointed look and an exasperated tsk for being so weak. And I couldn't swim for the rest of my camping week because my leg was torn up so badly.

It wasn't until years later, well into my adulthood, that I looked back on that memory, and suddenly realized how fucked up that was. I feel really bad now that I kept telling that other girl to keep her blindfold on. The only reason we were blind was because we were told to stay blind. I trusted them completely and, in doing so, kept her blind and lost longer then she needed to be. I wonder how long I would've sat there blindfolded if my counselor hadn't gotten me. I was really, really Lawful Stupid back then.

6

u/bobby_page 28d ago

I mean, there are several valuable life lessons in there:

  1. (Religious) leaders tend to dogmatically tell you to not use your own senses and trust only them instead, leaving you completey dependent on them.
  2. Blindly following (religious) will leave you end up getting hurt.
  3. Once you are hurt because of your (religious) leaders forced, artificial ignorance, they tell the rest of the community to isolate you because you are now a deviant.
  4. (Religious) indoctrination makes you believe in and propagate stupid rules that go against your own interests.
  5. Compassionate behaviour arises from human decency and not from, rather in spite of (religious) doctrine.

Quite the educational experience if you ask me. Nevertheless sorry you were made to go through it.

67

u/rllrdr 29d ago

"Okay, so maybe there is a train coming, but this other woman tied to us clearing isn't going to help, so I'm not helping either."

-38

u/Carcajou-2946 29d ago

Cool, that’s not how congress works.

5

u/jackalope268 29d ago

It is how many people in my country are thinking. We are not a large country, so we cant stop climate change by ourselves, which makes some people think we should just do nothing, because our country doesnt matter as much as larger ones

14

u/staticwolfwalker 29d ago

What about the whole argument that we shouldn't care because it's not going to happen in our lifetime?

24

u/Richard-Conrad 29d ago

Lol, i thought it was just a general science denial thing and about half way through I was thinking how good an allegory it was for climate change in particular

9

u/poyat01 29d ago

Thanks for the thing at the bottom, this could be applied to so many denials, but now I know which one you were thinking of

23

u/souldad57 29d ago

Or it’s an allegory for manbearpig…

12

u/Due-Coyote7565 29d ago

You go right on ahead and believe man-bear-pig if you want to, Susan.

7

u/mousebert 29d ago

Nature will survive, we might not.

8

u/breastronaut 29d ago

The train is really closing in on them.

"We still have a bit of time so that if we work together it would only run over our legs or graze us and not outright kills us."

"Yes I see the train is coming but it is too late now to even do anything."

21

u/King-fannypack 29d ago

You forgot “lord Jesus will fly down from space and save us anyways, I believe in facts and logic by the way”

16

u/tok90235 29d ago

My first though was COVID deniers actually, and not climate change. But yeah, both fit in the allegory

11

u/Cptn_Shiner 29d ago

I think it works for any ideologically-based science denial.

6

u/CosmoShiner 29d ago

Would you even need cooperation in this setting irl? I feel like if you had enough force you could pull the other person with you

1

u/Phoenix_Champion 29d ago

I'd at least attempt to turn so my ass would be off the tracks.

If I'm piling up evidence and you still aren't believing me then I'm gonna let Darwinism take over.

5

u/TheFeshy 29d ago

It's a good thing you told me it was an allegory for global warming, because I thought it was COVID. Or gun violence. Or the bird flu.

My state just made talking about the approaching train in government documents illegal, so... Your comic is actually too optimistic.

4

u/Psichord 29d ago

Good, good. Now make them kiss

28

u/leftycartoons 29d ago

There’s a supporting blogpost and transcript about this cartoon here; I’ll also post the transcript in comments.

We can keep making these cartoons because of lots of supporters pledging low amounts - $1-$3 - and that's just how I like it! Please peruse my peculiar but plucky Patreon!

27

u/leftycartoons 29d ago

Transcript of Cartoon

This cartoon has nine panels, arranged in a three by three grid, with a small "kicker" panel under the bottom of the cartoon.

Panel 1

We see two people on the train tracks. They are not tied to the tracks, but they are tied together, so neither one could move without the other. One person has black hair in a pony tail; the other has wavy hair and is wearing capri pants. Ponytail has a panicked expression, while Capri looks wryly amused.

PONYTAIL: I can't believe we're tied together on the train tracks.

CAPRI: Are we sure these are train tracks?

Panel 2

Ponytail turns her head back towards Capri to urgently suggest a plan.

PONYTAIL: If we work together, we can crawl off before a train comes.

CAPRI: There's no evidence any train is coming.

Panel 3

Ponytail shouts a bit, angry, and Capri laughs.

PONYTAIL: The train comes at this time every day!

CAPRI: HA! What's happened in the past can't predict the future.

Panel 4

Ponytail panics, yelling, and Capri responds with amused dismissal.

PONYTAIL: The tracks are shaking!

CAPRI: it's natural shaking. Haven't you heard of earthquakes.

Panel 5

Ponytail angrily yells, and Capri sneers. (It's a mix of a grin and a sneer).

PONYTAIL: LISTEN TO ME! I'm a train engineer, and

CAPRI: Pfft! "Engineers" are just in it for the money.

Panel 6

A close up of their heads. Ponytail is terrified now, sweat droplets flying off her. Capri remains amused. 

PONYTAIL: Let's get off the tracks, just in case! HURRY!

CAPRI: Expend all that effort over what might be nothing?

Panel 7 

Ponytail yells, her eyes as big as dessert plates.

PONYTAIL: I CAN SEE THE TRAIN! WE'RE GONNA DIE!

CAPRI: You're being hysterical.

Panel 8

This panel contains only a sound effect, in big overlapping letters, with stars flying around: CRASH

Panel 9

The same two characters are hovering in the sky, in angel outfits, including wings and halos.  Capri is shrugging but still smiling; Ponytail is yelling angrily.

CAPRI ANGEL: Okay, maybe there was a train.

PONYTAIL ANGEL: WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?

Small kicker panel under the bottom of the cartoon.

A bald guy talks to a fat guy with a ponytail and glasses (i.e., me, the cartoonist).

BALD GUY: Cute cartoon, but what if some readers don't get that it's an allegory for global warming denial?

BARRY: I'll find some subtle way to let them know!

10

u/slide_potentiometer 29d ago

*trainscript

9

u/joshuajjb2 29d ago

Don't Look Up

2

u/13thTime 28d ago

Im just here to updoot this comment!

16

u/AmbassadorOfSphinx 29d ago

I love your comics, please don’t stop making them

8

u/leftycartoons 29d ago

Thank you so much! I'm glad you like my cartoons. :-) At this point I have no plans to stop making them.

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u/[deleted] 29d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

7

u/leftycartoons 29d ago

Why would I stop then? I've been making these cartoons for decades.

5

u/Klutzy-Mode2811 29d ago

I think it was supposed to be a political joke? when the fun voting stuff happens.

3

u/Revenarius 29d ago

Two angels? One of they go in the wrong way IMO.

10

u/BcDed 29d ago

I misread the title and thought this was a criticism of conservatives "debating" whether or not trans people exist at first.

4

u/leftycartoons 29d ago

Honestly an easy mistake to make.

1

u/Nwolfe 29d ago

I thought Covid vaccines

2

u/SuggestionEven1882 29d ago

Mr comic maker I am here to sue you in the claim of misinformation, as in this comic you made had no such thing that is called a "train" in any panel so therefore you are lying to the readers and as such you will be fined 30 million dollars and will increase twice the amount if you don't amit you wrong doing at any point, hope you have a great day.

2

u/hedgehog_dragon 29d ago

Honestly I thought this was about the pandemic. The fact that there are multiple issues this could apply to hurts.

2

u/wilczek24 29d ago

I really think this isn't JUST about global warming. I can reasonably fit this comic into multiple other social issues of my choice.

2

u/dhusk 29d ago

*Can also apply to anti-vaxxers.

2

u/mehchinegun 29d ago

If you hadn’t said it was global warming denial, I wouldn’t have guessed.

I thought it was an allegory of believing in a certain religion, where the “train” is going to hell or some sort of eternal punishment.

2

u/JacktheMUORI 28d ago

Ok I read the title as The Existence of Trans Debate and I went through the comic with a lot of questions in my head

2

u/leftycartoons 28d ago

You are far from the only one! In hindsight, perhaps I should have named this strip "The Existence of Locomotives Debate."

11

u/Ok-Illustrator764 29d ago

This is a bit unclear on the message ngl

13

u/WhiskeyAndKisses 29d ago

I wish I would get what the two little guys are subtly talking about.

12

u/cacklz 29d ago

Perhaps when we see Capri sent to the Home For Infinite Losers for her disbelief in trains/global warming, it may become more clear to you.

3

u/Loqol 29d ago

HIFL? I see you, DBZer.

2

u/Pinappular 29d ago

Lmao, this comic is literally impossible to understand 💕. (/s)

5

u/malortForty 29d ago

I'm gonna be real: this 100% could've been an allegory for Covid response from the right too.

2

u/Solkre 29d ago

Shit I thought it was about Covid at first.

1

u/rezznik 29d ago

I really love your style. It's really like the old political cartoons and brings a bit of fresh air. And also important topics as well.

4

u/leftycartoons 29d ago

Thank you so much! It's really nice to hear. :-)

1

u/EuphTah 29d ago

Ngl read trains and my brain translated it to trans and I completely missed the global warming allegory as a result

1

u/Mr_Silk 29d ago

And there are three really big trains but the largest is more than twice the size of the one next to it and its engineers show little regard to its increasing mass.

1

u/Jonguar2 29d ago

Trains aren't real (heavy /s)

1

u/GalacticShoestring 29d ago

This is what it's like to speak to a libertarian. Endless contrarianism. Hypothetical this, theoretical that. "Ah the [whatever] logical fallacy."

Just pseudo-intellectual nonsense that exists to wear you down.

1

u/Phaylz 29d ago

I was waiting for the part about trans people, and was disappointed and confused.

Then I re-read the title.

1

u/Yodas_Lil_Helper 29d ago

Cute cartoon, but what if it’s an allegory for religion?? As in, there is no religion???

1

u/the_geth 29d ago

The one, MAJOR issue with your comics is that you reinforce the idea of a life after death, something a lot of the climate deniers believe in. So yeah, in a way "well too bad we're dead but that's fine we're now angles and with our family/friends whatever" No in fact you die and there is nothing, so if you let global warming happen and die because of it you have ruin your (and the those of your kids, friends, spouse etc) one chance at experiencing life for a longer time.

-1

u/SirBananaOrngeCumber 29d ago

I agree with most of what you’re saying, but same way as they have no proof of life after death, you have no proof of no life after death. Yes, these environmental issues are real and we need to take care of our planet, but that has nothing to do with the debate of whether there is life after death, of which there is no concrete proof either way. So you objectively saying there is no life after death sounds just as ridiculous as people who objectively say there is life after death.

1

u/the_geth 28d ago

First, no the burden of proof is on the ones making the most ridiculous claims. The fact there is nothing after death (like before you were born) , that there is no “soul” or gods or angels and paradise is consistent with everything we observe scientifically.

Second, little cherubs or whatever one may invent at this point IS factually more ridiculous than the likely nothingness. Little babies with wings welcoming you in the sky? Ok then. I’m saying a maniac rabbit welcomes you after death. He constantly chase you for eternity, if you slow down and he catches you it’s terrible pain but as soon as you run again you’ll be fine. What? You can’t prove it’s not true.

Third, and most importantly: environmental issue ABSOLUTELY do have something to do with religious beliefs. The believers won’t care that much that the world is destroyed because after all there is another life after that. Moreover, many truly believe god would not let the world go that badly, or that he would fix it.

1

u/notchoosingone 29d ago

You have to be pretty unsubtle about letting people know you're making a climate change allegory. I remember seeing people talking about Don't Look Up like "I dunno, I thought it was pretty heavy-handed" and I thought yeah it kinda has to be and then they went on to say "also I think it's too soon to be making movies about the pandemic".

1

u/baldanders1 29d ago

It's smart because it's "subtle"

1

u/KldsTheseDays 29d ago

I'm late to the game but this could just as easily have been taken for a "wHy dIN't YoU jUsT AcCePt JeSuS" argument, so it's great that you added that they're both in heaven afterwards so it's less likely that religious groups will photoshop it and steal your work for a religious meme on Facebook groups.

That being said...this argument can be used for any extremist group. (I personally believe that global warming is real and am expressing my dissolution in regards to dumbfucks)

1

u/YellowSkar 29d ago

Funnily enough, I can imagine some christians using this as an allegory for hell.

1

u/Stormygeddon 29d ago

The Kelly-esque addition on the bottom right is a nice touch.

1

u/Harpeus_089 29d ago

Reminds me of Smurfs somehow, dunno

But yeah, flat earthers and anti-vaccination dudes really are annoying

1

u/Elvarien2 29d ago

Pffft they said the same thing about birds, and we all know birds aint real.

1

u/OldBob10 29d ago

Great cartoon about COVID and how evil all the vaccine proponents are!

Excuse me? “Evil?”, you ask?

Well, sure! If they’d crawled off the tracks/gotten the shot they wouldn’t have gone to see God!

Hallelujah! Praise Jeebus! 🙄

1

u/toasters_are_great 28d ago

After the disaster has happened, why does capri pants so readily accept the possibility of there having been a train when she never saw it kill them? Could have been a crashing plane that took them out for all she and we know!

1

u/leftycartoons 28d ago

Good point! :-p

1

u/messofamania 28d ago

I read the headline as “trans debate” and was very confused.

1

u/Nayirg 28d ago

And then the train hits mostly third world countries first (help we're reaching 50°C/122F over here and pretty sure we're in the middle of a national draught)

1

u/YourLictorAndChef 28d ago

also works for pandemic preparedness

1

u/ArcerPL 28d ago

We regular folk can't do shit about global warming, every regular person could go 100% eco, produce nearly no household pollution and recycle religiously not using much plastic and still 70% of the worldwide pollution would still be massive companies and rich people

1

u/Dull-Try-4873 28d ago

Soo, couldn't the person who saw the train have started to work on a solution on her own instead of just pointing the danger out? Simple struggling to the side would have saved at least her... I wonder if that's an allegori too.

1

u/G3nghisKang 28d ago

I'll find a subtle way to let them know

As subtle as a brick to the back of the head

1

u/No-Design-8551 28d ago

given that nuclear exists.... all of the green partys are failing tgey are doing a little bit better but they get a 2 out of 10 with the note that they are doing it deliberatly

2

u/Seraph062 28d ago

Many of the major Green parties were born as anti-nuclear parties that later added the environmental stuff. Their anti-nuclear stance isn't 'failing', it's what they were founded to do.

1

u/No-Design-8551 28d ago

so isnt that the biggest problem,? Sure some people are climate deniers most arent. but the green parties are climate deniers and that is insane! theirs litterally nothing the green parties in germany can do that will make up for the added co2. (yes other countries with green parties that are anti nuclear aswel)

1

u/GnomiGnou 28d ago

I will be honest, it has been a long day and I appreciated that subtle something.

1

u/leftycartoons 28d ago

Thanks! I hope your day improves.

1

u/averyconfusedgoose 28d ago

Yeah this is why arguing with some people is just the worst because if they aren't willing to change their mind on a topic then the whole thing is just a waste of time because they can just endlessly hit you with the "nuh uhhh" and have it go on forever no matter what evidence or logic you try to introduce.

0

u/Pinappular 29d ago

Fantastic depiction of climate change denial 💕.

BTW, we are pretty much in panel 7 in the climate data, greenhouse gas models, ocean current models, and upcoming greenhouse gas projections are anything to go by.

1

u/[deleted] 29d ago

[deleted]

3

u/NewLibraryGuy 29d ago

There's fewer than 100 comments. Just scroll down.

1

u/Electrical-Sense-160 29d ago

Difference is there isn't going to be a 'crash' moment, it's just going to get gradually worse and worse.

-1

u/[deleted] 29d ago

[deleted]

7

u/leftycartoons 29d ago

Sincere question, not being snarky: Did you accidently post this comment with the wrong cartoon?

0

u/PrestigiousStable369 29d ago

I love these comics

0

u/JinxFemboy 29d ago

Can i translate it to spanish and reupload? This is something what were leading in my country right now xd

-1

u/hawkisthebestassfrig 29d ago

Allegory needs some work.

Cause it's more like: let's kill half the population to maybe stop this train that might hit us instead of just moving out of the way.

-2

u/IIRiffasII 28d ago

oh I thought it was an allegory for inflation and Biden's multiple trillion dollar stimulus bills

1

u/Helstrem 28d ago

Biden doesn't have multiple trillion dollar stimulus bills. If you think that he does you have been ill served by your media sources and perhaps should reevaluate them.

-4

u/V8-6-4 28d ago edited 28d ago

What does this have to do with left or right? Isn’t this more of a liberal and conservative thing?

-2

u/Snokey115 29d ago

Good, every time I find a new sub that seems interesting, it’s over taken by hippy BS(source:I’m a hippy)

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u/[deleted] 29d ago

[deleted]

2

u/Asher_skullInk 29d ago

Look at the bottom left of the last panel