Okay. This is a vending machine that sold him a vending machine, which presumably would sell him an even smaller vending machine, and so on. But why “CAPITALISM”?
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‘Very large package, relatively small product’.
I could see it as a commentary on “services” that let you pay a fee to be allowed to make purchases, such as Costco membership. I could also see it as an observation that capitalist systems tend to create middlemen who skim profit from every transaction. Or it’s a more direct poke at pyramid schemes, a thing we used to frown on but which now appears to be a respected business model. (Not a comment on current politics – we’ve been just letting scam businesses operate in the open for decades now. After all, they pay more taxes and make more political donations than their victims, so it’s only fair.)
So it’s ambiguous to me, but I feel like I get the gist.
Maybe it’s about selling you the same thing over and over, but less and less of it.
My interpretation is that in the modern world, we’re buying things that only exist to sell us more stuff. Smartphones sell you apps, encourage you to do online shopping, guide you to businesses, etc. Other modern devices use subscriptions, such as exercise equipment that streams gym lessons. Though I suppose similar arguments could be made for older technology as well. You buy a car, you have to pay for gas, insurance, repairs, etc. But some modern cars have subscription services for certain features.
Oh, I like Xine Fury’s idea:: buy more stuff. It’s a perfect complement to actual capitalism, as in: sell more stuff. How can anybody sell if no one is buying?
My first idea was that ideally, every business should grow and produce offshoots and, literally, sell more stuff. Not such an interesting idea, but then, it’s better than the comic deserves.
I think it’s simply absurdism: where do you go to buy a vending machine? Well, at a vending machine vending machine. Capitalism at it’s finest, because you need that vending machine NOW!
I was just thinking earlier today about something that is true under capitalism and probably any other system. No matter what it is you are good at, you can’t make money at it without Marketing and Sales. No matter how good a (for instance) cartoonist you are, or musician or landscaper or doctor or whatever, you have to market your product or service, i.e. make people aware of it, and sell your product or service, i.e. persuade people to buy it.
Under capitalism, you look for anything you can sell. You can market and sell a book on how to draw cartoons. You can market and sell a book on how to market and sell your cartoons. You can market and sell a book on how to market and sell books on marketing and selling. Capitalism seems to encourage the growth of books, courses and YouTube videos on “Make Big Money By Marketing And Selling Anything.” There was an old joke about a magazine classified ad: “I got rich and YOU can too! Send me ONE dollar for my secret.” Those who sent a dollar got back “Thanks for the dollar! I got rich by putting this ad in magazines.”
I remember ads for “Make Money Servicing Vending Machines.” Basically, you buy or lease a machine, get permission to install it somewhere, go to a wholesaler to buy products, and then just drive around stocking your machines, fixing them when they break, and taking out the money. You can make money, but how much you make depends on how well the stuff sells and how many machines you can get to in a day. If business is good you can hire people to do the stocking and servicing and driving for you.
So yes, a vending machine that vends vending machines is capitalism in a nutshell.
Silly me. When I saw this one, I thought part of the machine had broken off, and the hole was where it fell from.
He bought a vending machine so he could make money selling snacks and cigarettes and other small items.
I remember a MAD Magazine article from the 1960’s on vending machines. There were all kinds of outlandish new ideas for vending machines. The last one was “Vend-A-Vend”. You put in your coin and out comes a smaller vending machine. You put a coin in THAT and get another vending machine. You keep doing this and eventually you get a tiny vending machine which vends a coin which you can put into the first machine to start the process all over again.
Comics I Don't Understand 
‘Very large package, relatively small product’.
I could see it as a commentary on “services” that let you pay a fee to be allowed to make purchases, such as Costco membership. I could also see it as an observation that capitalist systems tend to create middlemen who skim profit from every transaction. Or it’s a more direct poke at pyramid schemes, a thing we used to frown on but which now appears to be a respected business model. (Not a comment on current politics – we’ve been just letting scam businesses operate in the open for decades now. After all, they pay more taxes and make more political donations than their victims, so it’s only fair.)
So it’s ambiguous to me, but I feel like I get the gist.
Maybe it’s about selling you the same thing over and over, but less and less of it.
My interpretation is that in the modern world, we’re buying things that only exist to sell us more stuff. Smartphones sell you apps, encourage you to do online shopping, guide you to businesses, etc. Other modern devices use subscriptions, such as exercise equipment that streams gym lessons. Though I suppose similar arguments could be made for older technology as well. You buy a car, you have to pay for gas, insurance, repairs, etc. But some modern cars have subscription services for certain features.
Oh, I like Xine Fury’s idea:: buy more stuff. It’s a perfect complement to actual capitalism, as in: sell more stuff. How can anybody sell if no one is buying?
My first idea was that ideally, every business should grow and produce offshoots and, literally, sell more stuff. Not such an interesting idea, but then, it’s better than the comic deserves.
I think it’s simply absurdism: where do you go to buy a vending machine? Well, at a vending machine vending machine. Capitalism at it’s finest, because you need that vending machine NOW!
I was just thinking earlier today about something that is true under capitalism and probably any other system. No matter what it is you are good at, you can’t make money at it without Marketing and Sales. No matter how good a (for instance) cartoonist you are, or musician or landscaper or doctor or whatever, you have to market your product or service, i.e. make people aware of it, and sell your product or service, i.e. persuade people to buy it.
Under capitalism, you look for anything you can sell. You can market and sell a book on how to draw cartoons. You can market and sell a book on how to market and sell your cartoons. You can market and sell a book on how to market and sell books on marketing and selling. Capitalism seems to encourage the growth of books, courses and YouTube videos on “Make Big Money By Marketing And Selling Anything.” There was an old joke about a magazine classified ad: “I got rich and YOU can too! Send me ONE dollar for my secret.” Those who sent a dollar got back “Thanks for the dollar! I got rich by putting this ad in magazines.”
I remember ads for “Make Money Servicing Vending Machines.” Basically, you buy or lease a machine, get permission to install it somewhere, go to a wholesaler to buy products, and then just drive around stocking your machines, fixing them when they break, and taking out the money. You can make money, but how much you make depends on how well the stuff sells and how many machines you can get to in a day. If business is good you can hire people to do the stocking and servicing and driving for you.
So yes, a vending machine that vends vending machines is capitalism in a nutshell.
Silly me. When I saw this one, I thought part of the machine had broken off, and the hole was where it fell from.
He bought a vending machine so he could make money selling snacks and cigarettes and other small items.
I remember a MAD Magazine article from the 1960’s on vending machines. There were all kinds of outlandish new ideas for vending machines. The last one was “Vend-A-Vend”. You put in your coin and out comes a smaller vending machine. You put a coin in THAT and get another vending machine. You keep doing this and eventually you get a tiny vending machine which vends a coin which you can put into the first machine to start the process all over again.