706: Freedom

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Freedom

Title text: Sometimes I'm terrified to realize how many options other people have.

Explanation

In this comic, Randall comments on the absence of physical enforcement for social norms. Cueball goes through a list of possible things he could do that only his conscience and learned social mores prevent him from doing, before promptly receiving a punch to the face justified with his own reasoning.

The image text is a restatement of the first line of the comment, but reversed to show Cueball's newfound realization that the same freedoms apply to other people, to his physical detriment.

Transcript

First Man: Sometimes I'm shocked to realize how many options I have.

Second Man: Oh?

[First Man shakes his fist.]

First Man: Like, at any moment in any conversation, I could just punch the person I was talking to, and all these potentially life-changing events would unfold.

First Man: It's only my mental rules that stop me from punching you, or stripping naked, or getting on a plane to Fiji. Sure, rules have reasons. But shouldn't you exercise that freedom at least once before you die?

WHAM

[First man is knocked down on the ground, dazed and bruised.]

First Man: Okay, I should have seen that coming.

Second Man: But you couldn't! That's the beauty!

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