Tooned Out

This week’s new Dustinland comic is my response to all the idiots out there who think it’s cool that this has been the warmest winter ever in New York (and surely some other places). I see it all the time, in comments on every social platform… well, sure it’s abnormally warm but hey, isn’t life about the universe conforming to my personal preferences? And when that happens, shouldn’t I just enjoy it and ignore the causes of said abnormal conditions? It’s truly painful. It’s like there’s a tornado coming and people are just standing there enjoying the breeze before it hits because hey, isn’t this a nice breeze on a hot day?

Man, we are dumb. It’s really sad. We are so doomed. The only mildly satisfying part will be when all these morons realize how wrong they were, but sadly that won’t even happen because just like with the war in Iraq, a few decades later and no one will admit they supported it. Oh well, it was a nice run. And we really did have everything, didn’t we… if you think about it.

PS If you’re a Ren & Stimpy fan, you should notice a ton of references in this strip, including the backgrounds. I was a huge fan of those first two seasons, and I really do feel that Ren’s simmering rage and irritation sums up my feelings personally. Also yes I know the creator was cancelled for doing scumbag things. I can still like the show though.

Last Laughs

This week’s new Dustinland comic is a pretty dark one about the dread many of us feel — I certainly do — regarding the future of mankind. I know some people are simply blissfully unaware or capable of denial to an OJ level, which I guess is nice for them personally, although also part of the reason we are where we are. But as for me, well, I’ve been reading and learning and talking about this stuff for so long, it’s hard to not see the writing on the walls. Maybe I’m wrong. I would looooove to be wrong. But it just feels like the clock is running out on us and the problems are simply too big for us to solve considering the dysfunction inherent in being human.

Sometimes I wonder if we’d be better off with the minds of ants. Just serving the hive, following along. Sure, it would be way less interesting and “fun” but at least we’d be able to accomplish things and serve a greater purpose. Now we can’t even agree on what’s real and what isn’t. Oh well. We had a nice run — except for that part when we killed all the other lifeforms on Earth. That part was bad.

But yeah, it’s depressing and ridiculous to see how everyone runs around pretending things will just “work out” when we are headed for the ultimate disaster. I do it too. I live my life. What else can I do? I really don’t know at this point.

Denied

I drew this latest Dustinland comic in response to Trump’s recent trolling of Greta Thunberg, which she did handle amazingly well and in a very clever fashion. Still though, I do think nothing gets me going as much as this. The red hats may say I am now “triggered,” which they think is hilarious. Yes, they think it’s funny that people like myself and Greta and hundreds of millions of other people around the world believe in science and don’t want to see all life on Earth extinguished as the planet turns into a miserable burning hellhole due to our selfish, shortsighted activities. HAHA those wacky liberals!

I mean, really, on one hand, I just wonder how stupid these people could possibly be. But it’s much more than that. The truly scary part is how brainwashed Trump supporters are. While of course, these days, everyone has their own little bubble to hide in, the MAGA bubble seems much more dangerous and detached from reality — which is how you even have farmers saying “well, the weather is getting really odd these days and messing up all my crops, but I still don’t believe in global warming.” Which leads to the biggest concern over this issue — it’s just too big. It is so big, so scary, so sci-fi apocalypse, people don’t want to believe it. And as we are seeing right now, people choose to believe what makes them feel better.

So yeah, as we’re facing the biggest threat to civilization mankind has ever seen, millions of people are choosing to respond by pretending everything is okay, we don’t have to change a thing, and while we’re at it, let’s blame all our problems on people from other countries. Good times, everyone. Happy holidays!

Summer of 69 + 50

This week’s new Dustinland comic is about the mental fortitude required to not lose your mind amidst the madness of life in 2019. Not daily life for most of us, but rather the news cycle. The horrible things we hear happening to other people day in and day out, whether it’s Americans getting mowed down in Walmart or people in third world countries getting blown up on their way to work or any of the other awful things we learn about 24/7. I hear that hope is essential for inner peace, but man, it’s hard right now. Things look grim. I mean, Siberia is on fire right now. We really are super fucked. But I guess hey, soldier on, right?!

#YOLO

Greenwashing Redhats

I hope people understand this week’s Dustinland comic is satirical. I mean, I do sort of explain it in the first frame, but I am still a bit afraid of dumb dumbs not getting it and going all woke avenger on me. Not that I am against wokeness. I’m just against the combination of wokeness and stupidity, especially when wielded against purveyors of comedy.

Really though, if someone actually could get Trump supporters to actually care about (or even believe in) climate change, that would be nice. Trump would still probably do nothing about it, but at least that would be a start. I think they’ll start believing when something horrible happens to them — drought, fire etc…  Just like all the Republicans politicians who were in the pockets of the insurance companies until their summer homes were destroyed by hurricanes and they didn’t get paid due to insurance loopholes. Suddenly they cared!

Meh, it’s too early for a rant (and unfortunately too early to start drinking).

Sunny Days

This new Dustinland comic seems to pretty much speak for itself. And I’m sure it will irritate a lot of people who do enjoy unseasonably warm weather, but hey, I mean, if I can’t ruin a nice sunny day for people by reminding them it’s a symptom of a manmade global holocaust, what’s the point of drawing comics?

Tomorrow Is Yesterday

This week’s Dustinland comic was written in response to Trump’s pull out from the Paris Climate Agreement, but I did it in a way that would hopefully appeal to people who don’t already agree with me. That’s why you notice, no mention of climate change, but rather a focus on a few things we can all agree on: freedom, fiscal independence, and future-facing technology. Curious to see if I get any positive responses from the other side or if it will just be the same old zombie Fox News “coal jarbs and hoax” blah blah blah we’re all used to hearing.

There’s No Convincing

With the Climate March coming up, I felt compelled to write this Dustinland comic, since it’s the one issue I care most about. After a long time trying to figure out what I could do to convince people to care, I realized I can’t convince anyone, since I’ve tried many times before, and still no one seems to give a shit. So I made a comic about that.

The Choice Is Yours

Not must more I could say about this week’s Dustinland comic. Well, not really a comic. An infographic? Not that either. Lots of words presented in a sort of appealing manner, I guess. If I wasn’t a dad with a demanding job I would have thought up a really cool way to actually portray all this information in comic form, but that would have required me to literally not sleep for several days, which is an unpleasant option. Not as unpleasant as our likely future, but still not fun.

Overall I do think we are fucked no matter who gets elected, but at least we should try. Trump and the entire GOP is the opposite of trying. Voting Republican at this point is really just saying “Hey we’re on a speeding train heading off a cliff and I want it to go faster.” Voting for the Democrats may not stop the train but at least there’s a possibility it could. At least we could maybe slow down the misery. At best we can keep pushing for the truly dramatic solution we really need to save this planet and the future of human civilization. Not for 1,000 years from now, but within our lifetimes. That’s the risk. And Donald and the rest of the GOP don’t want to believe it.

Hey, look at that, I did say more about this week’s comic.

A Meaty Resolution

I know no one really wants to be lectured by me about their eating habits, but sometimes I just have to drop the silly stuff for a week and hit on a more serious topic. Climate change weighs on me heavily, nearly all the time, and I’m always looking for ways to address the issue in my comic without being boring or preachy. Not sure if I achieved my goal with this week’s Dustinland comic, but I had to at least try.

I think meat is really something no one connects with global warming, even though it’s a huge issue. Even being climate change, there’s also all the pollution created by things like giant pig poop ponds, there’s the rainforest deforestation that occurs in order to make more grazing land for cattle — it goes on and on. And what really concerns me is that current diet fads are actually pushing people to eat more meat and less grains. Now, whether it’s better for you or not is not my concern. My concern is that we as a species cannot continue to eat so much meat — the planet simply can’t support it.

I know a big reaction to this will be “but I like meat, it’s so yummy, and I don’t care about the world enough to stop.” Or there will be people who really feel that way but don’t want to admit it to themselves so they’ll dig up some Fox News style “proof” that there’s no global warming or that even if there is, meat is actually good for the climate, and up is down, etc…  But hopefully there are a few reasonable concerned people who might not have realized just how bad meat is for the environment, and if even one person thinks again next time they’re about to order a burger, that’s a good thing.

Oh and one last point: At the end of the strip, I discuss how no one has to STOP eating meat completely. I bring this up not just to make it all feel more doable and less daunting, but also to prevent the usual black or white only comments that accompany the usual “we can’t do anything about climate change” arguments. You know, “oh, so why don’t you live in a teepee.” That sort of thing. The idea that we can either be cavemen or do nothing. It’s a ridiculous ploy I see over and over again, while in reality, we don’t have to completely alter our lifestyles and drop out of society. If each one of us would take even a few small steps, it would make a big difference. Maybe not the whole difference, but it would help a lot.