Questionable Content XIX: Give Jeph Just A *Little* Credit, Here

[Ionathus]

This ellipse leaves so many questions unanswered...

Where's the "capitalism is evil" here?
Who cleans the house? Are they paid for it?
In what world is this type of mansion anywhere close of environmental-friendly?
What leads to: is global change a thing in QC World? Did they binarily-handed it with AI? Was the point to make this kind of standard survive in the US while other places seem to keep less developped patterns (see Hannelore's lore) AND acculturation still?

This isn't anything new -- Jeph's had rich people in the comic ever since Sven, after all.

The difference to me is that, back then, the money wasn't the plot, and Sven's drama didn't spring from it. It played nicely into him being a sleazeball, because in an indie rock webcomic, what's worthy of more condemnation than someone who writes hackneyed country music for money?

But now, half the cast is rich (including sympathetic POV characters), and plotlines are connected to having (or not having) money. May's chassis is a big example, but Roko's AI Civil Rights campaign is another one. Meanwhile Faye and Bubbles are still scraping by at Union Street Robotics.

Friend groups can absolutely have wealth disparity - I think everybody here can distinguish their "rich" friends from their "poor" friends (or maybe you are one of those two). It can even lead to some interesting dynamics, like when Spookybot gave all their money to charity and it just pissed Roko off because it made all of her work feel meaningless, or when Sven donated too much money for May's new body and then it killed their chances of staying Acquaintances With Benefits. These plots about money can work...but they won't if Jeph doesn't focus on that disparity, and I think he's just not interested in that level of worldbuilding.

It's fun to give Marigold a big gamer mansion, so he does that. If it undermines the weight of Marigold's previous gift to Momo for her chassis, then so be it. (Oh man, remember when she guilted Momo about that even though it had been a gift? That was a great little "Marigold learning to be considerate" arc. Not to be a broken record but I miss Old QC )