Tom the Dancing Bug by Ruben Bolling for June 24, 2000

Transcript:

MATRIX PLANET All you see is an illusion. Corporations are not real. Morpheus: Your entire life has been an elaborate virtual reality illusion! Neo: I've been in an unreal dream-world?! How did this happen?! "It started when people devised what they called 'fictional persons,' more commonly known as CORPORATIONS." Guy 1: The corporate veil will serve humanity! "These virtual entities began to subsume humans, forcing people to serve them in ways antithetical to their very humanity." Guy 2: My fiduciary duty is to pollute as much as I legally can. "Another ethereal force, the 'invisible hand,' controlled people through market incentives." Guy 3: Our stock prices are down! Lady: If we don't set up a factory in Mexico like our competitors, we'll be out of business! Morpheus: A virtual "natural selection" took hold as corporations algorithmically marched toward greater power and control. Neo: Whoa. "The internet spurred this system globally, cloaking all who in contact with it in delusion." Guy 3: We must remove all local laws that might impede corporations' international profitability. "And so, the corporations created this dreamworld in which humans are spiritual slaves to the virtual entities they created." Morpheus: Now that you know the truth--come join us! Help all humans wake up from servitude to the corporate economy! Neo: Sorry, if I leave my job at Nerrex, INC, I lose my stock option package! Oh, can I keep these clothes? I can wear them on casual day.