There's not a MONOPOLY on violence exactly, but those IOUs are essentially legal tender
Dick Tracy, 8/28/24
I guess the woman in the final panel is supposed to be looking up at a big screen, but it really looks like she's rolling her eyes in contempt at this unfolding scenario. "Ugh, the craft is jamming our drones, I told you we needed to fit them with more powerful transmitters, dad, why don't you ever listen?"
Barney Google and Snuffy Smith, 8/28/24
It's sad: under the Affordable Care Act, most health care plans provide free vaccinations and annual checkups, and at any rate the entire population of Hootin' Holler surely qualifies for Medicaid. But the lack of communication with the outside world means none of them know this, and Doc Pritchart has no fear that a distant government might take notice of his scams, though he clearly has a healthy respect for the violence that might be visited upon him if he violates the local mores. The dentures thing is a whole different story, given that we strangely consider teeth to be an entirely separate realm from the rest of the body in terms of health care and the regulations around it; also, this may be a strike against my "the Smifs are Zoomers" theory.
Rex Morgan, M.D., 8/28/24
The inevitable failure of the human body, forcing us to abandon the parts of our lives we love the most even as we face years ahead of us until death? Technically a medical issue, so I'll allow it as fodder for Rex Morgan, M.D.