Wander into any political debate online, and you'll first earn our sympathies, and second, likely see this comic panel showing a medieval peasant saying, "We should improve society somewhat," and a smug fellow popping out of a well replying, "Yet you participate in society! Curious! I am very intelligent."

But where did this prevalent webcomic originally come from, and who created it? Also, how did it wind up becoming fodder for so many memes in recent years?

Here, we'll explain where the "We Should Improve Society Somewhat" meme comes from, what it means, and how it became a popular meme template over the past several years, so you can be in on the joke or discourse next time you come across it online.

What Is The 'We Should Improve Society Somewhat' Comic, And Who Made It?

The comic panel comes from a 2016 four-panel piece by Matt Bors of The Nib titled "Mister Gotcha."

In the original, the smug "Mister Gotcha" character pops in to refute anyone complaining about the world by suggesting they're hypocrites for participating in the problems they're complaining about.

It concludes with an absurd summation of "Mister Gotcha's" argument, implying a medieval peasant can't complain about society since he is part of society.

What Does The 'We Should Improve Society' Comic Mean?

The comic skewers a popular trope in online debates where a person will suggest that advocating for a social justice cause is hypocritical if the person contributes to the problem in any way.

In the comic, this is exemplified by "Mister Gotcha" pointing out that a person posting about Apple's sketchy labor practices is a hypocrite because they're posting from an iPhone.

A real-world example could include this tweet from Elon Musk laughing at people "complaining about Twitter on Twitter."

I love when people complain about Twitter … on Twitter 🤣🤣

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 10, 2022

How Did The 'We Should Improve Society' Comic Become A Meme?

Due to the panel's regular appearances in online debates, it became a widely recognizable image and soon proved ripe for several exploitable variations.

Sometimes it is edited to fit a trending news story or reimagined as though the characters were from media IPs, while it also sees crossover with existing memes and internet culture references.

It has also seen many edits from right-leaning memers that have reversed its message, making "Mister Gotcha" look like the "correct" one in the panel.

Of course, there have been several non-political edits that just take the recognizable image to absurd ends, usually for simple humor or irony.

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For more information, check out the We Should Improve Society Somewhat entry on Know Your Meme.