okay yeah @gayforeman 's post (i hope you don't mind me @ ing you! i can remove if you want) about using cogs as a way to satirize late stage capitalism and colonialism got me thinking about this again. i'm bouncing between meta and canon things. very long post, it's below the cut.
At its very core, Toontown is a satire criticizing the entanglement of capitalism and colonization. Whenever I tell people that Toontown is a pro-Communist/Socialist game, they laugh until I show them "Toons of the World Unite" and the way their world operates. It's extremely on-the-nose, even if it wasn't clear to the target audience of children at the time it was created. The fact that it began development in 1998 puts it closer to the 80s and the capitalist beliefs that took off in the decade than we are now in 2025. Obviously, things have gotten much worse as a result of individualism in many cultures, and capitalism is hopefully on the brink of crumbling underneath exhausted workers watching the rich get richer. Not the mention the entanglement between fascistic governments and capitalism (Especially in the case of the US. I'm American, and Toontown was created by Americans, so I use that as a benchmark for a lot of the commentary. Of course, it's applicable to any capitalist society, but that's my personal experience.)
I could exhaust myself writing a list of capitalist beliefs, many as ramifications of work culture in the 80s with the rise of the Yuppie movement (young urban professionals for those who are unfamiliar with the term). As the name implies, megacorporations grew due to the tech sector boom, and workers were moving into cities in droves. This was typically accompanied by gentrification usually following close behind. I feel like I don't really need to explain much here about how it relates so closely to Toontown. The expectation for what Yuppies look like are materialistic and polished, so it really isn't a stretch to say that Cogs were inspired by the proximity to this movement.
(Yes, this is an actual book published in 1984. In recent years, Yuppie has become more of an insult in recent years, and for good reason.)
Another concept of note is hyperindivisualism. Which once again, saw a rise in the 80s as a result of the 60s/70s, with conservatives pinning the blame on the "collapse of society" caused by hippies and the values centering the community that were held in the time before. The 70s weren't without its many deep faults, but community based movements and anti-war protest.
The Cogs/Suits are deeply hyperindividualistic. In the case of Clash, the prominent characters are extremely selfish, even those that try to pose as "different" from the others. Rainmaker for example doesn't understand why the Toons don't like her, and continues to work for the oppressor while still trying to befriend the oppressed. Her desire to befriend the Toons is entirely selfish. Of course, she wants to quit her job, but not because she thinks what she's doing is wrong—it's because the other Suits are mean to her. That's just one example, but I think people should look at those aspects of her more often (totally not biased bc she's one of my faves). Of course you have the more obvious examples like the Bosses who see anyone below them as a grunt worker and only really care about maintaining the status quo. The Bosses hardly interact with even the Managers, furthering the disconnect in the corporate ladder. It isn't a matter of teamwork—it's a matter of who as an individual is capable of doing the most work and making their way up the ladder.
I've never really been a fan of the "good cog" trope in cases where they continue to work for the company. The only good cog is a dead one. There is no way to fix a corrupt system from the inside-out. The only way for a Cog to fix it is to quit and fight back. But the thing with Cogs is that they're quite literally made to perform that job. They have no other purpose since their society is formed around capitalism like it's a culture (almost religious in terms of devotion). Even down the the joke on the cogs.ink calendar saying that they get an "extra break" that lasts one minute. Cruel and arbitrary decisions are made to put profit first. What's worse is that in the real world, many people believe that's the only way, and many agree that it should be the only way, lest the dirty Commies ruin their lives like they see in propaganda and government fearmongering.
Another notable example of capital having no boundaries in the Cog world is with Chainsaw Consultant. It depends if he was coerced into installing the Override of if he genuinely was on board, but either way it speaks to either his superiors not seeing him as a "living" and respectable individual, or his desire to get ahead in the game by being more productive, even if he was putting himself up for unethical experimentation. As a middle manager, he has no respect for those under him, and receives no respect from those above him. He's well aware of the damage he causes and has no way out, so the least he can do is continue his job and "dissociate" from his responsibility for the things Override causes. But for posterity's sake (and the fact that he's presumably unfit to work anywhere else or even have a stable life) he continues to do what he does because working against it requires too much effort on his part. He's complacent, but curses the company he works for, but for reasons centered on himself.
So really, the things driving the Cogs to continue boils down to self-obsession (hyperindividualism), complacency in their positions/actions, and some of them are just straight-up cartoonishly evil (y'know. they all live in a cartoon world). So yep! Cogs really are hyperindividualist Yuppies. I tried to keep this short, but that did not happen.
Thanks for reading this long ass analysis! I love the Cogs as a means for exploring deep-rooted issues in our late-stage capitalist society, and I feel like it's more important than ever to think about this stuff, even if it's in the form of a video game originally made for children.
Using this as a plug to say get involved with your community's grassroots efforts! Go to protests and swamp your representatives/senators/what have you with your outrage. Give back to mutual aid funds to support your community. They can't stop all of us if we band together.
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