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Orphan Crushing Machine meme explained

What's An Orphan-Crushing Machine? Viral Metaphor For Capitalism Explained

In 2020, a Twitter user described an orphan-crushing machine as a metaphor for "heartwarming" news headlines that become horrifying on closer inspection. But what is the metaphor about, and how did it get popular? Learn all you need in our brief explainer.

Anosognosiogenesis @pookleblinky Every heartwarming human interest story in america is like "he raised $20,000 to keep 200 orphans from being crushed in the orphan- crushing machine" and then never asks why an orphan-crushing machine exists or why you'd need to pay to prevent it from being used. 10:56 PM. Sep 24, 2020


What Is the 'Orphan-Crushing Machine?'

The orphan-crushing machine is luckily just a metaphor for the way media tends present the stories in which a person remedies the effects of sociopolitical injustice as "heartwarming" without questioning why said injustice exists in the first place. The metaphor satirizes these stories by comparing them to a person raising money to keep 200 orphans from getting crushed while nobody questions why an orphan-crushing machine exists and runs in the first place.

The orphan-crushing machine can also be interpreted as a metaphor for late-stage capitalism, where useless products and infrastructure can be produced with the single purpose of further inflating business numbers and creating jobs.

Patrick Wyman @Patrick Wyman "Heartwarming: Community bands together to save orphans from being crushed in orphan-crushing machine as a blood sacrifice to the gods of the Market" CNN CNN @CNN Dec 11, 2021 After learning that her favorite Dunkin' employee had been evicted, an Ohio woman worked with several organizations to find a new home and furniture for the woman and her children, just in time for the holidays. cnn.it/3rWaXXX WCPO 10:55 AM · Dec 11, 2021 NEXT NEW COVID TRAVEL RULES EXPLAINED CHRISTMAS MIRACLE DUNKIN' DONUTS CUSTOMER GIFTS EMPLOYEE A NEW HOME CAN Suzanne Burke | Helped Find Dunkin' Employee a New Home : NEWSROOM


Who Coined the Term 'Orphan-Crushing Machine?'

The metaphor was coined by Twitter user @pookleblinky, who on September 24th, 2020, posted the original tweet and several more in which they continued to build upon the joke.

Anosognosiogenesis @pookleblinky Sep 24, 2020 Every heartwarming human interest story in america is like "he raised $20,000 to keep 200 orphans from being crushed in the orphan-crushing machine" and then never asks why an orphan-crushing machine exists or why you'd need to pay to prevent it from being used. 43.3K 252 8 982 . Anosognosiogenesis @pookleblinky Sep 24, 2020 And then, when you ask why the orphan-crushing machine even exists, americans act bewildered that the large hydraulic device with a chute labelled INSERT ORPHANS HERE could be mistaken for an orphan- crushing machine 7 149.4K Anosognosiogenesis @pookleblinky . 11.9K la ₁ Anosognosiogenesis @pookleblinky - Sep 24, 2020 "you put orphans in, as the label suggests. It crushes them. It's even named the Orphanhammer 2000." 소 Only if you're foolish enough to put orphans in it, the american responds. t 610 9,334 امار And if you ask why they, knowing this, continue to put orphans into the orphan-crushing machine, the american will be baffled at the idea that you wouldn't use an orphan-crushing machine. "It's right there. Would be a waste if you didn't use it." 11:03 PM . Sep 24, 2020


Screenshots of the original tweet were then reposted far and wide, often appearing as a reply to news headlines that seemed to fit the metaphor.

CAN CNN @CNN - Nov 20, 2021 13-year-old uses his Make-A-Wish to feed his city's homeless for a year cnn.com When granted a 'Make-A-Wish,' this 13-year-old chose to feed his ci... When Adeola "Abraham" Olagbegi discovered his bone marrow transplant was successful, he was granted any wish of his choice. 1,079 tl 9,056 28 Saul T. @SaulTortellini - Nov 21, 2021 199 Abraham's Table t 5,191 36.9K Good Take Tony @ToeKneeP18 Anosognosiogenesis Sep 24 Every heartwarming human interest story in america is like "he raised $20,000 to keep 200 orphans from being crushed in the orphan- crushing machine" and then never asks why an orphan-crushing machine exists or why you'd need to pay to prevent it from being used. ₁ 44.3K la ↑ Carlito ★★ @Cartilos - Nov 22, 2021 "We can't just make the orphan crushing machine disappear overnight, ok. We have to vote for candidates that support orphan crushing machine regulation and hopefully they'll write a bill and we'll have enough votes to potentially limit the amount of orphan crushing" 10 t 55 ♡ 1,080 la "Sorry guys, we know we promised it, and we *really wanted to include orphan crushing machine regulation in this bill, but the parliamentarian said we couldn't :/ maybe next time" 7:34 AM - Nov 22, 2021


How Is The 'Orphan-Crushing Machine' Used in Memes?

By 2023, the humorous metaphor became so popular that memes referencing it started to appear, while users on Twitter continued to develop the joke further. The best way to use this joke is simply mentioning it when a similarly ridiculous news headline deserves to be called out.

Beeb NEWS@killhalftheorphans Breaking: Orphan killed in orphan crushing machine Orphan liker @killingorphansisbad This is awful. We need to destroy the orphan crushing machine so that this can't happen again Orphan hater @orphansareicky Disgusting, using the death of an orphan for your political agenda. this is why I hate Orphan likers and everyone else should too


What Other Metaphors From Twitter Became Commonplace?

In 2021, Twitter user @AlexBlechman coined the term "torment nexus," a metaphor for creating a product that was originally described in fiction as something that for the benefit of humanity should never be created. The metaphor quickly got adopted by Twitter users to ridicule tone-deaf actions of corporations.


Alex Blechman @AlexBlechman Sci-Fi Author: In my book I invented the Torment Nexus as a cautionary tale Tech Company: At long last, we have created the Torment Nexus from classic sci-fi novel Don't Create The Torment Nexus 5:49 PM Nov 8, 2021. Twitter Web App


For the full history of the Orphan-Crushing Machine be sure to check out our entry for more information.

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