This comic might seem a little preachy and lame, but when you actually think about it, it's only explaining the different schools of thought of the characters involved. Tom is a minimalist, someone who feels the world is full of unnecessary and worthless things that delude our consciousness, and Duk is a materialist, someone who is full of desire for the objects and feelings the world has to offer. Typically, minimalist ideology enhances human spirituality, whereas materialism pushes the advance of human technology.
The two will always be opposite, though.