>>149886745
>What's the conflict of the show
Whether life has any purpose at all, and how a group of people with wildly different views on life can live together in a stressful situation, or whether they'll tear one another apart. The central conflict is trying not to go mad in a world that's constantly pushing you to.
>Why they're doing anything
Multiple characters ask exactly this - it's Zooble's main purpose in the series, and the reason for her is "because Caine forces her to under pain of pain"
>So why do they do them?
Watch the show - it's cos Caine forces them to, and if they don't, they'll go insane.
>Why do they listen to Caine?
They often don't, and are often punished for the fact.
>Why do they not do anything about abstraction?
Because they can't. They hold funerals, and that's all they can do.
>Why do they not express any thoughts about the environment they're in.
This is basically Pomni's sole purpose as a character, and there's a conversation about the nature of the circus basically every episode.

I don't think you've watched the show