Comedy is the great societal disinfectant. If anything becomes too powerful, comedy will sweep in and minimize it in just a few lines. It makes every heavy problem lighter, and introduces levity to severity.
Which is exactly why the left hates it.
The left wants you to take it and everything related to it, very, very seriously. It's so adamant about the fact that cracking jokes is considered "insensitive" and they will do what they can to punish you for your egregious thought crime. They do it all the time, but you've witnessed more high-profile instances in recent memory, such as the left's attack on Dave Chappelle over his jokes about transgenderism.
Very recently, you saw the left go after AI-created deepfakes of Kamala Harris.
Kamala Harris Campaign Ad PARODY pic.twitter.com/5lBxvyTZ3o
— Mr Reagan 🇺🇸 (@MrReaganUSA) July 26, 2024
These were obvious parodies, which are protected by law (Hustler v Falwell [1983]), but California Governor Gavin Newsom decided to ban political deepfakes in his state, which resulted in the rest of America creating even more deepfakes and memes. The Babylon Bee even created one starring him.
The left used to understand and respect free speech. They used to be very good at comedy, but that age has long passed. Now, you can't get a funny joke out of them. They have, for the most part, forgotten how to laugh. Even a lot of their "comedians" don't tell jokes, they rely on "clapter" to power their show, which is effectively just saying political things posed as a joke that people can clap at with minimal laughter, if any.
If you've ever wondered why the left is so bad at memes, that's why. The concept of humor escapes them. Brevity is the soul of wit, but since they've forgotten how to be funny, their memes aren't short little pictures that make you chuckle, they're entire treatises on the subject in question that aren't funny at all.
The bottom line here is that the left needs you to take them oh so seriously because if you really stand back and look at them and their beliefs, they are ridiculous people with horrible ideas. They're often control-obsessed, forcing you into certain behaviors that they themselves don't have to take part in.
So long as you're not allowed to crack jokes at their expense and laugh at their corruption and ineptitude, they're well-positioned to keep their power and influence. The moment the jokes start, they start looking smaller. Their influence diminishes. They no longer look all-powerful, they look like the proverbial naked emperor, exposed and stupid.
Comedy is a solid way to highlight the absurdity in severe events. It's why JD Vance encouraged everyone to keep spreading the cat memes around. They were hilarious, but amid all the fun and laughter was a truth that the left did not want getting out. Over time, the left was finally forced to make a move on it, which ended up hurting them even further. It highlighted the real problem happening with our illegal immigration problem, even to people outside the realm of politics. Comedy was able to convey that problem far better than a news report ever could.
(READ: The Great Meme War of 2024)
In the case of Gavin Newsom, this new law is supposed to be a display of his power over emerging technologies. He's attempting to put his flag in the ground and say that government can control this kind of information output, and more accurately, that this kind of comedy is banned. The response of the people in mocking this law by using the very technology Newsom is trying to ban effectively laughs directly at his power and his efforts. It diminishes him in the eyes of the people. Instead of looking like an all-powerful dictator, he looks like a grown man baby throwing a temper tantrum.
The people used comedy to pull back the curtain on what Newsom was trying to make into a display of strength, only to reveal that he's just some goofy dude who thinks he's more important than he actually is.
I can't overstate this. Comedy is so powerful in the fight against authoritarianism. It neuters would-be dictators and strips influence from the corrupt.
Keep making with the funny.
"Above all else, the devil cannot stand to be mocked." - C.S. Lewis
