Ukraine

we are very funny

— my friend from western Ukraine

it's something I've learned from my Ukrainian, African, and Jewish allies. comedy is a weapon of the liberator. jokes are the only panacea, not because they'll heal you but because they'll save your life. they're also like song, dance, and food in that they help us weave the tapestry of the secret lost history the powers that be don't want you to hear.

when the going gets tough, the tough put on their clown noses

— my African american professor of ethics

none of this to say that conservatives don't try to harness comedy. i mean look at jeff dunham. but conservative comedians always struggle eventually. comedy is like street art. it challenges us by subverting the status quo. conservatism is a political philosophy centered around that nothing should change, or we should move backwards to a prior "glorious" era. just like conservative street art, conservative comedy sucks. it feels shallow, lazy, and manufactured. it has adopted the aesthetic of rebellion to placate would be rebels. it may work for a short time, but conservatives never stay in the zeitgeist long. they'll blame cancel culture, say everyone's too sensitive, that people can't tell or take jokes anymore. the truth is they just aren't that truly funny the way someone who's telling jokes to challenge the status quo is, and the people can always tell.