Politically Incorrect Humour

I remember hearing a joke as a child that went something like this: A politician says to his colleague, oh no, I just locked my keys in my car. And the other politician says, that's terrible, it's about to rain, how are you going to get the top up?

Of course, that is just one of the many jokes that depend on nothing but the idea of the characters being stupid. Usually such jokes are about some disliked but non-threatening ethnic group. Or blondes. Or yo mama.

And that's why it's a pretty weak joke. Usually if you're going to tell a joke about an occupation, it will be about the unique characteristics of people in that occupation. Such as lawyers being unscrupulous. So a joke about generic politicians should be about, say, lying or seeking publicity.

If you're going to make a joke about politicians being stupid, most people would specify which politicians you consider to be stupid. And if you’re going to ridicule an opposing politician or party, you’ll likely make it a whole lot more specific, since you have a clear idea of just why you don’t like them. And that’s why we don’t see too many of those generic jokes, despite the general unpopularity of politicians, and humanity’s deep stockpile of jokes about stupid people.

Until this year. We’ve got the most vicious election of our lives in the US, so anyone watching - even if they don’t normally get involved in politics - is aware of the anger being thrown. And the media is always happy to remind us of the public’s anger at each candidate. Thus, some people who don’t normally go for political satire are trying to join in using indiscriminate ridicule of both sides.

I’d strongly recommend against this. See, the thing that may not be obvious from the outside is that pretty much everyone involved is really sure who the obvious choice is. I know I don’t have much in common with Trump supporters, but I’m sure that one thing we can agree on is that when two sides are so far apart, it becomes obvious who you want to win. Yes, you may have misgivings about your own candidate, but they are dwarfed by your dislike of your opponent.

Don’t get me wrong, I have never had anything against people who don’t get involved in politics. I do ask that you observe the old rule that if you don’t vote, you aren’t allowed to complain about the government; but that’s it. Okay, there is one exception: people who use their political agnosticism to look superior, like look at me, I’m above all childishness. Or look at me, my standards are too high for our disappointing politicians to measure up to. In both cases, it’s obviously a cover for your unwillingness to commit.

I’m just saying that for your own sake, you might want to lay off the jokes. Both sides are kind of perplexed that there could be anyone out there that doesn’t have a strong opinion. So if you’re trying to “join in” by ridiculing everyone, you’ll actually be standing out even stranger. And if you think you can pull the above trick of pretending to be superior, keep in mind that the Democrats have already gone to war with the Bernie Sanders supporters that refuse to compromise, so this is really not the time for that act.

So feel free to make jokes on other topics. Feel free to stay on the political sidelines. But don’t try general political jokes. This year, you’ll generate less anger if you just make fun of random nationalities.