Empathy. (Yeah, both sides are going to claim this one.)
Here's someone who gets it. Originally on
TikTok. Will wonders never cease.
Let's revisit humour while we're at it:
I can no longer tell if this is satire!When I was young, "right-wing" satire and comedy used not to be very funny, because if you're trying to target people who are more open-minded and less hypocritical, it's hard to get a grip. And such comedy would have to stay within the permitted constraints for their group.
But now there's been a complete reversal, because it's the so-called "left" who are more incredibly closed-minded and hypocritical, so there IS a lot in what they're up to to mock. And then "left-wing" comedy is trying to stay within incredibly tight ideological constraints.
What I've realised is that this isn't a left-versus-right thing, it's an authoritarian versus anti-authoritarian thing. The anti-authoritarian side can be funny - the authoritarian one can't. And clearly the Onion is trying to align itself with the authoritarian side.
At least some things have remained true to themselves over the same period - I think of South Park in particular. But that never made the mistake of being on a "left" or "right" side - it was always just skewered everyone. The Onion tried to skewer everyone but was always obviously lefty - Babylon Bee was the unfunny right-wing version. But it's now a lot funnier. And the Onion is trapped trying to defend nonsense.
Boys will be girls and girls will be boys:
Poll