When laughter shows us the way
The World According to George Carlin
Listen up . . .
Comedians have always been the eyes and ears of society.
They look, observe the lunatics and averages Joes alike and turn their observations into commentary that makes us laugh as we realize the joke is on us.
One man was particularly good at watching Mankind and telling us what we needed to hear.
This article is a compendium of his observations and my thoughts on how valuable his “comedy” has been to all of us.
RELIGION & ABORTION
Love it or hate it, religions influence our lives in every quarter. From the dinner table to schools, pool halls to politics. Where religion insists on being consulted every time a decision is made — no matter how far the subject matter is from the pulpit. Here are a few of Mr. Carlin’s observations about God and Religion.
“How come when it’s us, it’s an abortion, and when it’s a chicken, it’s an omelet?”
A good question — why are all decisions viewed from our perspective considered to be the most important?
“He — and if there is a God, I am convinced he is a he, because no woman could or would ever f**k things up this badly.”
I’ll let that one stand on its own. When you’re right, you’re right.
“Tell people there’s an invisible man in the sky who created the universe, and the vast majority will believe you. Tell them the paint is wet, and they have to touch it to be sure.”
Belief is when we slow down at a yellow traffic light, knowing it will soon turn red.
Faith is believing what someone else tells us, even when it doesn’t make any sense. Faith is often coupled with fear, why is that?
“I have as much authority as the Pope. I just don’t have as many people who believe it.”
People assign importance and authority to other people and things. We obey the police when they tell us to stop. We listen to our bosses even when they’re wrong.
And when a priest tells us what to do — we listen. Because he’s smarter, wiser, and more experienced than we are?
Or because we believe he speaks for someone who might be angry with us if we don’t.
POLITICS & GOVERNMENT
In an America that is looking haggard and worn, we need to step up and look closely in the mirror.
As citizens, we are letting her down. As citizens, we are leaving our work to others and asking them to carry the load. That’s like giving a thief your savings and asking him to take good care of them.
A government of the people, by the people, means interaction and accountability. What we have going on, falls short of that. The time to change it was yesterday — but there’s still time left on the clock. Huddle up and make our next play count.
“In America, anyone can become president. That’s the problem.”
As the midterm elections loom — many of us are remembering 2016 with great apprehension. Some people are born to lead, others should work in the accounting department. Knowing which is which has become our own Game of Thrones. Vote wisely.
“‘Bipartisan’ usually means that a larger-than-usual deception is being carried out.”
Cynicism grows in the dark — like mushrooms. When our lives are impacted by decisions made behind closed doors with people representing corporations and vested interests, we become a land of cynics who stop believing that truth is possible.
Truth, like sunlight, is essential to life.
“Bullshit is truly the American soundtrack.”
Using the old Alien analogy — if an alien landed on our planet and listened to the News and our politicians speaking, what would they think of us? Probably that we appear civilized and intelligent - but that may be an overstatement.
We need to start looking at ourselves as an Alien would.
“Careful, if you think too much, they’ll take you away.”
It hasn’t come down to that, where people are “disappeared” for speaking out of turn. Instead, we have given our right to disagree to the News outlets and are letting them determine what we should be outraged about.
So, in this way, we are being more efficient. After a while, they’ll be no need to take us away.
LIFE & HAPPINESS
Someone once said that Life is filled with ups and down. Christ what an understatement.
Life is a freight train and each car represents some part of us that’s worth carrying along. Don’t fill that train with regrets and failed opportunities. Listen to those worth listening to. Act. Retake control. We’ll all feel better.
“Trying to be happy by accumulating possessions is like trying to satisfy hunger by taping sandwiches all over your body.”
When we’re down, we eat, it’s supposed to make us feel better. We engage in retail therapy when life is being ruthless again and seek comfort in things. The more expensive, the better.
We buy bigger and bigger televisions and then complain that there’s nothing but crap on them to watch.
Are we looking to the wrong things for relief? I think we may be onto something there.
“Most people work just hard enough not to get fired and get paid just enough not to quit.”
Since the Pandemic people have engaged in the Great Shift. Priorities are being reassessed. Lives are being recalibrated against moments of joy.
People are quitting jobs and seeking employment on their own. Side hustles are attaining cult-like status as we move away from what we were in the past.
What is all this telling us?
“Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.”
We assume that like-minded, means compatible. That if they’re on our bowling team we must share beliefs and sensibilities. Not.
Stupid can be contagious. We don’t get the sniffles or begin sneezing uncontrollably. We just stop looking and listening and assume we know. Assume we got it covered.
News outlets allow us the freedom to be informed without all the heavy lifting. And if we think this is working just fine — read the next quote.
“If you try to fail, and succeed, which have you done?”
Ideas and fog have characteristics in common. They’re constantly moving and changing and are often hard to follow or see clearly. Leaving us uncertain if we failed or succeeded in getting to the bottom of things.
People tend to hide behind both, knowing that the truth, once revealed is hard to push back into the tube.
Or was that another quote about toothpaste?
MISCELLANEOUS
That’s what most of our lives are made up of. Things we didn’t see coming, events we didn’t plan for, and loving moments that caught us by surprise. Take note.
“Don’t just teach your children to read. Teach them to question what they read. Teach them to question everything.”
Again, I’ll leave that one alone, it kind of says it all nicely.
“When fascism comes to America, it will not be in brown and black shirts. It will not be with jack-boots. It will be Nike sneakers and Smiley shirts.”
Look to the news channels and the people they interview who espouse ideas and systems that overly control our bodies and our minds while making them sound like great ideas that EVERYONE agrees with.
We don’t.
“Conservatives say if you don’t give the rich more money, they will lose their incentive to invest. As for the poor, they tell us they’ve lost all incentive because we’ve given them too much money.”
Trickle Down Economics is a fallacy. A ruse, a hoax. A man behind the curtain who is telling us that the rich need to be richer so that they can create more jobs and a better life for the rest of us.
Only, it never works like that. Show me a billionaire who is satisfied with one $Billion and I’ll show you a liar.
“I think it’s the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately.”
We’re all accustomed to following rules. Don’t Walk when the little hand says stop. Pay your taxes and be good citizens. If the man has lots of money — he must know what’s good for you.
We listen to our politicians because our parents did and probably our grandparents as well. We assume they are looking out for us because we voted them in. We assume our judges are well-intentioned, even when their decisions seem biased and partisan.
Moral — we need to stop assuming. That era is gone. Over with. Done.
Influence is the new black. Influence equals money — just look at YouTube, Tik Tok, and other social platforms. People earn millions persuading others to do what they tell them to. They learned it from watching Politics.
What is wrong with this picture?!
“Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.”
When we don’t act, we regret it. When we act incorrectly, we kick ourselves and then regret not paying closer attention.
Let’s do away with all of that and just live a good life, care for others, and vote for people that represent us — not corporations or vested interests.
How? America is hard work. Being an American is even harder. Like all those salmon swimming upstream — we know how it feels.
Work every day. Rest. Then do it all over again. No one said it was easy, and they were right.
Hard work by itself is just hard work. Take the time to learn what we need to do next, not just as an individual but as a nation. Then do it.
What’s the alternative?
“I like it when a flower or a little tuft of grass grows through a crack in the concrete. It’s so fuckin’ heroic.” ― George Carlin
