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zesty_pintoFor some reason, I kept thinking back to the topic of comedians and how so few of them are conservative and the more I think about it, the more it makes sense. I know there have been many articles about why there's never going to be a Conservative Jon Stewart, but it keeps making sense the more I think about it.
Comedians in general are often people who tend to do a few things:
-They tend to look at things outside the box, often untraditionally
-They know how to tell a story, often at their own expense
These characteristics are important to understand because these things are the antithesis of Conservative values.
A traditional conservative tends to emphasize wanting to fall within an established system. If you fall within that system, you're not going to look beyond tradition because you're comfortable where you are.
Maybe you'll find a rebellious streak somewhere in your life, but like the laws of entropy, you will never need to because if you are given the chance to work harder to get mixed results bersus working less to get consistent results, chances are you're almost always going to go latter unless you have something to prove.
That comfort that defines your childhood will never stop defining you as you get older, especially if you equate it to comfort. So why bother putting effort into something that you know isn't going to give you anything you think of as value? You might take exception as long as it doesn't require much effort. Your brother is gay? Okay, you're not getting teased about it so who cares. Your daughter is joining the Marine Corps? If she looks happy, then Semper Fi my brothers. This laziness is what we like to think of as being "liberal" when it's more like a couch potato stance of liberalism.
An aside: bear in mind, I don't think this should encourage being an extreme advocate, either, as there is nothing more embarrassing than having your family stan for you, I'm just saying that having one token in your life does not equal you being a savior.
But anyway, those who are unconventional are there because they've been forced to be shelved that way half the time. It can be as mild as being forced to use scissors for right-hands when you're a lefty to something like being the one orthodox kid in a school that has no idea what Yiddish even means.
That unconventional stance though is what creates the uncertainty that allows people to see things as being that way "just because." Topics brought up by great comedians are usually a result of being forced to always ask why.
This is also why most comedians are--you guessed it--political. Most of us could give a shit about it, but comedians in general are political because they're the ones who have that heightened sense of observation with society. But when you're someone who gained that observation from being the odd man out, who are you going to side with? The popular kids who had things going right for them for the most part (conservatives), or the misfits (liberals)?
In all honesty, this has kind of a weird mixed bag as well though. I honestly suspect that the rise of a more socially aware world is why Libertarianism is turning into the third party choice for people who understand how to be funny.
There's also that weird dynamism where comedians become more conservative because of how they slid the landscape to something they're comfortable in. Bill Cosby embraced the conservative world because of his decades of work making it okay to show a black family on a sitcom being regular folks. Tim Allen went conservative because he's become comfortable not being edgy but more emphasizing the regular guy joe lunchpail thing. When you stop being funny for new material and more for people remembering your stuff, you embrace the popular kids.
I'm also going to throw in that there are some exceptions too, like
-Roseanne Barr who was always trying to find ways to be edgy until she turned off her liberal-minded audiences with her constant batshit crazy statements. Hell, she was disowned from one of the more liberal parties out there back when she ran for president after a rant against Hillary and the system in general. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the #metoo movement may inadvertently create more conservative comedians as they get older and more comfortable with their station but unable to break into other things associated with that audience.
-There are folks like Tim Crowder out there whose jokes often tear out liberalism; as a Canadian, I can't help but think that he was also another person who was brought up in a fairly liberal society and gained his out-of-box thinking as a result. Unfortunately for him, as previously mentioned, conservatism popularity still won't take him in, so he's actually a Libertarian.
-I'd add too that some folks are more conservative in their values but don't really want to bring the politics into their work either. It didn't work for Mike Nelson, and the "Joe the Plumber" type comedians tend to fall into their phrases more than bring anything new to the table that is really pushing.
Anyway, I'm going to conclude by saying this is more from observation in my bubble. I know I could be wrong, but just thinking about it, I can see the why behind this very easily.
Comedians in general are often people who tend to do a few things:
-They tend to look at things outside the box, often untraditionally
-They know how to tell a story, often at their own expense
These characteristics are important to understand because these things are the antithesis of Conservative values.
A traditional conservative tends to emphasize wanting to fall within an established system. If you fall within that system, you're not going to look beyond tradition because you're comfortable where you are.
Maybe you'll find a rebellious streak somewhere in your life, but like the laws of entropy, you will never need to because if you are given the chance to work harder to get mixed results bersus working less to get consistent results, chances are you're almost always going to go latter unless you have something to prove.
That comfort that defines your childhood will never stop defining you as you get older, especially if you equate it to comfort. So why bother putting effort into something that you know isn't going to give you anything you think of as value? You might take exception as long as it doesn't require much effort. Your brother is gay? Okay, you're not getting teased about it so who cares. Your daughter is joining the Marine Corps? If she looks happy, then Semper Fi my brothers. This laziness is what we like to think of as being "liberal" when it's more like a couch potato stance of liberalism.
An aside: bear in mind, I don't think this should encourage being an extreme advocate, either, as there is nothing more embarrassing than having your family stan for you, I'm just saying that having one token in your life does not equal you being a savior.
But anyway, those who are unconventional are there because they've been forced to be shelved that way half the time. It can be as mild as being forced to use scissors for right-hands when you're a lefty to something like being the one orthodox kid in a school that has no idea what Yiddish even means.
That unconventional stance though is what creates the uncertainty that allows people to see things as being that way "just because." Topics brought up by great comedians are usually a result of being forced to always ask why.
This is also why most comedians are--you guessed it--political. Most of us could give a shit about it, but comedians in general are political because they're the ones who have that heightened sense of observation with society. But when you're someone who gained that observation from being the odd man out, who are you going to side with? The popular kids who had things going right for them for the most part (conservatives), or the misfits (liberals)?
In all honesty, this has kind of a weird mixed bag as well though. I honestly suspect that the rise of a more socially aware world is why Libertarianism is turning into the third party choice for people who understand how to be funny.
There's also that weird dynamism where comedians become more conservative because of how they slid the landscape to something they're comfortable in. Bill Cosby embraced the conservative world because of his decades of work making it okay to show a black family on a sitcom being regular folks. Tim Allen went conservative because he's become comfortable not being edgy but more emphasizing the regular guy joe lunchpail thing. When you stop being funny for new material and more for people remembering your stuff, you embrace the popular kids.
I'm also going to throw in that there are some exceptions too, like
-Roseanne Barr who was always trying to find ways to be edgy until she turned off her liberal-minded audiences with her constant batshit crazy statements. Hell, she was disowned from one of the more liberal parties out there back when she ran for president after a rant against Hillary and the system in general. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the #metoo movement may inadvertently create more conservative comedians as they get older and more comfortable with their station but unable to break into other things associated with that audience.
-There are folks like Tim Crowder out there whose jokes often tear out liberalism; as a Canadian, I can't help but think that he was also another person who was brought up in a fairly liberal society and gained his out-of-box thinking as a result. Unfortunately for him, as previously mentioned, conservatism popularity still won't take him in, so he's actually a Libertarian.
-I'd add too that some folks are more conservative in their values but don't really want to bring the politics into their work either. It didn't work for Mike Nelson, and the "Joe the Plumber" type comedians tend to fall into their phrases more than bring anything new to the table that is really pushing.
Anyway, I'm going to conclude by saying this is more from observation in my bubble. I know I could be wrong, but just thinking about it, I can see the why behind this very easily.
