"In a democracy, you have to be both the ruler and the ruled. You have to fight the man, and you have to be the man."That is just about where it's at.
Friday, May 18, 2007
Comments on Democracy
I don't go in much for stand-up comedy. The likely incidence of profanity, vulgarity (I get so tired of the "F word"), and humor based on the humiliation of others, is too high for my taste. So I've never see a Josh Kornbluth show; and probably I never will. But Jon Carroll quoted him on Wednesday, from a new show called "Citizen Josh", and his comment on democracy is one of the best descriptions I've ever heard or read. Here it is:
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Don't be afraid of this show-- it's not stand-up, it's the farthest thing from vulgar, and it's not based on the humiliation of others. It IS as smart as the quote you pulled from the Chronicle, funny, and moving.
ReplyDeleteGo see it. You'll thank me later...
Excellent statement about democracy. Regarding the F word, my older sister also eschews its usage, but otherwise she loves me, and I refrain from using it when talking to her. Have no particular explanation for my love of the word, except that I treat vulgar words as homage to my Anglo-Saxon forebears and a form of defiance against those Norman dogs (some of whom I am quite certain are also forebears, along with a few Cherokee, a Jew or two, and since I am about 7th or 8th generation American on both sides, some African-American lineage as well). But I will, out of respect for this quite intelligent and worthwile website, confine the F word to occasional outbursts on FA.
ReplyDeleteI do find that some people use the F word quite poetically and to great effect, while others simply use it as if it had some independently useful expressive power. And I do not like to hear children use it, nor do I ever use it around children or friends who don't like to hear it.
Anonymous David
"...quite intelligent and worthwile website..." - Anonymous David, you make me blush! Merci du compliment!
ReplyDeleteAt this point I will confess that I have occasionally used the F word myself, if I feel the situation warrants extra force enough to justify the vulgarity. My remark about standup comedians was really a response to a recent YouTube clip of Robin Williams, in what sounded like an advanced stage of drunkenness, holding forth on the awfulness of golf - and literally every 3rd word was an F bomb. You may have seen it yourself, I got the link from FA. The sad thing is, he would have been really funny if he had excised that word from his routine.
Well, I'm not sure what became of the comment I just attempted to post, but I do want to say I think the compliment was richly deserved. I think that reading the offerings of good minds, if nothing else, serves as nourishment for our own intellects, which is why I look forward to your commentaries.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous David
I don't know what happened to the comment you tried to post either unless it's the one I just read. I don't moderate comments, so the only ones I see are the ones that post. I don't have a Fanny the Robo-Rat either. Must be gremlins.
ReplyDelete