Dealing with Nazis and Other Miserable People

We're facing a lot of problems in our country today, and many of them are connected - oddly enough - to the freedoms we cherish as Americans.

We enjoy freedom of speech ... but so do neo-Nazis and others who exploit that freedom to slander and threaten their fellow citizens they view as insufficiently "pure."

We enjoy freedom of the press ... but it provides freedom to vile websites like The Daily Stormer and Infowars.com as much as it does The Washington Post or the Dallas Morning News.

We enjoy freedom of assembly ... but that freedom applies as much to "antifa" extremists and neo-Nazis as it does to normal people.

We enjoy the right to bear arms ... and live with the unsettling reality of mass shootings and of people who want to carry military-style weapons wherever they go, regardless of the rights, opinions, and safety of others.

Experience shows that the people who exploit their freedoms to force their agendas on others are utterly impervious to reason and logic, so how do we combat their ideas?

Perhaps with laughter.

I call your attention to this article by Kevin Hagopian on Intellectual Takeout: Charlie Chaplin Showed Us a Better Way to Deal With Nazis. Mr Hagopian writes,

"While many anti-fascists offered serious and potent arguments against Hitler, comedians like Charlie Chaplin responded to the mortal threat that the Nazis posed in a different way: They used humor to highlight the absurdity and hypocrisy of both the message and its notorious messenger."

Nowadays, the broad slapstick humor of a Charlie Chaplin has been replaced by the slightly more sophisticated lampoonery of Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart, and Trevor Noah, but the targets remain the same: the self-important authoritarians and single-issue zealots who are utterly convinced of their own righteousness and immune to thoughts and positions other than their own.

Humor may not always be appreciated, and for various reasons. Earlier this week, I noted the fierce blowback I received from a friend who believed a satirical comment about a libertarian response to Hurricane Harvey was inappropriate. Naturally, I disagreed. Humor should never be deliberately hurtful, but there's a role to play for the joke that brings those who need it down a peg or two.

Make a joke at the expense of a Tiki Torch Nazi, a religious bigot, or a fulminating racist today. It may be the best way to expose them for what they are.

Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo

* Charlie Chaplin lampooned Hitler in his film "The Great Dictator," in which he portrayed the buffoonish Adenoid Hynkel, tyrannical leader of the nation of Tomania; Jack Oakie played his equally buffoonish ally Benzino Napolini, dictator of Bacteria. Hitler was also sent up by many other comedians and cartoon artists, memorably Spike Jones with his timely hit "Der Führer's Face."