“Doug, what’s with all the jokes?”

It would be easy to write a post about Jerry Falwell this morning. For someone with my gift for irreverent snark, that post would practically write itself. There’s a part of me that would take great pleasure in doing so. But that’s the part of me that I don’t like very much. So, I will leave that blogpost to others. 

Instead, I would like to address a subject that I have been asked about in subtle and not so subtle ways of late...How come you post so many stupid jokes on Facebook and on your blog when there are so many horrible things going on in the world? Let me begin by answering the question. I do so precisely because there are so many horrible things going on in the world.

I don’t live in some hermetically sealed bubble. I am fully aware of the severities of the moment. COVID, racial unrest, politics, our poisoned discourse...all of it. But, my understanding of history is that every generation that has ever lived has experienced their own difficulties, most worse than this. Frankly, most far worse than this. If you don’t believe me, pick up a history book and read about what daily life was like 100, 200, 500 years ago, or if you’re not into reading, watch a show like The Last Kingdom for a taste of what it was like to exist in the 9th century...then get back to me on how horrible we have it in the United States in 2020.

Here’s the thing, when you’re in a mess, sometimes all you can see is the mess. It’s so easy to be blinded to the opportunities right in front of your eyes. Here we are in 2020, most of us carrying around the accumulated wisdom and knowledge from over 6000 years of the human experience in the palms of our hands. In America, food is cheaper and more plentiful than it has ever been in the history of civilization. We have access through any internet connection to products from literally every corner of the globe at our fingertips. We live and work in buildings with central air, heat and indoor plumbing, all things non-existent a mere 75 years ago and for all of human history that has proceeded us. Diseases that routinely killed hundreds of thousands of people in the past are treated with over the counter medicines that cost less than five bucks. The vast majority of us have the ability to get in a car and relocate ourselves from one side of the country to another, without a dangerous and often deadly three month slog through the wilderness. We open the taps of the lowliest kitchen sink in America and clean drinking water comes out (unless you live in Flint, Mich.). Any idiot with a cellphone can conceive of the lamest idea for a video, watch it go viral and start making a living on the internet, all without even a high school education. So, while America is certainly a screwed up place at this moment, it is still, by almost any definition, a land of great opportunity. And, I’ve got news for all of you doom-sayers out there...it will continue to be so no matter which guy wins in November. 

So, yes, we can and should do better as a country. We can and should do better by each other. But, sometimes, the amplifying power of the 24/7 news cycle and the omnipresent stream of bad news and bad faith arguments on social media can turn even the most ardent optimist into a weeping prophet. When I feel it beginning to happen to me, that’s when I break out the jokes. I don’t do it to escape the unpleasantness, but rather to remind myself and all of you that there is something better just beyond the mess. So, the next time you see some lame dad jokes here, take a break from whatever it is that has you so vexed and remind yourself how lucky you are to be alive.