When satire is aimed at the powerless, it is not only cruel - it's vulgar.
Interpretation
Satire targeting those without power is both unkind and distasteful.
This quote by Molly Ivins highlights the ethical implications of satire, suggesting that when it ridicules those who lack power or voice, it crosses a line from being humorously critical to being malicious and offensive. It serves as a reminder that true wit should not be at the expense of the vulnerable, but rather should challenge those in positions of power without resorting to cruelty.
In practice
In a discussion about the ethics of comedy, this quote can remind us to be mindful of our subjects.
Racists seem obsessed by the idea that illegal workers - the hardest-working, poorest people in America - are somehow getting away with something, sneaking goodies that should be for Americans. You can always avoid this problem by having no social services. This is the refreshing Texas model, and it works a treat.
Populism is the simple premise that markets need to be restrained by society and by a democratic political system. We are not socialists or communists, we are proponents of regulated capitalism and, I might add, people who have read American history.
We should all laugh more at our elected officials - it's good for us and good for them.
Although it is true that only about 20 percent of American workers are in unions, that 20 percent sets the standards across the board in salaries, benefits and working conditions. If you are making a decent salary in a non-union company, you owe that to the unions. One thing that corporations do not do is give out money out of the goodness of their hearts.
Imagine wasting all that perfectly good anger on paranoid fantasies. Not since Emily Litella got upset about "Soviet jewelry" has there been such a waste of anger. You will notice a certain theme to these Emily Litella Moments. Behind them all is a touching faith that someone, somewhere is actually in charge of what's happening - a proposition I beg leave to doubt.
All anyone needs to enjoy the state legislature is a strong stomach and a complete insensitivity to the needs of the people. As long as you don't think about what that peculiar body should be doing and what it actually is doing to the quality of life in Texas, then it's all marvelous fun.
People think I'm a very serious actor, which I am. But you know, if you don't have a sense of humor doing what I do, you perish.
Why anybody gets my sense of humor I never know, but I do know that when they do, I keep them as close as I possibly can.
I put a dollar in one of those change machines. Nothing changed.
Agnes was the worst prophet that's ever existed. Because she was always right. That's why the book never sold.
If my mother hadn't laughed at the funny things I did, I probably wouldn't be a comic actor. After she had her first heart attack, the doctor said, 'Try to make her laugh.' And that was the first time I tried to make anyone laugh.
All men are fools, if truth be told, but the ones in motley are more amusing than ones with crowns.
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