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The Two Faces of the “Funny”

There are two ways to take my sense of humor.

1. The “Seinfeld” Funny

First, there’s the pure stuff. I laugh at a good comedy; I laugh all the time at Seinfeld, and I’ve seen every episode dozens of times. A well-timed joke or the organic weirdness of a stranger on the street—that’s the good fuel. It’s the “Master of My Domain” kind of laughter that keeps the soul intact.

2. The “Twilight Zone” Funny

Then, there is the other side: the funny born from the truly ridiculous and the aggressively absurd. I try hard to keep this non-political, but let’s be real I know how a government is supposed to function. I’ve read the history books, and I know what a leader looks like when they aren’t a caricature of a narcissist. In the USA, those standards are so far gone they’re practically archaeological sites.

This isn’t the “Ha-Ha” funny. This is the disassociative laughter of someone watching a waiter drop a tray of crystal glasses in slow motion. It’s a textbook psychological response to “moral injury” and disturbing events: when the world stops making sense, the brain settles for irony to keep from screaming. It’s laughter as a survival reflex.

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The PSA: Consider this my final warning. Wake up, because the “out-group” is a shrinking circle. In the psychology of authoritarianism, the snake eventually gets hungry enough to start on its own tail. When he runs out of “enemies” to go after, his supporters are the only ones left on the menu.

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