I spent time in a high school classroom today, remembering how it felt to be in a space with so many kids being strained through advanced courses. This particular school is better than most. No, seriously. In fact by the grades measure they are tops in the state. By learning and teaching measure, they are offering a solid technical education, if one that lacks the diversity of age and life experience.
The lesson focused on satirists and satire, picking up on the growing argument about the role of satire in our society. We moved through conversations about Trump and other great moments in satire, landing finally on the importance of education and education on satire. That led to a question: Where are the conservative satirists?
Few and far between. I believe conservatism eschews satire for anger, seriousness, and conspiracist rants. For every Daily Show there is a Newsbusters. For every SNL there is a Breitbart.
Don’t get me started on the Onion.
This is reflected in the perceived attitudes of the perspective ‘sides’. The conservatives react from anger while the so-called liberals chant of freedom from behind the joke. Thus is the way of stereotyped things.