The Humorless Control-FreakWorld of Gen Z
Back in the 70’s, when “All in the Family” premiered, Americans were introduced to Archie Bunker. Archie was a, for lack of a better word, traditional guy. A product of the World War II generation, he had a high school education, went to work at a union job right out of high school, hung out at the local tavern with other guys just like him, where they marveled at the way America was changing. Archie and his pals still used words like, “broads,” “dames,” and various other words to describes minorities and gay people that won’t be used here. Archie’s son-in-law Michael was a raging liberal hippie, but Archie could handle him. But pretty soon, Archie got new neighbors, the Jeffersons, who were black. Some of the best moments of that show were when Archie and George Jefferson would disagree. It was a chance for everyone to say what they thought. In the process of saying what they thought, Archie and George no doubt offended quite a lot of people. On more than one occasion, Archie and George called each other “honkey” and “colored.” But Carroll O’Connor and Sherman Hemsley knew what they were doing, and the impact they were having, and they managed to make us laugh at Archie and George. And amazingly, no one was offended to the point where they tried to shut one another up.
Gone are the days of mood rings, disco, Archie, and George. Fast forward, to the Internet, triggers, and safe spaces. Generation Z has arrived, and they are not laughing. Recently, on the Fox News Channel, the panel on “The Five” discussed an episode of the Dr. Phil show where several Gen Zers were interviewed about cancel culture. What should alarm every single American about this generation, especially their parents, is that, in a nutshell, they view censorship as positive. If you happen to be the parents of one of these young people, for the good of the country, shove these people in a chair and demand to know where they got the idea that freedom of speech is a bad thing. Then ask them if they learned about two things in school, the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution. If they cock their heads to one side like a dog listening to high musical notes, now you know just how damaged the American education system is.
While talking with Dr. Phil, one young woman said that “stereotypes in comedic stand up is not ok anymore.” Apparently, the concept of poking fun at something because it is not necessarily ok is just not a concept these snowflakes are able to grasp. Another budding fascist stated that “social repercussions are nothing new. What we penalize people for saying is changing, and that’s a positive thing.” Censorship a positive thing? Now you know the answer to the question of whether these young skulls full of mush know anything about the founding documents of the nation in which they live.
Author, William F. Buckley, often considered the “founder” of the conservative movement in America once said, “Liberals claim to want to give a hearing to other views, but then are shocked and offended to discover that there are other views.” Poor Gen Zers, not only have they discovered that there are other views, but they might even be within earshot of them. Quick, break out the puppies and safe spaces.
What we are witnessing, is one of the results of the generation who, as children were told by every adult they bumped into, how “special” they were. And they got a trophy just for showing up. Well, those “special” kids are all grown up now and convinced that they are entitled enough to be able to tell the rest of us what we can say and not say, and that they have the sole authority to punish people for having an opinion they don’t like. We are also looking at a generation of people that appear extremely humorless, sad, and lonely. The generation who claims to abhor and want to fight against fascism, is itself becoming the purveyors of fascism, but don’t know that because they were never taught what true fascism really is.
But things may be on the verge of changing, off college campuses at least. Among the things Americans appear to be collectively over, is cancel culture, and they also appear to be beginning to fight back. Many companies who believed that woke was the way to go are finding out otherwise the hard way. They are losing millions of dollars because Americans are beginning to figure out that the best way to fight cancel culture, is to cancel them first. It is a trend that may very well spill over into the upcoming midterm elections. Democrats are big fans of cancel culture, and election night is looking like a dimmer prospect for them every day.
Comedian Jerry Seinfeld once said that including himself and other comedians like Chris Rock and Larry the Cable Guy, they don’t perform on college campuses anymore because the environment is just too politically correct. He said, “They just want to use these words: That’s racist, That’s sexist, That’s prejudice. They don’t know what the hell they are talking about.” During “The Five” discussion, Greg Gutfeld pointed out that people used to watch shows like Dr. Phil to see people society viewed as somehow abnormal. Now Dr. Phil’s guests are advocates of censorship. It could be that the reason they don’t like comedy, is that they are the comedy now. If it wasn’t so disturbing and chilling, it might be funny.
