[The following post by TDV Contributor, Wendy McElroy]
"[I]nstead of keeping silent in the face of obvious official lies and the effrontery of elites, this body breaks into laughter. And by laughing it drains officialdom of meaning and sometimes obliges it to function empty and powerless." – Achille Mbembe, “On the Post Colony”
Last month, Turkish women broke into the laughter of protest. Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arinc castigated them for the immoral act of being too happy in public. Tens of thousands of women flooded twitter and instagram with gleeful selfies under the two hashtags #kahkaha (laughter) and #direnkahkaha (resist laughter). They were laughing at Arinc. The women's campaign caught the imagination of global media and, as the Huffington Post explained, “[t]he Turkish Deputy Prime Minister has become the laughing stock of the world!”
Ridicule has been used as a weapon of protest and resistance for centuries. (Ridicule is defined here as laughter at the expense of another.) For example, in his play The Acharnians (425 BC) the Athenian playwright Aristophanes savagely satirized Athens' policy on the Peloponnesian War.
In America, one man perfected the art of ridicule as political commentary: Mark Twain (Samuel Clement). Although best known as a humorist, Twain ardently opposed imperialism, slavery, racism and much of the other popular politics of his day. He stated his view of politicians bluntly: “Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.”
It is precisely because of his humor that Twain's political views are still quoted today, 104 years after his death. His article “A Presidential Candidate” (June 1879) is a prime example. In the article, Twain explains, “I have pretty much made up my mind to run for president. What the country wants is a candidate who cannot be injured by investigation of his past history…” Thus, he chronicles the history of his moral turpitude. “I treed a rheumatic grandfather of mine in the winter of 1850. He was old and inexpert in climbing trees….I ran him out of the front door in his nightshirt at the point of a shotgun and caused him to bowl up a maple tree, where he remained all night, while I emptied shot into his legs. I did this because he snored. I will do it again if I ever have another grandfather.”
He admits to another 'relative' concern. “The rumor that I buried a dead aunt under my grapevine was correct. The vine needed fertilizing, my aunt had to be buried, and I dedicated her to this high purpose. Does that unfit me for the presidency? The Constitution of our country does not say so….Why should I be selected as the first victim of an absurd prejudice?”
As to the poor – a question every candidate encounters – Twain states, “I regard the poor man, in his present condition, as so much wasted raw material. Cut up and properly canned, he might be made useful…”
The Dark Side of Laughter
Laughter can be used for ill as well. The Marxist Saul Alinsky (1909 – 1972) exemplifies the former. Alinsky exerted a defining influence on America's current political scene. For example, in 1969, Hillary Clinton (then Rodham) wrote her senior thesis for Wellesley College on the Alinsky model of strategy in creating a social state. The New English Review aptly observed, “President Obama worked for Alinsky organizations and taught seminars in Alinsky tactics and methodology during his 'community organizing' period in Chicago. Michelle Obama echoed Alinsky's words in her speech at the Democratic Convention.”
In his 1971 book Rules for Radicals: A Practical Primer for Realistic Radicals, Alinsky laid down bullet points of essential strategy.
The fourth rule is: Make the enemy live up to their own book of rules. You can kill them with this, for they can no more obey their own rules than the Christian church can live up to Christianity.
The fourth rule carries within it the fifth rule: Ridicule is man's most potent weapon. It is almost impossible to counterattack ridicule. Also it infuriates the opposition, who then react to your advantage.
The sixth rule is: A good tactic is one that your people enjoy. If your people are not having a ball doing it, there is something very wrong with the tactic.
Hold up an opponent's life and compare it to what he advocates; mock him unmercifully for any disconnects; make sure that fellow-travelers are having fun in the process. The ridicule is key to all three. An example of the 3-part process would be to compare the Obamas' diatribes against “the rich” to their own ultra-lavish lifestyle, and to do so in a manner that elicits laughter from the public, happiness from fellow travelers.
Alinsky describes the secret of ridicule's power, "…it infuriates the opposition, who then react to your advantage." He maintains, "The enemy properly goaded and guided in his reaction will be your major strength.” In short, the effectiveness of ridicule is not in the mockery but in the enemy's reaction. The goal is to make the target lose his composure and start slinging mud or sputtering. Given the thinness of skin that typifies elites, that response is usually predictable. To the world, the ridiculer seems glib and amusing; the target looks angry, defensive and foolish.
There is added benefit to having the world laugh with you, not at you. John Cleese of Monty Python fame once said, “If I can get you to laugh with me, you like me better, which makes you more open to my ideas. And if I can persuade you to laugh at the particular point I make, by laughing at it you acknowledge the truth.” As the target is discredited, the ridiculer rises in status.
The best protection against ridicule is to take Alinsky seriously. Do not give the knee-jerk response that the mocker wants; assume the moral high ground instead. Either ignore the jeering or calmly point it out as unworthy – e.g. “can we start an adult conversation now?” Or insist upon returning to the real issues. Use reason against ridicule, and never go on the defensive because that lends credibility to the accusation being wrapped in laughter.
Conclusion
The elite have always been afraid of ridicule. Augustus Caesar (63 BC – 14 AD) banned the telling of jokes at his expense. In April 2014, the People's Bank of China banned April Fool's pranks because they might destabilize “the government’s ability to effectively communicate.”
They are correct to be afraid. The political power of ridicule was revealed in 2005-2006 when protests swept Islamic nations in response to cartoons depicting Muhammad in an unflattering manner. For example, one showed Muhammad with a bomb in his turban, which was inscribed with an Islamic creed.
Laughter is a political laxative. Ridicule the political system because it is a joke and at politicians because they can survive anything but ridicule. Imagine a campaign speech at which every audience member pointed a finger of derision at the candidate and giggled. Nothing could disconcert the candidate more nor make a better public statement. Guffaw at election promises, snicker at spin, and belly-laugh at claims of achievement. And if politicians hit back, as Augustus Caesar did, then let the morning headlines read, “Activists imprisoned for Laughing.”In his essay “Ridicule as a Weapon ,” Professor of Communications Michael Waller summed up the reason for radicals to laugh. “To the enemy, ridicule can be worse than death. At least many enemies find death to be a supernatural martyrdom. Ridicule is much worse: destruction without martyrdom: A fate worse than death. And they have to live with it.”
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