I first encountered George Carlin circa 1980 with his “Seven Words You Cannot Say on Television” monologue. To me, George has been the only comedian who can seamlessly use cuss words without sounding like a cheap comedian looking for shock value.
I have found George over the years, mostly on TV comedy specials. While I liked his work, I didn’t deliberately seek him out.
Recently, Henya Drescher posted a 2005 monologue from George.
In a previous time, I would have liked this video. In fact, I enjoyed my first go-around with it in 2024. I was laughing with the audience.
But then I got to thinking.
The first half of this video is about the silliness of our consumer culture. While so true, George leaves his loyal audience believing that they are not responsible for this social illness. Whatever his loyal fans are buying, that is OK. But when someone else buys the same silly things, they are the problem. George is so clever at casting blame at people who are not his fans.
One demographic of George’s not-fans would be obese people. In this monologue, George spends a couple of minutes denigrating them. Such a person would feel “less than human” after hearing this monologue.
Sorry, George, obese people are going through their version of hell of earth. They don’t need your berating. For the sake of a few laughs, you are attacking the obese in a similar way a preacher attacks LGBTQ people.
The second half of the monologue is given to the “powerful THEY.” Here are a few quotes I’ve pulled out:
The owners of this country want more for themselves and less for you.
Politicians give the impression you have choice.
The owners don’t want a population capable of critical thinking. They want obedient workers.
While there is a lot of truth to these statements, George lets the audience off the hook for their responsibility. All the blame belongs to the powerful THEY.
Some readers will claim that George was preparing us to tackle the powerful THEY in the future. Right?
Well, let’s look at the tangible results.
George had at least a quarter century of attacking the powerful THEY. His comedy shows were sold out across the USA. His videos are still relevant today. Millions of Americans were made more aware of the THEY because of George.
George passed away in 2008.
In 2008, I was putting the final touches on the third version of Tiered Democratic Governance (TDG). This version was when I got all the pieces of the TDG fitting together. I spent a few thousand dollars on Google advertising. I was promoting the TDG on various internet forums. If George had been preparing Americans for looking into replacing the THEY, the TDG was not the beneficiary of this prep work.
In 2019, I joined Medium. I sensed a higher level of intellect and civility on Medium than the other forums I had participated in. If George had been preparing Medium contributors/readers for new ways, the TDG was not seeing this preparation.
My critics could claim that my ideas are not very good or I don’t have a Ph.D or I come from the working poor class, or whatever. If my TDG is not the way, then what is the way?
George certainly provided no answer.
And he is still more popular than I am.
Instead of seeing people willing to do something about the problem of the THEY, I’m seeing an obedient population happily laughing with a popular comedian at the expense of the powerful THEY.
And . . . the . . . powerful . . . THEY . . . are . . . laughing . . . all . . . the . . . way . . . to . . . THEIR . . . bank.
George, you taught us to laugh at the THEY — as if laughing at THEM would cause THEM to change THEIR ways. So when a fellow comes up with an idea to put the THEY in their rightful place, your audience is too paralyzed to investigate this new way.
George, your audience had four years of a Trump presidency. Even with that real-life example, your audience still cannot investigate a new way.
George, you had a wonderful career and made a lot of money. From the tangible results of your work, you seem to have been working for the THEY. You know: placate the plebes, take their money — and the THEY still run the show.
Sorry about the bad review, George. Your talents did not make a better world.
That’s the way I see it.
Published on Medium 2024
The Spolu 1: Introduction --and the THEY do not want this model of commerce
