Of what use is laughter when the subjects under discussion are the warming of the globe, the collapse of ocean ecosystems, and the deforestation of subcontinents? These prospects are dire – about as dire as prospects can get if you throw in the end of civilization as we know it, and the extinction of the human species.
So a great many people find such prospects unthinkable, literally. That is, they actually prevent themselves from thinking about them. Look at how the mounting scientific evidence of climate change has been dismissed and even discarded in the nation’s political debate. When facts count for so little, what good are wisecracks? Plenty, I say.
I believe that satire is a weapon sharp as any dagger, hard as any steel. It can, of course, be used to discredit foes but also to confound them. “Ridicule is the most potent weapon,” argued famed community organizer Saul Alinsky. “It is almost impossible to counterattack.”
You’re in Trouble
MEMORANDUM FOR THE RECORD
TO: Edward P. Crisp, President, Crisp’s All-Natural Soups, Inc. (CANS)
FROM: Kay Street, Director, Government Relations, Producers Institute for Safe Soup (PISS)
RE: Harvard School of Public Health study that found human urine containing dangerous levels of bisphenol A (BPA)
Eddy, this memorandum is in response to your emails and voicemails about the new Harvard BPA study. Basically, old buddy, my advice is: get a grip!
So dangerous levels of BPA turned up in the urine of humans who consumed your soup?! So what?! That’s no reason for you to go ballistic. If there are any liability issues here, PISS has you covered. Here’s how: