The above cover is one of my favorites from the Lampoon. It's
wonderfully political, politically incorrect, and funny as heck. We had
much thicker skins when this magazine was published. One could drop
the "N-Word" and use it humorously, as Mel Brooks did in Blazing
Saddles.
I miss the humor magazines of my youth. Both Mad Magazine and the National Lampoon are long gone, or exist only to recycle old articles. Both magazines were influential in their own ways. Mad taught young people to think of current events in a different way than most people might think. And the Lampoon taught young adults that good humor was rarely politically correct. Mad would spoof Star Trek's opening ("To go where no man has gone before"), by having the male crew exit to the ladies room. The Lampoon would attack minorities with an "Unwanted Foreigners" issue, and attack these same groups with racist descriptions of these groups - all meant to generate laughs, and not to be taken seriously.
Yet, I miss something even more. When I was young, TV could afford to provoke thought. Could you imagine "All in the Family" being a popular TV series? Too many people would get upset at the Archie Bunker character's use of politically incorrect language. And yet, it was considered acceptable way back when, as the show illustrated how both Archie and "Meathead" were just as prejudiced - just from different directions.
- - - - - -
Today, many "conservatives" want to "Own the Libs". In the process of doing so, they often act like children, calling Liberals names I won't repeat here. But many Liberals are just as bad in their own way. They ignore how and why many Conservatives became radicalized, and have no interest in the concerns of people from the other side of the aisle.
As a TG member of society, I would be among those groups at risk if the Conservatives gained absolute social power. Luckily, it will take a lot to get the NYC region to flip. But history has shown this can and does happen when enough people are alienated from the political system AND begin to put their faith in a bombastic populist leader.
So, what are we to do? For one thing, we should celebrate and publicize the successes of TG people like Amy Schneider (of Jeopardy fame). If we can convince enough people that we are safe to be around, we might just be left alone when political winds change. Yet, we will only be left alone in more progressive areas. Most of us can not go stealth if needed. It is in our interest to fight for the interests of our tribes while we can - and we must do so now....
