Woke authoritarianism leaves no room for laughter.

"Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" are our unalienable rights.  That was then.  A reliable expression of happiness is laughter.  Today, no one laughs, or is allowed to laugh, in America.  We have become a morose, brooding culture.  What has happened to humor?  Late-night TV comedians are bitter and sardonic.  Political correctness precludes witty zingers.  Violence and agonizing soul-searching dominate media entertainment themes.  Where have you gone, Jack Benny, let alone Don Rickles?

Maybe we are too hung up on morality.  We must all be moral and virtuous, focused exclusively on the immediate resolution of all social inequities.  That's pretty serious stuff for a full-time commitment.  We are preached to and told how racist and xenophobic we are, deep down inside, and that we must repent or be excommunicated.

Preaching, in this case at the altar of the high priests and priestesses of wokeness, is the giving of moral advice in a pompous, self-righteous manner.  Under the edicts of cancel culture, the apostates' only option is to remain silent, self-flagellate, overcome unconscious bias, lament systemic racism, struggle with white fragility, and embrace diversity, equity, and inclusivity.  Angry, self-righteous preachers; irredeemable infidels — not a scenario that engenders much in the way of levity.  Attaining absolute morality — i.e., living the superego — is weighty business.

Maybe we need a little less superego and a little more id.  Accepting the id allows you to recognize that it is what it is, deal with it, and appreciate that things do get better, but not immediately, no matter how much you virtue-signal, jump up and down, run in circles, set your hair on fire, and preach morality to the unwashed masses.  Accepting the id also allows you to laugh at yourself — at your flawed humanity — and if you're not allowed to laugh at yourself, you can't laugh at anything.

Image: Mart Productions — Pexels.