Why are liberal voices humourous and right-wing voices angry and hateful?

[suziedemocrat]

Just an observation leading to a question.

[Dr Fate]

1. Same reason why most Conservatives cant create good art, music or poetry.

They are hateful, BORING people.

[SemperEadem]

2. because we know we have right on our side

There's an old saying: there's truth in jest. We speak the truth and the right wing can't untangle their tongues long enough to stop lying.

[Ahpook]

34. Not sure about this left and right thing...

but anyone that cares to listen or is not afraid to listen can see a damn liar.

[SemperEadem]

52. my context was not left v right; it was correct v incorrect.

[InternalDialogue]

3. Liberals see hope in the human spirit.

Distilled, I think that's the meat of it.

[Nitrogenica]

4. Dumb, and violence balances them.

Just sayin.

[durrrty libby]

5. Soo true ....and it's because they are anal fissures

[billybob537]

6. Cause they gut gummed up MOJO

[treestar]

7. Pugs see things in black and white

So the slightest nuance can get them off balance

[TheDebbieDee]

8. I have wondered the very same thing these past few years.........

Conservatives say the most HATEFUL things.........

And the more Conservative they are, the more HATEFUL the things they say, and without any provocation, either!

[madmax]

9. Lackanookie?

:shrug: Dunno?

[muntrv]

10. Liberals have culture and education, conservatives don't.

[Bronyraurus]

27. They don't? None of them?

[jobycom]

11. Because hateful, angry people are drawn to conservative ideologies

where they can unleash their inner evils, whereas humourous, intelligent, and caring people are drawn to liberal ideologies, where they can be better people.

[Southsideirish]

22. Bingo!! n/t

[Bronyraurus]

25. I think you're half right

I think that hateful, angry people might be more drawn to conservatism than to liberalism. (Although it depends on the demographic. I think that angry white guys are inclined to be Republicans, whereas angry women and racial minorities will be inclined to be Democrats.)

But I think that there are plenty of humorous, intelligent, and caring people in both parties, and both ideologies.

[jobycom]

30. You're right.

I was trying to be snarky, and balance isn't good for snarky. :)

[suziedemocrat]

35. But if you think of TV pundits - the funnier they are, the more likely they are to be liberal.

If you think of people who are generally on the left
Al Franken
Jon Stewart
Keith Olberman....they're all pretty funny in an almost sweet way.


Then if you think of well know right wingers - they seem completely without humor -and angry and hateful
Bill O'Reilly
Rush Limbaugh
Michael Savage
Ann Coulter

[Cabcere]

39. Good point

I'd also add Stephen Colbert to the list - even though his character is played as a Republican, he does such a good job of mocking the absurdity of some conservative views without being cruel about it. :)

And even when KO goes on a tear, he doesn't come across as mean-spirited or petty or spiteful - to me, it always seems like righteous anger. (Of course, I'm slightly biased, lol, but I think it's a valid premise.)

[Bronyraurus]

40. A few quibbles

Franken and Stewart are professional comedians, and good ones, so of course they're funny. Olberman's pretty funny in that deadpan way.

Limbaugh is legitimately funny. And even if you'll argue with that, you can't really say that he's angry or hateful. His whole schtick is to be optimistic, if a bit smug. Coulter, whom I despise with the burning fury of a thousand suns, definitely has a sense of humor but most would find it grotesque. O'Reilly and Savage wouldn't know humor if it bit their dongs off.

But I really enjoy P.J. O'Rourke, who is basically a libertarian, and who is funny as hell. It's hard to judge by TV personalities because I think that they're inclined to be liberal anyway, especially comedians, actors, etc... Of my friends, there is no appreciable difference in humor abilities between my righty friends and my lefty friends. Which is why I generally disagree with most of the posts in this thread.

[suziedemocrat]

45. ok - i don't see how you could say Limbaugh is funny....but Drew Carey is

as well as Kelsey Grammer who you mentioned earlier. So, it guess it is a generalization that doesn't fit 100%. I personally can't believe Drew Carey is conservative!!!

[The Straight Story]

12. they think they are humorous

But the anger in their voice is the frustration from not being able to brain wash everyone.

[porphyrian]

13. Good humor requires a modicum of empathy. Rightwingers have none. - n/t

[applegrove]

24. Good humour requires empathy and self knowledge. They have neither!

[porphyrian]

29. I agree with that. - n/t

[Cerridwen]

14. Our brains aren't stuck in neutral.

Seriously, we seek diversity and difference. We enjoy debate (or flamewars). We think of ways to make things better for ourselves and others - that requires creativity. We're capable of seeing things from many angles - some things are quite funny when looked at upside-down. :D

Our brains are working and moving and creating; there's blood flowing to, in, around our brains - theirs are programmed to loop on single one-dimensional messages; the blood doesn't move to, in or near their brains.


edit a word

[Z_I_Peevey]

15. And we're better-looking, too.

I'm just saying.

[The Backlash Cometh]

16. They do humor the conservative way.

Ann Coulter just demonstrated their humor. "Faggot" is their idea of funny.

[Bronyraurus]

43. She's amazing, isn't she?

[demobabe]

17. It's really simple, actually

Conservatives have spent their lives being told what is "right" and "wrong". Black and white. God punishes sinners. Art and music aren't "real" jobs. Get serious about your life.

They've honed the art of being miserable in the name of being "responsible" or "right" or "religious", and in order for their life not to be a sham, they need to force their misery on everyone else.

Who wants to be wrong?

Maybe you've thought about your life and found a way to survive by doing your art, or living off the land, or explored comparative religion and found a less hateful god.

To them, you're lazy, a drain on society, irresponsible, of the devil...

They spew hate in their misery and they want you to be miserable, too. Never even occurs to them they could let go of that hate and live quite happily...

[enki23]

18. that *is* their humor

our side's humor ranges from cutesy bullshit to cutting irony. theirs ranges from retarded bullshit to death threats. fart jokes and death threats. that's what amuses them.

i suppose should admit fart jokes amuse me too, sometimes.

[Bronyraurus]

19. I don't think that there's a rule

Kelsey Grammer is funny. Mike Malloy is angry and hateful.

Janeane Garofalo is funny. Michael Savage is angry and hateful.

That old Republican you know from Rotary is funny. That kid with the dreads holding court at Dupont Circle is angry and hateful.

And so on.

What's the question?

[Sissyfus]

20. humorous vrs humorous

Briefly: dems take responsibility more than republicans who blame others and are constitutionally incapable of accepting responsibility (with Bush this denial is even a point of honor).

Long form:
Liberal/conservative and democrat/republican are not dichotomies, but rather descriptions of realms on a continuum on which we spread our sense of responsibility. It seems to me that those people who lean toward democratic, liberal thinking see themselves responsible for the problems around them (to a greater or lesser extent) and republican, conservative thinkers blame other people (Coulter is the Empress of blame). When we see that we are responsible for our dilemmas it necessitates some humility and humor.

[Cabcere]

33. Welcome to DU, Sissyfus!

:hi: And well said. It's good to have you here! :)

[EFerrari]

47. Hi there, Sissyfus. Welcome to DU.

:hi:

[myrna minx]

57. Welcome to DU, Sissyfus.

:hi: I look forward to reading more of your thoughts.

[and-justice-for-all]

21. DEMS need to learn to go for the throat...

..Rather then capillaries. Dems try to to hard to not sound like rethugs, which I understand completly. But, there comes a time when one has to come out with all guns blazing and lay to waste the lies, hypocricies as well as the atrocities that the other side continues to excersise freely and unchecked. Until DEMS flex some muscle the Rethugs nazis will continue to march on, on our backs that is.

If I was an elected offical, I would not hesitate to call people out on their reckless behaviors and Impeachment would be a priority.

[pampango]

44. Just be careful not to be "angry and hateful."

;)

[SoCalDem]

23. Satisfaction vs greed..

[tom_paine]

26. Humor without irony, directed at the weak is CRUELTY

"Reality has a well-known liberal bias."
--Stephen Colbert

To be fair however, I think more than the left-right dichotomy to the is question is the authoritarian-libertarian scale.

Consider this: Hardcore Communists are typically as humorless, mean, and contemptuous of others who disagree as Busheviks. Considering they are at opposite ends of the left-right scale, why are they so alike in this regard?

Why were Hitler and Stalin's reghimes so alike in spite of the fact that they, too, were at the opposite ends of the left-right scale.

Maybe libertarianism (not the political dogma but the small 'l' kind is the key. And maybe authoritarians of all stripes are bastards.

Just a thought.

[Bronyraurus]

28. I'll buy that.

People who are inclined toward authoritarianism on either side of the spectrum are dried-out, humorless old battle-axes, and people who value freedom of all kinds are more easy-going, willing to laugh at themselves as well as others, and probably less likely to be dickheads.

I would put religious conservatives, hard-core feminists, communists, and fascists in the first group, and in the second group I would put political centrists of all kinds, hippies, and libertarians in the second.

Oh, and it helps if you drink or smoke pot, I think. Cuttin' loose is always a sign of someone who enjoys a good laugh.

[suziedemocrat]

37. I agree too - except about the drinking and smoking pot.

Most drinkers I know seem to have a lot of buried anger. I think it depends on why you drink (or take drugs) and how often you do it.

And I have found most recovering coke-heads end up being conservatives. (Which explains Kelsey Grammer)

But a live-and-let-live attitude seems to me to be pretty liberal.

[Bronyraurus]

41. It is liberal in many ways

LOL about coke heads. And maybe you're right about drinkers having a lot of buried anger, but inner pain is the primary source of humor, don't you think?

[wellst0nev0ter]

31. Superiority Complexes

Sorry, nobody is going to listen to a comedian whose schtick is that he's better than everyone else. Comedy requires some loss of dignity at some level. Well known conservative humorists like Larry the Cable Guy and Ben Stein like to make fun of themselves for being uncouth and boring respectively. Other right-wing "comedians" see humor as putting down people and raising themselves on the pedestal. Unless you are in an audience of like-minded people, that form of comedy is not going to go very far.

[suziedemocrat]

38. I think you are right - just look how humble Jon Stewart is.

[NMMNG]

32. They have a large stick up their backsides for one

The utter lack of compassion and the fact that they're control freaks doesn't help.

[hatrack]

36. Because, by and large . . .

Conservatives are angry, fearful, frightened, conformist people.

[Edweird]

42. We are optimists, they are assholes.

[EFerrari]

46. Because comedy requires empathy.

And they have none.

[EFerrari]

48. kick

[Geek_Girl]

49. Because humor requires wit and RWers are witless

nt

[Donald Ian Rankin]

50. Because we always overestimate our own ability to be objective.

The same remark, made by a liberal about a conservative and by a conservative about a liberal, will seem biting humour as opposed to vicious abuse.

[walldude]

51. Because in order to have a sense of humor you have to be able

to laugh at yourself first. Conservatives see nothing funny in themselves, only in making fun of others.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

53. Both are humorous. Generally, liberals intend to be, conservatives don't.

i.e. I laughed my ass off when Nixon resigned.

[mmonk]

54. If you're able to show or make their (rightwing) positions and heroes

look foolish, anger seems to be their only response. Nobody likes looking like nor supporting a fool.

[Marr]

55. Because the modern conservative movement is fueled by a resentment.

That's the glue that keeps it together, and the honey that attracts the new members. It's all about feeling anger towards the all-mighty "liberals" who are destroying your perfect world, simply by existing.

[myrna minx]

56. Please read Plaid Adder's essay on a similar

subject.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Plaid%20Adder/101

[hedgehog]

58. Because Conservatives believe life is fair; you get what you deserve.

Liberals understand that life is oftentimes outrageously unfair. Since humor is often an appreciation of absurdity, it's easy to see why Conservatives have no sense of humor.

[NorthernSpy]

59. of course, from their point of view it's the other way around...

... I imagine.

That said, there may be certain cognitive differences between those tend to go left and those who tend to go to the right. For instance, liberals do generally appear to be less disturbed by ambiguity; experiencing cognitive dissonance or uncertainty just seems to bother conservatives more than it bothers us.

[NewJeffCT]

60. Conservatives think we have no sense of humor

We're too politically correct & sensitive...

We're more concerned with everybody's feelings and implementing a socialist nanny-state....