The Power of Ridicule

Society allowed intolerant people to gain control through our tolerance. Time to fight back.

The most glaringly inaccurate and biased news coverage often revolves around issues championed by the left, such as climate change, "green" energy, systemic racism, Donald Trump, COVID, and transgender rights. The media frequently portrays these topics as existential threats to humanity, yet the dire predictions never come to fruition. Despite this, a significant portion of society seems unable to recognize the patterns of exaggeration and propaganda. Instead, many appear to thrive on outrage, leaping from one supposed crisis to the next without pause for critical reflection.

This behavior is reminiscent of a satirical cartoon where one character exclaims, "I’m mad!" and the other offers a solution, only for the first to retort, "I don’t want a solution; I want to be mad!" This mindset seems emblematic of a broader trend: an emotional rejection of reason and reality in favor of perpetual indignation.

The left's strategy often involves legitimizing crises through popular opinion rather than scientific evidence or objective data. For instance, the push to validate transgender identities often disregards biological realities. Instead, it relies heavily on social affirmation, as if widespread acceptance alone could redefine science or medicine. Similarly, many key issues promoted by the left conflict with established data, yet they persist as though public consensus can override objective truth.

Society may choose to accept that some men think they are women (and vice versa) and find ways to accommodate them, but the reality is they never can be women (or men) in any sense other than costuming and theatrics.

This dynamic reflects a segment of society that prioritizes emotional appeal over rational discourse. Some realities cannot be altered by wishful thinking or symbolic gestures. Society may adapt to accommodate certain beliefs, such as the notion that individuals can identify as a different gender, but this does not alter fundamental biological facts.

The rise of this phenomenon seems relatively recent. After the ideological defeats of the left in the Reagan era, many activists shifted focus to manufactured crises—"straw man" issues that allowed for symbolic victories fueled by outrage. Rage became a substitute for being right, and emotional fervor replaced reasoned debate. Over time, this pattern has been enabled by American society’s tolerance, which, as Karl Popper's Paradox of Tolerance warns, can sometimes allow intolerant ideas to flourish unchecked.

When in power, the left often promotes irrational policies and then demands societal conformity to their worldview. Yet, when out of power, they appeal to the very tolerance they deny others while wielding authority. Over decades, this asymmetry has allowed intolerant ideologies to permeate government, institutions, and culture, often unchallenged.

To counter this, society must leverage tools such as ridicule—a tactic famously articulated in Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals. Rule #5 states: "Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon. There is no defense. It is almost impossible to counterattack ridicule. Also, it infuriates the opposition, who then react to your advantage." By employing humor and satire to expose absurdities, we can challenge the emotional dominance of unfounded narratives and foster a return to reasoned discourse.

Hillary’s college heart throb knew how to make this work and how to stop it. Alinsky was a minion of Lucifer but that didn’t make him wrong about certain things.

Ultimately, tolerance must be balanced with reality. While open-mindedness is a virtue, it should not extend to ideas that undermine the principles of reason, science, and objective truth. Society must reclaim the ability to critically evaluate ideas and reject those that rely solely on emotional manipulation or ideological fervor.

Ridicule has been the least used weapon in our arsenal. We need to start lobbing salvos of ridicule toward the left’s bastions and on a personal level, need to start saying, “That is the dumbest damn thing I have ever heard” when the situation calls for it.