tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post113944014266567222..comments2024-03-27T03:19:11.216-04:00Comments on Assistant Village Idiot: Self-Mockery, Adulthood, Confidence: NationsAssistant Village Idiothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01978011985085795099noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-7772115159892329142015-01-27T19:39:41.981-05:002015-01-27T19:39:41.981-05:00I wonder if part of being able to mock oneself (an...I wonder if part of being able to mock oneself (and actually be funny, as opposed to embarrassingly self-flagellating in public) includes basic humility. This may be why so many Americans, especially young ones now, can't do it, and indeed take themselves as seriously as ISIS scum do. Tho fortunately with less lethal results. <br /><br />What I'm thinking is that if one grows up considering oneself Last Emperor special, unique, gifted, etc. and entitled to the best of everything, it's hard to have a sense of one's own sins, weaknesses and foibles. SO, how to make fun of them? <br /><br />Whether one is a soft, lazy, materialist brat or some murderous fundamentalist doesn't matter, the humourlessness and arrogance are the same. <br /><br />Whereas those of us who had the misfortune (as we thought) to be brutalised by savage British teachers and bullying upperclassmen couldn't help but become aware of our own deficiencies. This knocks some of the conceit out. <br /><br />Also, one learns that some of the great weapons against tyrants are satire, irony, mockery. One doesn't just mock oneself. One pretends to be mocking oneself, when one's peers know one is actually dissing the sadistic brutes running the school/government/platoon. <br /><br />This is a very different kind of humour to the rubbish practiced by cruel American middle schoolers on the bus who taunt and abuse their peers with "that's so gay..." or "You are SO belonging on the short bus..." or whatever else they can think of to do damage. And then verbally scamper away saying "JUST KIDDING..." No self-mockery, just an avoidance of responsibility for what one has said to wound....Retrieverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09036341287285545932noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-13959872305061932322009-08-02T11:13:00.755-04:002009-08-02T11:13:00.755-04:00The one about the German comedian is well justifie...The one about the German comedian is well justified. Of the humor from different countries I have been exposed to, I find German humor to be the least funny to my ear. <br /><br />Here are some others I have heard. <br /><br />Heaven is :<br />English policeman<br />American house<br />Japanese wife<br />German engineer<br /><br />Hell is :<br />German policeman<br />Japanese house<br />American wife<br />Italian engineer<br /><br />Regarding national stereotypes, my mother had some encounters with Dutch customs agents which caused her to conclude that "The Dutch are more German than the Germans."Gringonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-1139452721367644322006-02-08T21:38:00.000-05:002006-02-08T21:38:00.000-05:00I really like your European joke and what it says ...I really like your European joke and what it says about the Europeans' ability to mock themselves and each other. Even being able to tell such a joke shows underlying goodwill. I wonder if there are comparable jokes where the various sects of Islam make fun of each other--or if they are too busy killing each other to come up with jokes?Dr. Sanityhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05490927712024477670noreply@blogger.com