Jokes

In this PC world, telling jokes must be left to the professional comedians—and sometimes they even get in trouble for it. But jokes are not trivial things. They allow things that concern us, that make us uncomfortable, that we keep hidden to come to the surface and into the light.

We laugh. But then we talk or a seed is planted or we know our concerns are shared or we learn something about ourselves by telling the joke or laughing at it. Jokes are a useful form of social commentary and social engagement. A good joke can be a powerful social or political weapon.

The devil

I like the devil, and I’m not afraid of him. He reminds me that I’m human. I enjoy my tussles with him. I win sometimes, and I lose sometimes. I know he’s always in my pocket, like loose change. I feel good when I can beat him, even when he throws some of the seven deadly sins at me. In fact, in truth, I wouldn’t be the person that I am without him.

Self

Don’t try to understand yourself. It’s an impossible task. Serendipity, absurdity and the random nature of life just get in the way. Memory is vastly unreliable. But you can forgive yourself and build a self that’s always better.

Adolescence

For me, as a young adolescent male, the combination of bipolar illness and the teachings of the Catholic Church could not have been a more toxic combination. Between them, they ate away at self-esteem, individual identity, sexuality, relationships and capacities that were important to healthy adulthood.

For me they offered darkness, shame and guilt.

These days many young people struggle with mental illness in a world of high expectations, social and sexual freedom, intense media and marketing manipulation and not nearly enough healthy support systems. I guess in any age adolescence is hard to navigate.

Discipline

Without discipline, creativity and personal freedom are aimless and flabby.

Children

With great drama, the news will tell us of an immigrant child who died in custody, of a child kidnapped off the street, of a child dying of a rare cancer, of a child shot on an urban street. But what we don’t so often hear about are all the children who are killed daily in wars, who suffer from horrible diseases, who have no access to medical care, who live in dire poverty, who starve to death, who are forced into sex slavery.

These are persisting realities that we need constant reminders of, simply because the reality is that we don’t care for our children, when caring for them with full commitment is arguably the best way to build the kind of world that we hope for.

Children must wait in line behind power, politics, greed, self-interest and prejudice. Joy, support, a stable environment and a good education are impossible for so many children. Yet these are the things that would most likely turn them into productive human beings.

Of course we love our children, but too often only in a NIMBY way. Loved, happy and educated children would decrease the prison population, decrease hopelessness and poverty, decrease addiction and build a stronger America.

Am I wrong? Am I just a dreamer?