Op-Ed: Prohibition was no joke

These days it has become increasingly clear that comedy is a lot like alcohol. No, I don't mean that both are ways nervous men talk to women, or that both are significantly worse when you're in college, or any other silly one-liner. Rather I hope to argue that in the abstract, transgressive humor is today what alcohol was in the early 20th century, the age of Prohibition. I should also clarify here that I do not mean to compare the actions or ideologies of the groups that have fought these social battles, I am rather seeking only to draw an analogy on how each of these ideas has clashed in the social sphere and the base arguments behind each.

The basic narrative is the same: a faction of ideologically driven individuals sought to ban something they saw as 'bad for society,' while another (larger) group fought to preserve it, arguing that it was traditional. With alcohol this was a simple equation: the Puritans said it was bad for your health and ideologically a heavenly super being banished it, while drinkers across the United States believed booze was a welcome distraction — a good thing in life that could be used without being abused. Though there was always a backlash to comedy (look no further than George Carlin for that) recent developments in social media have allowed normal folk to see their jokes and comments go viral — essentially propelling the issue of transgressive humor to a societal level rather than one centered on a few celebrity comics. Social justice advocates will argue that this raises the stakes, giving more philosophical and nuanced explanations as to how widespread transgressive humor unfairly singles out and persecutes individuals or groups of individuals. Meanwhile, those in defense of transgressive comedy can be equally philosophical, arguing that comedy offers a medium for the discussion of taboo ideas, as well as an equal playing field for systematic criticism. Though the situations are quite different, we can see that with both alcohol and comedy, there is a clash between defenders that claim an upside if moderated, and opponents who maintain that abuse is too easy and can lead to significant negative effects on all of society.

In the early 20th century we saw this conflict play out slowly, with a national debate eventually leading to Prohibition.Efforts to curb alcohol use only drove it underground, as bathtub distillers and speakeasies spread a clandestine, unregulated drug through the nation, often leading to more death and negative externalities. A parallel then can easily be made to modern social media where common folk are regularly shut down or shamed for making insensitive jokes, only to be driven into private forums or chats where deeper, more dangerous prejudice tends to lurk.

Prohibition eventually ended, and the society of morally deficient alcohol dependents that the Puritans feared never came; so why don't we 'legalize' transgressive humor? To my eye, there is one key difference when it comes to legalization: unlike alcohol, there is no natural consequence for transgressive comedy. Even when it's legal, if you drink too much your body will ensure you don't have a good time. That forces moderation and moderation is what has allowed us to successfully balance the good and bad of alcoholism today. The liver offered us an easy out with alcohol, so if we want to replicate it, we will have to find a way to simulate that mechanism. Unlike alcohol, the line between laughing and berating a joke must be deliberately drawn and constantly changed to optimize discourse and criticism while holding shy of persecution — not an easy task.

At the end of the day, I can think of no better moderating force than discourse, especially in comedy. I'm not asking anyone to abandon their beliefs, just to defend them as they would to the real people that read their comments: smart sentient beings that can perceive nuance and can understand a well-written argument. If we can get that, we then just need the readers to consider those opinions and be willing to change their minds (however slightly). I understand this request is not simple, in fact it could well result in world peace, but for now, I would settle for some good jokes.