Painful humour
Jul. 28th, 2011 10:50 amVarious things swirling around in my mind at the moment, I'm not sure how coherent this will be. Can we start by taking it as read that you can make jokes about any topic, no matter how painful or horrific? This isn't about censorship; I'm assuming that most people don't especially aim to go around exercising their undisputed free speech right to be as offensive and hurtful as possible, but actually want to be decent human beings. You certainly have the right to joke about atrocities, the question I'm asking is whether it's a morally desirable thing to do.
( includes references to specific upsetting events and Godwinism )
Anyway, yes, swirly and inconclusive post. BTW links to LJ may not work at the moment because the site is undergoing a really serious DDoS attack. It's probably targeted at dissident Russian bloggers, many of whom I expect do use humour to satirize the Russian political establishment. And that really is a free speech issue; they absolutely have the right to use LJ to express their political views, and that right is under attack by the DDoSers. I am a bit impatient with people who are whining about LJ's incompetence and lack of communication in this instance. I know LJ have had problems in the past – after all, that's why I moved here in the first place! But this isn't LJ's fault, it's the fault of seriously unpleasant orgs who are attacking the service as a way of attacking political writing they disagree with. (Also don't whine about Dreamwidth's incompetence when it can't connect to LJ to back up your journal or crosspost your entries; obviously if LJ is down then DW can't reach it, no matter how technically excellent DW may be!)
( includes references to specific upsetting events and Godwinism )
Anyway, yes, swirly and inconclusive post. BTW links to LJ may not work at the moment because the site is undergoing a really serious DDoS attack. It's probably targeted at dissident Russian bloggers, many of whom I expect do use humour to satirize the Russian political establishment. And that really is a free speech issue; they absolutely have the right to use LJ to express their political views, and that right is under attack by the DDoSers. I am a bit impatient with people who are whining about LJ's incompetence and lack of communication in this instance. I know LJ have had problems in the past – after all, that's why I moved here in the first place! But this isn't LJ's fault, it's the fault of seriously unpleasant orgs who are attacking the service as a way of attacking political writing they disagree with. (Also don't whine about Dreamwidth's incompetence when it can't connect to LJ to back up your journal or crosspost your entries; obviously if LJ is down then DW can't reach it, no matter how technically excellent DW may be!)
