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| Patrick Henry |
It offends me, deeply, whenever other people are offended. It also offends me when other people are offended that other people are offended by other people's offensiveness. When one is offended, all should be offended.
We’ve all heard of Solidarity. The time has come for people to stand together in a spirit of "Offendarity."
Here are a few famous quotes revised to promote the Offendarity Movement.
Four score and twenty offenses ago.
I have a dream, that one day no one will be offended by anyone else.
Ask not what your country can do to stop offenses. Ask what you can do to be less offensive.
We have nothing to be offended by, but offenses themselves.
Give me inoffensiveness, or give me death.
Life, liberty, and the pursuit of inoffensiveness.
This offense is your offense. This offense is my offense. From California, to the New York island...
#offendarity
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People say that if you put your nose to the grindstone, you’ll find success. Actually, if you put your nose to a grindstone, you’ll probably get a nasty abrasion.
Have you noticed that employers love to hire troubleshooters, but they hate to hire troublemakers? I don’t understand. If they never hire any troublemakers, why do they need all those troubleshooters?
People say that a little hard work never hurt anybody. Actually, a little hard work can lead to a very serious workplace injury.
How do we celebrate Labor Day? By taking a day off! What’s that about?
If you don’t do it right the first time, the people in quality control won’t have to worry about losing their jobs.
Business Jokes from Murphy at Law
You might be a Murphy if…
you don’t have enough experience for an entry level job.
you’re self-employed and you can’t get along with the boss.
you have a job an idiot could do and you’re very good at it.
a vanity publisher turns down your manuscript.
you get seasick from cruising the world wide web.
you try several businesses and they all blossom into non-profit ventures.
you’re on the bottom rung of the company ladder and you get demoted.
during your job hunt, you get rejection letters from companies you never even applied to.
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Note: This article first appeared on June 4, 2015, in American Thinker.
“Against the assault of laughter, nothing can stand.” Mark Twain
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| Mark Twain |
Wit is not always a laughing matter. For example, the Sons of Liberty used their wits to pull off one of the most memorable practical jokes in history at the Boston Tea Party. Also, Ben Franklin disseminated and popularized his philosophy through his bestseller, Poor Richard’s Almanac. His witty one-liners are quoted to this day by people who’ve never even heard of the book.
Wit privilege refers to societal privileges that benefit witty people in ways that are unavailable to the witless. It continues to be a potent force in the United States. The witty elite use jokes and anecdotes to win elections, spread ideologies, and market their services and wares. All too often, the witless are the butts of the jokes. They are at a severe disadvantage in virtually every area of their sad lives.
Witty people are more likeable, more popular, and have greater social status. They tend to be cheerful, and they receive more respect and better service across the board. From bankers to beauticians, from the police to pediatricians, from clerks to computer techs, people who provide services of any kind prefer to do business with funny people rather than the grumpy.
The witty are also considered more attractive than the witless. That’s why comedians never have problems finding spouses, or second, or third, or fourth spouses. A review of personal ads will inevitably show that the most desired trait for a potential date is a good sense of humor. Nobody writes personal ads like this: “Seeking somber person to engage in serious conversation. Must not giggle.”
Funny folks have greater freedom of expression. In America, when you’re funny people listen. The ability to tell a joke can make the difference between being heard and being ignored. Funny videos are shared far more often than serious ones. In the entertainment business, people who can make others laugh get more opportunities and are treated better than the humor-impaired.
The disparities between the witty and the witless are evident in the business world as well. A properly delivered punchline can help a person land a job or seal a deal. Jokes are also frequently used by the powerful to silence the witless. The laughter emanating from corner offices may sound jovial, but it also reminds the peons in the cubicles of who is in charge.
Disparities due to wit privilege are rampant in healthcare. People who know how to tell jokes and enjoy a good laugh live happier and healthier lives. The witty are able to handle stress and anxiety better than the witless. Laughter is widely regarded as the best medicine, and the witty get it for free. The primary reason comedy isn’t part of healthcare is that they want to keep it to themselves. Meanwhile, people who suffer from humor deficiency pay exorbitant amounts for the prescription and non-prescription drugs they need just to get through the day.
Witty people take their unearned benefits for granted. When confronted about wit privilege, they deny that it exists or say that it’s not their fault they were born funny. Furthermore, they have no comprehension of how different their lives would be if they ever lost their sense of humor and had to experience horrors like these:
- The realization, after they’ve delivered a punchline, that they’ve omitted a critical part of the setup.
- The inability to produce suitable and timely responses to offensive remarks or insults.
- Dreaded sympathy laughter due to poor comedic timing.
The roots of wit privilege go all the way back to William Shakespeare. In Othello, the bard wrote, “They laugh that win.”
Little has changed. Renowned neurohumorist Karyn Buxman proclaims, “Humor is power.”
Wit privilege has had a profound and disturbing influence in the United States throughout the country’s history. It is deplorable that humorous people have advantages over people who are not funny and who may never become funny. People born witless are human beings entitled to the same freedoms and opportunities as the witty.
The longstanding and systemic abuses of power enabled through wit privilege are a form of discrimination which must be addressed. In the interest of fairness and decency, if an equitable solution cannot be found, the laughter must stop.
by Danny Murphy
This article first appeared in The American Thinker
on November 3, 2015.
Melissa Harris-Perry of MSNBC recently cautioned fellow commentators to be “very careful” about using the phrase “hard worker.” Many conservatives and Republicans took exception to that, saying that the statement was proof that political correctness has gone too far. However, the fact is that Harris-Perry, who, ironically, has multiple jobs and appears to be a hard worker, did not go nearly far enough.
Work itself is a four letter word that should be used with great care. The word has been used for centuries by the successful to oppress those who do not work. Establishment types use the word as a dividing line between themselves and those who are less fortunate. The beneficiaries of “work privilege” take for granted the many benefits they receive due to their status as workers.
- On the job, people who work associate almost exclusively with other people who work.
- People who work can usually count on most of their neighbors being other people who work.
- In social situations, people who work primarily associate with other people who work.
- People who work tend to have better interactions with the police who, like them, have jobs.
Our culture revolves around people who work. It’s nearly impossible to purchase anything without encountering someone who works. You cannot go to the doctor, eat at a restaurant, or purchase anything at any store without interacting with someone who has a job. Also, most of the history we learn in school is about people who had jobs.
Movies and television shows are by people who work, for people who work, and mostly about people who work. Throughout the media, reporters, editors, and producers all have jobs. This gives them a better understanding of people who work and a natural affinity for them. The end result is sympathetic media coverage for people who work and critical coverage of those who don’t.
The U.S. government has a Department of Labor with many employees. The Labor Department’s mission is, “To foster, promote, and develop the welfare of the wage earners, job seekers, and retirees of the United States; improve working conditions; advance opportunities for profitable employment; and assure work-related benefits and rights.”
We have a national holiday to honor people who work. It’s called Labor Day and there’s nothing remotely similar to recognize the important contributions non-workers make to society. Non-workers don’t get promotions, raises, or any form of positive societal recognition. Ironically, people who are not employed never get a vacation or a day off. Day after day, week after week, and month after month, they toil at their non-livelihoods.
People with jobs fail to comprehend that those who are not employed in the traditional sense frequently work every bit as hard as those who work. Making a living without working for it can be the hardest work of all! It requires skill, perseverance, and an ability to make something from almost nothing. Anyone who doesn’t believe that should try panhandling on a street corner with a cardboard sign.
The challenges faced by non-workers on a daily basis are tougher than anything faced by people who work. And yet, non-workers are stigmatized for using food stamps, living in public housing, getting free health care, and for receiving a variety of other so-called handouts from the government. People with jobs routinely disparage people who are not employed.
Although non-workers do not pay out of pocket for the benefits they receive, it’s ridiculous to think that anything is given to them freely. There are applications that have to be completed and submitted to government agencies. Meetings have to be arranged with social workers, who, by the way, have jobs. Non-workers spend a lot of time standing in lines.
One of the greatest disparities between workers and non-workers is that people can get education and training to pursue jobs and careers. However, no similar training exists to show people how to pursue a non-career. The only training that non-workers get is on the non-job training where they have to learn as they go.
People who work say that if you put your nose to the grindstone, you’ll find success. Those who don’t work are people who have found out the hard way that when you put your nose to a grindstone, you sometimes get a nasty abrasion. Non-workers know that a little hard work can lead to a serious injury. Meanwhile, people with jobs refuse to acknowledge that there are perfectly legitimate reasons why some people choose not to work.
Some people simply don’t have the skills or experience required to perform an entry level job. Also, the benefits that come with entry level opportunities, if there are any, are generally less than the benefits non-workers receive for doing nothing. The unemployed cannot be blamed for not pursuing work when getting jobs will have a negative effect on their livelihoods.
People who work frequently say that there’s no such thing as a free lunch. In today’s United States, shouldn’t there be? The Bill of Rights guarantees Freedom of Religion, Freedom of the Press, Freedom of Speech, and several other important freedoms. The time for Freedom of Lunch is upon us. The Declaration of Independence speaks of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. In a country that calls itself the Land of the Free, why shouldn’t people who don’t work have the freedom to pursue happiness their own way?
