Readers have responded to George Monbiot's recent article on how rightwing figures use humour to promote toxic ideas, with several arguing that the left has its own long tradition of political satire and should not abandon it.
John Butler of Anstey, Leicestershire, says Monbiot ignores decades of leftwing satire, including Spitting Image, Saturday Night Live, Have I Got News for You, Ben Elton and Jo Brand. He argues that humour is neither inherently leftwing nor rightwing but is anti-hypocrisy, anti-power and often subversive. He adds that rightwing jokes are not uniquely dangerous, noting the savagery directed at Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan, George Bush and Donald Trump, and suggests that a healthy society can laugh at itself from all angles.
Nick Moss of London argues that the left has lost the ability to mock its enemies and needs more venomous satire of its own. He cites Martin Rowson, Richard Pryor, Lenny Bruce and Jo Brand as examples, and mentions Eddie Murphy's comedy routine about the first black president. He says the left has become 'house-trained and academicised' and should seek to cause some offence of its own, recognising socialism as 'the obscene idea that capitalism seeks to repress'.
Phil Uribe of Llandrindod Wells, Powys, agrees with Monbiot that humour can normalise odious ideas, but notes that progressives have used humour in a similar way to normalise ideas that their targets find hard to accept. He cites Oscar Wilde as a master, whose plays were attended by the very people he lampooned, and suggests the tactic can still be used against those who would use it against progressives.
