Snarky

I was shocked to hear that a particularly snarky sitcom is the most popular television show on TV in the U.S. with 28 million fans watching its recent season premiere. The writing on the show, which I watched for fifteen minutes once, is both witty and extremely cynical. "Jesters do oft prove prophets," as Shakespeare wrote in "King Lear". 

In my own experience, being snarky is usually symptomatic of defensiveness. I know I was at my snarkiest when I was a teen in a home dominated by homophobic bullies (my parents). I felt powerless and inadequate. My snarky jibes seemed to be my only effective, non-violent defense. 

What does it mean when nearly 10% of a country's population are fans of a particularly snarky and cynical sitcom? Perhaps it means very little, though I am not prone to think a cigar is just a cigar. It is a phallus-shaped object with an addictive chemical in it. 

Perhaps the stalemate of our society in the current recession is more than economic. What seems like voter apathy may actually be a resignation to powerlessness in the face of corporate domination of our political and social systems. Maybe the popularity of snarky media is symptomatic of that resignation. I speculate the humor in the crowds at the Coliseum in ancient Rome was similarly snarky.

Snarky has its place. An intelligent human being may well be snarky when the eyes are opened to the miserable injustices in the everyday world around the globe. Moving beyond snarky to a sense of responsibility to change the world is an aspect of developing a personal humanist practice. Being angry and critical can be a first step to committing to change. However, it can also become a habitual way to avoid facing fears and taking action. Learning to discern the difference is part of becoming a mindful and compassionate human being.