Questions of the Day

Satire: Certain people don't seem to be able to appreciate satire. They simply don't get it. This often makes them defensive, because it makes them feel stupid, or out of the loop. But does "getting" a certain joke, or satirical comment imply that you are "better" than someone who doesn't? It certainly raises the spectre of such an inequality, on both sides, which would explain why one person's satire is another person's hate speech.

Does the rise of satire as a medium take something away from us, at the same time it protects and insulates us from the absurdity of the world?

I suppose that when your words don't mean what they literally mean, as I characterize satire here, it is exclusionary by nature, requiring the listener to share a particular set of assumptions.