Two Sides of the Mask: Comedy Born of Tragedy

There are two sides to comedy that exists in what can be referred to simply as a “light” and “dark” side. The light side, full of fun, cute ideas and jokes can be easy to grasp and perhaps master for the common person, but the dark side poses a different challenge. The dark side is dangerous territory, and needs a keen eye to pick and choose what terrible and potentially uncomfortable topics and circumstances can be deemed funny. There is a delicate balance between these two sides that only masters can manipulate to produce hilarious content without being so safe that it’s boring and so edgy that it is nearly unwatchable.

Luckily for comedians today, there is a study known as the Benign Violation Theory of Humor developed by Peter McGraw and Caleb Warren that delves into discovering where this line where tragedy become comedy is drawn. As stated by McGraw & Warren (2010), benign violations in comedy are anything from bizarre and unusual social acts, to physical deformity, to physical threats, so there is a wide range of potential topics to address. These acts are considered funny because they are outside status quo, and anything outside of one’s perception of how the world should be is funny, so long as the threatening situation is benign. McGraw & Warren further comment on the correlation between distance and comedy. In their studies, they found that a small mishap, like a stubbed toe, is only funny when in close proximity as opposed to years in the past, while a serious tragedy is not funny when in close proximity, but as time goes on, it is able to be joked about, and can even be an emotional release for most, including the comedians themselves. In most cases, the greater the distance, the funnier something can be.

Humor helps individuals with anxiety, grief, depression, and even physical pain. In this context, comedians have a duty to their audiences, wether the audience is aware of it or not, to provide an outlet or a release from tragedies large and small. Comedians even have a large part in subconsciously helping themselves, as comedy is a very common form of self-help, and is frequently used as a defense or coping mechanism. Especially for comedians with mental illness, their acts can be therapeutic in a way as they have the power and skill to bring devastating topic to light, wether it be about substance, physical, or emotional abuse, depression, or anxiety and spin them in a way that provides catharsis, helping people let go and laugh at an otherwise miserable situation.

The disorders associated with comedians such as depression, anxiety, and psychosis can be the key to why they are able to help others. Some of the greatest therapy in the world is said to be making others happy, and that’s exactly what comedians do best. As mentioned previously, tragic and bleak situations are flipped and observed in a way to make them funny. These tragedies help in several ways. Mental illness is commonly caused by a rough childhood or other physiological factors or traumatic event. In turn, comedians tested higher than the average person for psychotic traits, and many researchers speculate that these traits are quintessential to create interesting material that is new and thought provoking, as these traits help comedians view the world in a different, more creative way. Due to the roots and having experienced it first hand, many comedic routines focus on a rather depressing instance in the performer’s life to be made funny, which not only provides release for the audience, but for the performer him or herself, making the situation in question a little less sad. As stated by McGraw & Warren (2010): “Laughter and amusement signal to the world that a violation is indeed okay.” It’s a comforting notion in a way, that comedians need comedy as much, if not more, than the we do.

Works Cited
(New Source) Mcgraw, A. P., C. Warren, L. E. Williams, and B. Leonard. “Too Close for Comfort, or Too Far to Care? Finding Humor in Distant Tragedies and Close Mishaps.” Psychological Science (2012): 1215-223. Web. 3 Nov. 2015.

(New Source) Mcgraw, A. P., and C. Warren. “Benign Violations: Making Immoral Behavior Funny.” Psychological Science (2010): 1141-149. Web. 3 Nov. 2015.

Khazan, Olga. “The Dark Psychology of Being a Good Comedian.” The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 27 Feb. 2014. Web. 3 Nov. 2015.

How To Wake Up The Nation

When presidential corruption surpasses all the limits and the entire nation suffers because of unfair one-sided laws and low salaries, every next decision made by the president can be turned into provocation against the society and cause big revolutionary movement. Viktor Yanukovich,  became a president of Ukraine in 2010 and since that moment he was doing everything to enrich himself, while every average person had to struggle because of new laws and fees.

When president of Ukraine failed to sign the agreements with European union on November 29, students’ response was immediate – via social media, they decided to meet in the center of the city, on the Independence Square and stay as long as needed. Although almost everyone in the country was mad and disappointed, the situation wasn’t any close to critical or unexpected, so just young adults were willing to fight for changes, while most of elderly people, and middle-aged adults weren’t enough motivated to make any actual moves against the government. By the morning, few hundred people that were still standing near the Independence Monument when they were attacked by special police forces that just started beating everyone with batons, and drag some individuals to the police cars without any warnings. Upon waking up and reading the news, people were shocked. Thousands of people, now of all the ages, started gathering together on the central squares asking for the justice and changes. By trying to show harmless students, who rules the country, president underestimated the power of millions of people that  worth more than his own. For the next 2 months people occupied the center of the city,  demanding for radical changes in the government and laws, while well-payed special forces were trying to disorganize and weaken the revolution.

By the end of February it was already clear for everyone that there is no more way back. After spending almost 3 months in cold and fighting against the dictatorship, protesters could no longer give up. President and his surrounding realized that their crimes stay no longer unnoticed, but Yanukovich wasn’t willing to give up on his power and treasures. On February 18 new law that allows police use a real weapon against protesters was implemented. All the special police forces were sent to the center of the city and were commanded to regain control of the Independence Square and all the adjacent streets.  The assault on the revolution camp had failed, but many people were injured and over one hundred got killed by the police snipers. After realizing that there’s nothing more he can do, Yanukovich ran away from the country.

Works Cited

1. “History of Euromaidan” Insider. Web. 3 November 2015
2. “History of Euromaidan: from the peaceful protests to bloody shooting” iPress.ua.21 November 2014. Web. 3 November 2015

Rehabilitation Isn’t a Cure

Illegal drugs have proven themselves as issues in cities large and small for centuries, and there is seemingly no way to rid the streets of their presence.  Numerous issues have arisen on their behalf, from gang violence to black market trading. For a city, this is never a good thing, for tourism and property value alike. Vancouver has sought many solutions to their drug problem, heroin specifically, and has come up with a rather unorthodox solution. Instead of setting up traditional rehabilitation centers with goals of curing heroin addicts of their addiction, they are installing heroin clinics, where addicts can sign up and go to get a supply of their fix. The hope of this program is to eliminate drug-related crime and violence entirely by providing the drugs to the addicts directly. With this in place, it is also predictable that addicts will then be able to divert their focus to other things, possibly leading to a better standard of life for them and those around them.

Violence over drugs is a result of the drugs being hard to obtain; they are illegal so smuggling and hiding the substances is common practice for those who wish to use them in some way. If centers are installed that hand out heroin like candy, surely violence then becomes a non-issue. No longer are addicts forced to find third party vendors for their fix. It is essentially down the street from them with little to no hassle in obtaining them.

An addict’s life is ruled by his addiction. Focus is always on when they can get their next fix, or if they can at all. Some will go through horrific measures just to get their high, despite it costing them. That is, if it’s difficult to get it in the first place. With heroin centers distributing the drug, it becomes no problem at all and is suddenly no longer a worry. People can resume with their daily lives and focus on matters more beneficial, such as holding a job or spending time with family.

Work Cited:

NEW SOURCE: “Trends & Statistics.” National Institute on Drug Abuse. National Institute of Health, 20 Aug. 2015. Web. 03 Nov. 2015.

NEW SOURCE: Campbell, Bradley. “Vancouver Combats Heroin by Giving Its Addicts the Best Smack in the World.” Public Radio International. PRI’s The World, 9 Feb. 2015. Web. 03 Nov. 2015.

To observe the performance of doctors in hospitals, often times patients are given surveys to rate how their treatment was. Shockingly, results shown that families with lower income generally have poorer performances. Some assumptions came uo by people claiming that perhaps some doctors are biased to their patients; however that thought was crossed out when they realized doctors do not have access to the families income and treats whatever patients they can. Therefore, the data was observed by Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and one of the key factors that contribute to the inequality is how well patients communicate to physicians.

Communication between the physicians and the patience play a huge part because with that communications, it helps the doctors make decisions on figuring out how to help the patience. According to American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, the benefits of effective communication is that “the patient and physician have developed a “partnership” and the patient has been fully educated in the nature of his or her condition and the different methods to address the problem.” In addition, the patient will have a say in things, which will satisfy the patient more.

Though there are many other factors on why patients are not satisfied with their care, the main source of the health disparity is the lack of communication skills some individuals have, which is common within people with low income. There are many disadvantages people in low income families have; including education and lifestyle that is not the same as families with a higher income.

Abolishing the Death Penalty 

Too many states in the U.S execute their own citizens. When an inmate commits a dangerous crime such as killing someone, the court usually sends them on death row, which later results into the death penalty. The death penalty is a pointless execution to inmates to deter crime. States and courts that allow and legalize the death penalty do not realize the negativity this “solution,” brings to the table. It defines violence to the world, it shows others there is no human rights, and it goes against what every state and justice system stand by. The death penalty results into too many negative factors, rather than positive; leaving it to no be possibly administered fairly and must be abolished.

The death penalty is a form of legalized unusual punishment that is done to criminals through-out the United States. It is currently legal to kill an inmate in 31 states by injecting their body with drugs, electrocuting them, and gunning them down. The death penalty violates the most important right anyone believes they should have, which is the right to life. The states and courts that use the death penalty or capital punishment deny the right to live to incoming inmates. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights state, “no one shall be subjected to cruel and degrading punishment,” which the death penalty violates. No matter what a person has done, everyone should have a say on their own life, whether they get to live or sentenced to be killed.

Not only does the death penalty violate human rights but it also violates what the State and Justice System want, which is to prevent violence and criminal activity. The death penalty itself is violent. Electrocuting, gunning down, or injecting lethal drugs in the body is all under a violent category. Performing those types of punishments goes against what states and the criminal justice system stand by. They want less violence, but they are performing a violent act themselves. States and the justice system punish an inmate for murdering someone because it’s a wrong thing to do, but then the punishment the inmate receives is to be murdered themselves. It’s hypocritical for states to allow capital punishment and violates what they stand by.

The criminal justice system in the U.S is suppose to deter or prevent violence and crime, rehabilitate convicts, and incapacitate dangerous criminals. Other than resulting to the death penalty or taking a life away, states should realize other solutions to serve the justice system’s functions. The most obvious and other used solution is by giving life in prison. The states were the death penalty is illegal in, gives inmates life in prison, rather than killing them. Life in prison is certainly deterrent because it discourages criminals to take action in a crime again and it also allows rehabilitation. Life in prison serves a better solution than executing an inmate and most importantly gives an inmate the right to live.

Works Cited 

Hayworth, Michael. “5 Reasons Some People Think the World Needs the Death Penalty.” Amnesty Australia. N.p., 8 July 2013. Web. 2 Nov. 2015.

McElwee, Sean. “It’s Time to Abolish the Death Penalty.” The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 7 Sept. 2013. Web. 2 Nov. 2015.

“The Facts: 13 Reasons to Oppose the Death Penalty.” The Facts: 13 Reasons to Oppose the Death Penalty. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Nov. 2015

Minorities are disproportionately sentenced to capital punishment causing more Minorities to be put to death than white offenders.

In the United States there are still states that still practice capital punishment as a punishment for index crimes. In many of the cases that are eligible for the death penalty the courts use a jury system. The people that are usually picked to be on a jury for the death penalty are predominantly white males and females. Some of these people may be racially discriminant against minorities and will often use the color of the inmates skin to decide if he or she is innocent or guilty of a crime. Statistics show that it is more likely for a minority inmate to be given the death penalty when the victim is white. A much lower rate of murderers are put to death when committing black on black crimes. The rate the death penalty is given is also lower when a white man kills a black man.

Many of the cases are left to a prosecutor to decide if the offense warrants the death penalty. In one examination of the race of many prosecutors in the states that use the death penalty it was found that 98% were white and the other 2% were minorities, leading to many cases be decided by a white male. In the states where the death penalty is practiced, black males make up significantly less of the population yet they make up more than half of the prison population. These states are so far behind when it comes to have a racially balanced court system and jury.

Many inmates do not have the money for legal expenses needed to have a knowledgeable lawyer, causing many to be found guilty in cases where they were actually innocent. Some inmates that are put to death are later found to be wrongfully convicted and were actually innocent. The death penalty is a biased form of punishment that needs to be done away with in our country.

http://www.capitalpunishmentincontext.org/issues/race

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2012/jan/03/racial-bias-us-death-penalty

Political Borders Create more Division than Unity

Since the age of kingdoms in Europe, humans have identified themselves according to the nations in which they live. These nations are marked by borders, sometimes physical barriers such as rivers or mountain ranges; but are often imaginary lines. Though the lines are believed to be there, or to at least exist in someway. It is difficult to consider civilized life without them, and few would refute their power to unify the masses. Regardless, it would seem that many are left out of these lines with no true place to call home. To boot, these borders can even create political strife and civil war within and between them. What are the costs of the security of a nation when only a minority reaps its benefits?

One of the major refugee crises of modern times is the mass exodus of Syrians being removed from their homes and left displaced elsewhere. Many Syrians are now in geographic limbo, desperately walking the land or trapped in various camps across the world. Paul Salopek of National Geographic notes: “There are about 1.6 million Syrian war refugees in Turkey…eight million or more are internally displaced within Syria or…stations as Lebanon and Jordan.” The crisis within the Middle East is likely a direct result of its political geography. The area was mapped according to the will of national superpowers at the close of World War II, and ever since has been an area of major turmoil. An ever-rising number of the geographically displaced coming from here only exemplifies this theory. Still, these types of political borders, or “colonial lines,” are causing strife around the world.

Africa, a zone of major colonial activity during the European age of Imperialism, is now suffering from civil conflict between warring tribes. At the close of colonialism, the lands of Africa, which had been previously controlled by European super-powers, were forced out of their control and given back to the people of Africa. However, when the new nations were drawn (much according to the European claims), tribes were both separated and lumped together within the confines of the new borders. An article in The Atlantic by Max Fisher describes a land dispute between the African nations of Cameroon and Nigeria. The dispute is over a peninsula filled with oil; a piece of land both nations would benefit from owning. However, consulting both their current maps and colonial maps, both nations believe it belongs to them. Who is to decide then? These lines do not really exist, they are merely assumed to have merit.

All around the planet, these lines divide and cause strife for those who were forced into them. Africa is a jigsaw puzzle with no rhyme or reason, and the Middle East is pumping out  new refugees daily. Rampant nationalism bordering upon jingoism is far too common, while sympathy for the geographically displaced is virtually unheard of. Can these borders be removed though without upsetting the natural balance of things?Regardless, political borders are up for question as suspects in the division of the human race.

Works Cited:
“Fleeing Terror, Finding Refuge.” National Geographic. Web. 4 Nov. 2015.

Fisher, M. (2012, September 10). The Dividing of a Continent: Africa’s Separatist Problem. Retrieved November 4, 2015.

Doctors are not accountable for their murders and mistakes

When we  go to the hospital or the doctors office, we as patients think that we are getting the best medical treatment there is; however,  that is not the case. Doctors are one of the causes of death in the world today. We would think that doctors learn from their mistakes,  but they do not because they’re not accountable for their mistakes.  Accountability is important in the health care field. According to the article Medical Staff Accountability will Improve Performance,  accountability is described as “the procedures and processes by which one party justifies and takes responsibility for its activities such as for achieving various organization goals”. Accountability will improve the quality and outcome of healthcare and give patients good healthcare.

Doctors are known to help people, but they make mistakes from time to time. Unlike other professions, they are not monitored and not disciplined. This gives room for more mistakes. The whole entire medical team should be accountable and should abide by the same rules. This will create a system where everyone has equal responsibility and would serve the best quality health service . Accountability should also be tied to behavior of the health professional and the expectations they need to fulfill.  If these health professionals are accountable for their medical mistakes, medical error will be less and patients will be satisfied with their health care.

In the article To Err is Human: Building a safer health system, it says ” medical errors can be defined as the failure of a planned action to be completed as intended or the use of a wrong plan to achieve an aim”. This can be views as a doctor giving the wrong diagnosis to a patient. We think that doctors are giving us the best care, however, they just gave us the wrong treatment. The doctors are not punished for their mistake so this misdiagnosis can happen to someone else. Medical errors are also costly in the doctors pay check and hospital bills. Most importantly, if the medical field is accountable for their actions, they will have a patients loyalty and trust.

Work cited