If youāve been watching the news lately, youād get the feeling that we are inching closer toward a world war. Itās already starting with many smaller conflicts flaring up globally, followed by Ukraine/Russia and now Israel/Palestine.
And if you are on any social media platform, youāre probably being bombarded within your own echo chamber of how horrible the other guy is. But even more so, people are becoming a lot more comfortable openly talking about killing families and children. This is not exclusive to any one conflict or group, but it is becoming normalized every day.
All this makes me wonder if what Iām building today is a worthy endeavor. After all, the only reason Iām doing it is that I want to leave a net positive impact before I finally die. FANCROWDr, a social gaming app hosting funny contests where users get to vote on and rewarded for. I didnāt want to āfixā a problem. I wanted to create joy, the same way an artist doesnāt create art to fix a problem.
But I donāt know how this will look 2-3 years down the line. Will we be able to laugh on an app while the world is on fire? Iād say, yes. Or would I have wasted my time building a frivolous app that serves no actual purpose?
Iād like to think of Charlie Chaplinās The Great Dictator, or Dr Strangelove as examples of war comedy that helped relieve tension and offer necessary escapism. Of course escapism takes many forms.
Beirut is notoriously known for its vibrant nightlife during conflicts, something they have an abundance of. But theyāre not alone in this. Sarajevo partied hard in the early 90ās, as does Kiev today.
And this makes me think of Nightbirde who came on Americaās Got Talent and performed a tearjerker, āItās Okay.ā She said something that I will never forget and will always try to embrace.
You canāt wait until life isnāt hard anymore before you decide to be happy
And I hope you too will.
I agree with the use of humor, I apply that way of thinking to my own life as well a Maxim I live by is āif you canāt laugh at tragedy, itāll consume you.ā
....side note: āthe same way an artist doesnāt create art to fix a problemā now that you say this, I think this is where a lot of artists go wrong, the ones who effect change or are impactful are the ones who arenāt implicitly trying to. Good observation