The case for humor in times of war

a necessary pressure valve for societal stress

If you’ve been watching the news lately, you’d get the feeling that we are inching closer toward a world war. It’s 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, you’re 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 I’m building today is a worthy endeavor. After all, the only reason I’m 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 didn’t want to “fix” a problem. I wanted to create joy, the same way an artist doesn’t create art to fix a problem.

But I don’t 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? I’d say, yes. Or would I have wasted my time building a frivolous app that serves no actual purpose?

I’d like to think of Charlie Chaplin’s 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 they’re not alone in this. Sarajevo partied hard in the early 90’s, as does Kiev today.

And this makes me think of Nightbirde who came on America’s Got Talent and performed a tearjerker, “It’s Okay.” She said something that I will never forget and will always try to embrace.

You can’t wait until life isn’t hard anymore before you decide to be happy

And I hope you too will.