Whatever happened to a sense of humor?

What happened to the days when we could laugh at ourselves and each other without the fear of getting shot?

What happened to allowing people to have a difference of opinion, to have disagreements, but still engaging in open and honest discussion - not jumping to name calling and threatening their lives?

To be clear, I am not referencing any specific person or people - the situation with the Chuckle Knuckle is simply an unintended coincidence to this discussion that has been brewing in my head for some time now.

There used to be a time when our leaders, and our fellow mafioso, allowed people to have different opinons, to disagree and to say so without fear of repercussions, when our leaders allowed people to poke fun at them knowing that it was all in fun, that there was no meanspiritedness behind the statements.

Now saitirists are rare indeed, and even public debate degenerates to public threats of violence and sneering at people when they disagree with you. People are afraid to voice opinions on these streets because they fear that those opinions will get them shot, or that they'll accidentally offend someone and be told to shut up, and our streets are suffering for it.

That, I blame solely on the shoulders of our leaders.

We need people to be encouraged to have discussions, to have different viewpoints, not discouraged from being able to voice their opinions. Leaders ought to be doing more to encourage streets participation - my own leader does so, so I know that it is possible.

You can't force someone to participate, some people just don't like speaking in public - and that's fine. But what we can do is to make these streets a more open and honest place to come, where opinions and thoughts are encouragd and nurtured.

No, obvious and blatant disrespect should NOT be entertained - but, for example, when I say that LoveGun is a drunken slattern, I trust she knows I mean it with love, and I shouldn't need to fear for my life from saying it. There's a difference between disrespect and humor - and we shouldn't mistake one for the other, to do otherwise simply encourages a culture of silence and fear, and that ensures the death of our world. A slow, boring, excruciatingly mind-numbing death.

Being honest, I belive that every leader should, upon taking the reigns of leadership, be assigned a court jester. Someone who sits there in a silly outfit and a hat with bells on it and, at random times, jumps on their leader's desk and shoves their ass in their lader's face - simply to remind our leaders that yes, you are still human beings and not ascended dieties, and that yes it is okay to still have a sense of humor - especially about yourself.

Do I fear being shot because of what I say here today? Somewhat. But I fear continuing to walk on eggshells even more, and given the choice between death and silence, I'd rather risk death.

Because I'm The Miz, and I'm.........

AWESOME.

I should light you on fire and beat the flames out with an axe....just for that last statement.

A fortune teller spoke of the future and some lame ass using that phrase to annoy the living shit out of millions of people at least once a week.

Th' prettiest drunk slattern on both sides of this here continent.

LoveGun winked at TheMiz and pick pocketed an old lady at the same time.

I obviously be agreein' with ya Miz. Ya can't be forcin no one t' be doin' anythin'. You can however be havin' standards and expectations for ya' people or for people in general.

Ya be mentionin' encouragement and nuturin'. Now I be not one of them motherin' types, but with my expectations I be understandin' that people be havin' skills untapped. With a little direction, the right breeze and tools of the trade a great mind can be goin' a long way.

With tha' bein' said once someone be findin' their path in life I encourage them t' be standing out from the crowed. It be borin' if we all be actin' the same way. If I had twenty Mizes in me family I wouldn't be sane anymore.

She laughed after her brain caught up with her tongue.

Ah, who be belivin I be sane currently. Not me.

I'm not saying that people have never been punished for their opinions in the streets. Though I would argue that anyone who has ever been punished for expressing their opinions in the streets was going about it the wrong way in the sense of disrespect. If you come to the streets and call out leaders, or even people, your words will have consequences. Thats why the old saying, "Choose your words wisely" has always been in this thing of ours. Disrespect isn't tolerated. I'm interested, especially in recent history, to know of anyone who has been killed because of their opinion in the streets that wasn't disrespectful. Your argument for accepting humorous criticism or "knowing something is a joke" only applies to those people who you know personally. Someone who doesn't know you personally may, while knowing it is clearly a joke, still be offended by what was said.

In terms of leaders making the streets a more friendly place or more open and inviting. Recently there was a celebration in New Orleans in which Don BananaBender was celebrating a promotion. He held a short story contest, offering cash money to those who were willing to come to the streets and deliver a short story. To my knowledge there were only two entries. If cash money isn't open and inviting enough? What more can you do? Thank you for your time.

~TheBigEasy

Dollarz listens for a minute,

In my general knowledge of people "sneering" as such to people on the opposite side of an arguement tends to be people with ridiculous answers to most questions and/or irrelevant nonesence that tend to spout from peoples mouths who know nothing about the situation they are moaning about...now im not saying you or whoever you may know are idiots its just in my time only it tends to be those types of people who get shunned for wasting time and making a fool or themselfs.