here for it

     R. Eric Thomas stares out on a world on fire and dares to hope for something better in his collection of essays Here For It. Early on, Thomas makes his own outlook on what makes someone laugh at a joke clear: “the comedic surprise I’m always trying to get to in the column is hope…You might anticipate a punch line, you might see it coming from a mile away, but if you laugh it’s because there is some part of you that is surprised” (11). As we’ve seen in our other readings, humor can be a powerful tool in the face of injustice: to build a bridge between the reader and the author, to punch up at oppressive people or systems, and satirize the world around us. Similarly, Thomas wants his humor to make the world better and brighter through laughter and he writes, “If I’m going to try to make people laugh on the internet, maybe it should also make them happy” (12). The main function of his humor is to act as a weapon against despair: “In the end, I know that we are not at war with our terrible leaders. Instead, we are fighting against nihilism itself. We are fighting to care. What makes you happy or sad or brings you joy or makes you feel anything at all—it matters” (212). Especially coming out of…everything that was the last three years of being alive I think apathy and a general disregard for human life has been one of the bigger barriers we’ve had to face. While he never claims that humor is going to fix every issue in this country humor does operate in a way to point out all the little joys in life and situations that still make life worth living. He questions it himself: “There is a moment, when things slide back to the more serious, that we feel a little guilty. Why cares about out little joys in such a time as this?” (212). Humor above all else is a source of joy and maybe that’s enough.