George Carlin: My American Hero

Growing up under communist dictatorship in East Africa in the 1980s, I read this joke about cold-war US-Soviet competition. A Russian and an American were arguing and it went something like: "We have so much freedom", said the American "We can go out on the street and yell ´Ronald Reagan is an idiot!´ if we want to"; to which the Russian replied: "You call that freedom? We say ´Ronald Reagan is an idiot´ all we want".

I was a teenager and a high school student then. I have made a habit of reading periodicals at a public library. The government censors allowed Western publications but tore away every page that contradicts their communist dogma; but of course they missed some. I snickered at the joke with guilty pleasure –being really careful not to get noticed reading some "imperialistic and reactionary" literature. But I could still not fathom the idea of insulting any countries´ president while living inside that country and getting away with it.

A few years later, after I immigrated to the United States and sought political asylum, I was fascinated by this simple phenomenon –unabridged freedom of speech. Exercising and defending free speech borne out of free thinking is indeed the ultimate manifestation of patriotism. George Carlin was a patriot who exercised this right fearlessly and with such mesmerizing eloquence and symphony of words. He was a philosopher who believed in individual freedom and individuals; and abhorred conformity, authority and stupidity. He challenged us not to lose this freedom to pointless careerism and senseless consumerism. That is why, he is my American hero –an idol we would be hard pressed to replace.

George Carlin´s genius was not only in daring his audience to think differently in that uniquely American "nothing-is-too-sacred-for-jokes" manner, but in pointing out the gap between how things are and how they ought to be –while he still had us roll with laughter at our own idiocy.

I don´t know if he was a comedian turned philosopher or a philosopher who found the art of comedy as an effective medium. Whatever he was, he knew how to make most people laugh. Deep inside he was very confident that we are all hapless creatures who are just trying to survive in this wild and wicked world; and the sophomoric child in all of us never grows up. Lucky are the ones who identify and accept this pure truth. He did not believe in sugar coating reality and euphemisms. That is why, even at age 71; he still had his quintessential vigor and unflinching originality. What a way to go.

During one of his gigs he observed, "…in my life I have had me a bunch of goddamn dogs…when one dies you keep getting a new one…as life goes on you keep getting one dog after another…and that is the whole secret of life. Life is just a series of dogs."

As a first generation American, I have come to assimilate slowly but surely into this delightful culture. I don´t have pets but I am lucky enough to own a collection of George Carlin´s tapes, DVDs and audio books. To me, life in America has been a serious of one George Carlin HBO special after another; a wonderful ride of humor, enlightenment and critical thinking. And now, the captain of that ship is gone but he has left the rest of us a bunch of material to rewind, enjoy, think and laugh about. Thomas Jefferson and John Adams would have been very proud.

At times, George Carlin´s brand of comedy seemed brash, angry and cynical. It bothered him a lot when Americans act un-American. He would go on a rant about the excesses of capitalism, the unfairness of racism and misogyny. He pondered about whether the American ideal could be rescued from the few and the privileged. But I have no doubt that deep inside, Carlin knew this country is quite capable of renewing itself and living up to it´s potential. Otherwise, why would he even had bothered?

May be the counter-culture thinking has not seeped into my wide-eyed optimism yet, but I can definitely attest that even George Carlin was a beneficiary of this tolerant, democratic and–for the most part fair culture-we call American. Indeed, a lot of countries do ensure that freedom of expression is respected by constitutional law. What makes the American version extraordinary is that this ideal is cherished at every level of society. The entitlement to one´s opinion is tolerated from the local PTAs as well as throughout the annals of power and influence. I know it was not always so; but at least from my vantage point, it is getting a little better each and every day. However, it does not mean, we can´t regress back to the old and unfairly divisive days. Freedom needs to be defended. Sometimes wars are fought in the name of it. But, unless it is exercised by those who we tend to disagree, what would be left for the rest of us?

George Carlin was a Mount Rushmore caliber orator who probably deserves a monument–a statue–of some sort. But knowing him, he would probably insist on being portrayed with his tongue sticking out along with hilariously shifty eyes. As a matter of fact, that is one of the lasting images he has left many grateful fans.

As life moves on, it would be appropriate to take a pause and appreciate those talented individuals from the world of political satire who are living up to this ideal. Hats off to the likes of Bill Maher, John Stewart, Carlos Mencia and Lewis Black. It would not be the same without George Carlin, but for the moment, it seems taboo breaking counter-culture slapstick is here to stay. Now, if we can only export this American ideal to parts of the world where the people badly need it….

At that very library where I got a glimpse of American humor, today young minds are looking over their shoulders lest a government spy is looking at what they are reading. Too bad George Carlin did not believe in reincarnation and prayer. Otherwise, I could have prayed for him to be born over there and be a real pain in the rear to intolerant moralists, flag waving yuppies and power grabbing dictatorships. Instead, he believed that we will rejoin "The Big Electron, -a thing of greater wisdom, [that] doesn´t punish and doesn´t reward, [and] doesn´t judge at all."

By George, that´s deep!