Some Late-Night Comedy for Friday: Revelations

I wasn’t much aware of Bill Hicks during his life, and having caught up with him somewhat, I’d have to say that he’s not always my cup of tea.  Still, he can be very incisive and thought-provoking, and is worth a watch now and then.

Lenny Bruce–The Berkeley Concert

 

One of his best–definitely NSFW!

Quote for the Week

The world is like a ride in an amusement park, and when you choose to go on it you think it’s real because that’s how powerful our minds are. The ride goes up and down, around and around, it has thrills and chills, and it’s very brightly colored, and it’s very loud, and it’s fun for a while. Many people have been on the ride a long time, and they begin to wonder, “Hey, is this real, or is this just a ride?” And other people have remembered, and they come back to us and say, “Hey, don’t worry; don’t be afraid, ever, because this is just a ride.” And we … kill those people. “Shut him up! I’ve got a lot invested in this ride, shut him up! Look at my furrows of worry, look at my big bank account, and my family. This has to be real.” It’s just a ride. But we always kill the good guys who try and tell us that, you ever notice that? And let the demons run amok … But it doesn’t matter, because it’s just a ride. And we can change it any time we want. It’s only a choice. No effort, no work, no job, no savings of money. Just a simple choice, right now, between fear and love. The eyes of fear want you to put bigger locks on your doors, buy guns, close yourself off. The eyes of love instead see all of us as one. Here’s what we can do to change the world, right now, to a better ride. Take all that money we spend on weapons and defenses each year and instead spend it feeding and clothing and educating the poor of the world, which it would pay for many times over, not one human being excluded, and we could explore space, together, both inner and outer, forever, in peace.

                     –Bill Hicks, Revelations (1993), courtesy Wikiquotes.

I’m not a fan, not because I dislike him but because I wasn’t much aware of him when he was alive.  From what I’ve read and some short clips I’ve seen, I certainly wouldn’t agree with many of his beliefs, and in his last years he seems to have pushed edginess to the very brink of obnoxiousness, if not all the way over the brink.  Still, he had talent, and this quote is quite nice–reminiscent of the Hindu concept of līlā; and certainly a good prescription for the world.

An Explanation for Our Current Situation

From the late, great George Carlin–near the tail end of his career when he was more bitter than funny, but still telling it like it is (hat tip to Glenn Greenwald).