Groucho Marx

Let me say this about that.

For all our faults, Americans live in the greatest nation in the world.  I do not make this statement lightly.  Unless you have actually resided in another country, you can never have a full appreciation of all our shortcomings – and our greatness.

What makes America great?  Our wealth? – technology? – education? – geography? – economy? – no, no, no, no, and no.  What makes America the greatest nation is the fact that we have an ingrained sense of humor.  If you have never lived in another country, you can’t really appreciate what a huge part humor plays in our culture.

Don’t believe it?  Take the following common sense test:

Have you ever seen the Russian President smile?

Have you ever heard a German tell a joke?

What is the one thing all Finnish people find funny?

Have you ever seen a Chinese guy belly laugh?

I would wager the answer to these questions, and a hundred just like them, would be “NO” .  Most countries are not known for their sense of humor, don’t have a sense of humor, and find almost nothing funny.  In some of the countries I have lived in – Japan being the most notable example – laughter is actually…    a sign of disrespect.

Americans polish their sense of humor by describing life in America in sarcastic, biting, self-depreciating, and critical terms that are often funny as hell.  I offer just a few examples:

Yogi Berra, ex-Yankee baseball player and coach, who has been accused of being dumb as a bag of hammers, has a uniquely American way of expressing himself.  Once, when asked if he wanted his pizza cut into four slices or eight slices, replied:

“Better cut four.  I don’t think I could eat eight.”

And, while we are featuring the articulation skills of Yogi Berra, a reporter asked him after a game, whether two fans who had streaked, buck-naked across the infield during a game, were men or women, Berra replied:

“I don’t know.  They had bags over their heads.”

Dave Barry is a syndicated columnist for the Miami Herald newspaper with word-smithing skills that won him a Pulitzer prize.  Barry often combines two subjects which have such incongruity, that he makes us rethink our own flawed thought process and gives us a good laugh in the bargain.  A fan once wrote to him to ask which animal he thought had the greatest speed.  Barry explained:

“Scientists tell us that the fastest animal in the world – with a top speed of 120 mph – is a cow that has been dropped from a helicopter.”

Much of America’s greatest philosophies were  formulated by anonymous thinkers whose identities were lost in history.  Many of these philosophies are so profound in their simplicity that they leave us wondering why we believe the world is so complicated.  One such example builds on an age-old adage known by all of us:

“The early bird may get the worm, but the 2nd mouse gets the cheese.”

Talk show host Jay Leno also has a talent for debunking widely held beliefs with a dose of common sense that simplifies the complex.  One night during his monologue he opened, out of the blue, with the following comment:

“How come you never see a newspaper headline like – Psychic Wins Lottery”

We Americans, frankly, don’t know much about people in other countries.  Even though we make fun of them and their eccentricities, we often do it in a way that actually highlights OUR ignorance of their culture.  Steve Martin, comic, actor, and banjo player, once tried to explain the French language:

“Those French people - they have a different word for everything.”

Groucho Marx, an actor, comic and game show host in the 40′s and 50′s often presented himself as a sarcastic fool.  Marx, however, was actually a very intelligent man.  He differed from many American philosophers – who simplified ideas once thought to be quite complex – by making simple ideas appear complicated.  Take his thoughts on ‘man’s best friend’:

“Outside of a dog, a book is your best friend.  But inside a dog, it’s too dark to read.”

Religion is a dead serious business in most countries, but in the U.S., even religion can’t escape the overdeveloped sense of humor of our most offbeat thinkers.  Witness Jeff Foxworthy’s takeoff on ways you might discover that you are a redneck …. re-worked to examine ways you might tell if you are a member of the Taliban:

“If you refine heroin for a living, but have a moral objection to liquor, you might be a Taliban.”

Some of life’s great mysteries can often be explained by guys who are unencumbered by fear of pissing people off.  Robin Williams is the “patron saint of explaining stuff”  using his unconventional approach to everything – including God and anatomy:

“The problem is that God gave man a brain and a penis but only enough blood to run one at a time.”

No other country in the world makes fun of it’s leaders like the United States.  In no other country do the same leaders make fun of themselves.  President George Bush, often dismissed as an inarticulate boob, is a pretty smart guy who often had trouble with the English language.  At an annual Press Club dinner, he once lampooned himself with a takeoff on the time worn adage that:

“You can fool some of the people all the time and those are the people you need to concentrate on.”

And, that’s all I have to say about that.

Shambo