I had a really dope conversation w a colleague of mine today about the relationship between irony and righteous anger. An older professor suggested that due to our generation’s [laugh at everything-irreverent-sarcastic-nothing is sacred-trust no one-we get the joke] irony, we lack a sense of frustration & rage that is critical to effective activism and social change.  In other words: Is the Obama generation too ironic to act? 

For me the answer is a clear no, although my friend suggested that I explore what it is about irony that older folks are so afraid of. Without a clear understanding of that, my resistance to that perspective usually goes something like this: “You’re old. You just don’t get it. And you don’t like things you don’t get.”  I admit, that’s probably too simplistic. 

Neverthelss, I really do believe that our attitude is, as Cornel West’s said in a review of book called Chic Ironic Bitterness: “sophisticated irony and subtle humor that contributes to the possibility of genuine civic trust and democratic life.” In my mind, anger relates to values and irony relates to strategy. We get angry when something offends our core earnest believe in that which is good and right and true. Irony is how we manage and channel that anger so as to be self-aware, pragmatic, and, one would hope, more effective. The two, anger and irony, are not mutually exclusive and in fact, for our generation, are almost inextricably tied.  

Sure - Maybe there is a tipping point where irony breeds cynicism, but even then, cynicism in the effectiveness of an obviously, blatantly broken system is fine as long as it is accompanied by an earnest belief that we as citizens - as humans - with all of our smarts and incredulity, still have the capacity deep within us to effect change.

All that said, tomorrow morning I’ll be w the most ironic of them all down on the National Mall will [thousands] [millions] of other folks at the March to Restore Sanity/Fear w John Stewart and Stephen Colbert. Although a part of me is frustrated that all of these people are spending valuable time and resources traveling to DC instead of being home knocking on doors, volunteering for campaigns, and getting their friends and families to vote the final weekend before the election, I”ll still be there, ready to dance to The Roots, take goofy pics with my friends, and laugh at what I’m sure will be an amazing lineup of speakers. I’ll be thinking about this topic, searching for answers and hoping that this gigantic display of irony is really just a sharpening of a savvy anger that we’ll all go back to our communities and wield at the polls.