Political comedy changed how Generation X, Millennials, and Gen Z viewed the news. It might be more accurate to say Jon Stewart changed these generations opinions of news, journalism, and comedy. After his sixteen years leading the Daily Show, he left behind a host of disciples, who went on to create The Colbert Report, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, Last Week Tonight, The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore, along with The Daily Show under Trevor Noah. Some shows existed early in Stewart's run, like Real Time with Bill Maher. Many failed after a year or two. Other shows took aspects of Stewart's show. Adam Conover's Adam Ruins Everything was more similar to Last Week Tonight, in that they both focused more on issues, then immediate political news, though John Oliver's show included more than the Conover's.
Comedian's don't have a monopoly on discovering the flaws plaguing the United States. Irrespective of their numerous failings, national papers like the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and Boston Globe spotlight local or national issues of note. While there are undoubtedly problems beyond the power of the federal government to solve immediately, there are so many that seem to persevere through political inertia.
Even a cursory review of the past half decade of news, especially of the shows listed above, generates a substantial list of “simpler” issues, which seem to be ignored by the federal government, when it could step in.
The TSA doesn't prevent terrorist attacks.
There is an abundance of Tylenol overdoses.
Car dealerships are monopolies.
Tipping, and the minimum wage associated with it, are terrible for most workers.
Flushable wipes wreck sewer systems.
Unpaid internships are terrible for workers.
Eyeglasses are also a monopoly.
Supplements don't work.
Most vitamins don't work either. Both of these should be more heavily regulated.
Solitary confinement is a crime against humanity.
Most plastic recycling is a lie, which the government allows to continue.
Taxes are unnecessarily difficult for most people to file.
Police abuse civil forfeiture.
The IRS is underfunded, allowing the super-wealthy to avoid paying billions.
A dollar is worth 17% less than in 2009, when the government last increased the minimum wage.
The government allows the production and use of absurdly dangerous and pervasive chemicals.
Companies, particularly meat producers, use antibiotics at a rate that will render them useless.
Student debt is out of control, and people can't use bankruptcy to escape it.
Public defendants are underfunded, especially compared to prosecutors.
Police buy military grade equipment from the federal government.
Private prisons harm inmates at an expensive cost.
Internet service providers are monopolies.
Even though redlining and segregation are no longer legal, their effects linger, resulting in segregated neighborhoods and schools.
The mass production of meat at most US farms is inhumane, both for the animal and the workers.
Companies, like credit companies, suffer no penalties for massive data leaks of consumer information.
The citizens of Puerto Rico and Washington D.C. have no representation.
Mandatory sentencing leads to many more people incarcerated for longer than necessary.
Prosecutors can use unreliable evidence, such as polygraph machines or hair samples, to convict people.
Even fingerprints are suspect as evidence.
Gerrymandering has become such a science that representatives can choose their voters, instead of the other way around.
Tech companies, such as Facebook, Google, and Amazon are monopolies.
Copyright laws passed in 1976 changed the time of control from 56 years to a minimum of 75 years.
Prisons don't prepare prisoners to return to society, and society discriminates against them.
Debt collection and subprime lending punishes the most vulnerable members of society.
The infrastructure of the United States is rapidly deteriorating, and a lack of public transportation increases poverty and climate change.
401k plans are not sufficient to secure retirement in replacement of pensions, and fiduciary rules remain unclear.
Billionaires use their immense wealth to protect it from taxation, and then influence policies by spending it themselves as philanthropy.
The dialysis industry is a monopoly which harms millions.
Guantanamo Bay held, and still holds,
innocent people.
The United States used, and did not punish, the
use of torture.
There is no database that keeps track of all shootings by police, indicating a lack of accountability.
The immigration and asylum systems were broken before 2016, are still broken, harming innocent people seeking to escape intolerable situations.
The United States doesn't sufficiently punish financial crimes or the people who caused the opioid epidemic.
The United States is one of the few countries which doesn't mandate paid parental leave.
The conditions at warehouses for large corporations is unsuitable for workers.
Political fundraising and advertising is out of control, and a tool for the wealthy to choose elected officials.
Local newspapers have been decimated, allowing local problems and corruption to expand without oversight.
At some point this list transitioned from smaller problems, to more serious issues. Yet, they still remain oddly without relevant action by the United States. And they still don't quite touch the highest levels of domestic concern:
The war on drugs.
The US contribution to climate change.
The lack of regulation of environmental pollution.
A lack of gun control.
The existence and deployment of US nuclear weapons.
A massive, and yet still swelling, income inequality.
A deterioration of voting rights.
Unaffordable health care for a sizable portion of Americans.
And overreaching, invasive government surveillance.
It would be arrogant to claim this is a complete list. But the issues listed don't seem insurmountable. For those with no easy fix, ignoring them isn't a viable solution.
Why do they persist?
The most obvious answer is partisanship. One party can halt all progress on any particular issue. That so many of these persist is a stain on the Republic. But it isn't the public that prohibits action. In a number of the higher profile issues, the public overwhelmingly supports a solution. Yet elected officials won't enact it. Bipartisan officials paradoxically aren't a solution either. The United States House includes the Problem Solvers Caucus, a collection of twenty-eight Democrats and twenty-eight Republicans. The name is an obvious propaganda attempt. They are a collection of status quo politicians, doubling down on solutions that are really problems. Then they tinker around the edges while issues fester. Their most recent innovation was to fund Biden's infrastructure plan with an increased gas tax instead of the corporate taxes the President proposed.
While corruption is the common answer to the inactivity of Congress, that label calls for a more detailed description. Are good people corrupted by the fundraising and deal making required to win reelection? Or do only people with bad intentions seek elevation to office? Peer pressure must play a part. The pressure of those already in Congress to mimic their behavior. The pressure of mixing with the powerful, and not wanting to upset them. The cowardice and inexperience of joining members to realize it needs a transformation. Even the most complacent of politicians must see the danger of inaction, if not to themselves, than to their children, grandchildren, friends, and family.
It's difficult to watch Congress pass only seven laws in 2021 (as of 4/24), one of which allowed Lloyd Austin to serve as secretary of defense, though he had recently served in the arm forces.
Perhaps if members of Congress truly want to solve problems, they should hire John Oliver's writers, who seem to have a better grasp on the issues than they do.
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