Years ago, I heard a State Hospital psychiatrist quip during a lecture that: “Humor is about 95% hostility, and the rest is something else, but I don’t know what.” I didn’t agree at the time, and still don’t. But he was right about at least 5% being a mystery. Humor is beyond us, and our response to it is some form of joy. Humor, among other things, is an effort to bring a joyful experience to, well, just about everything.
Of the six universal emotions presented by many experts as fundamental and universal to human experience across cultures, only one of them is positive. Joy is that one, and in a variety of ways it represents all happiness. It balances out our disturbing experiences of the other five.
There is fear which repels us, sends us seeking safety, and yet fascinates us in horror movies; there is anger which energizes us to “go against” somebody or someone; there is sadness at what discourages us and brings us to grief; there is hurt that underlies both fear and anger as personal pain; and there is regret, which can be either guilt about what we’ve done or neglected, or shame that tries to convince us that something is wrong with us not only with our behavior.
On the positive side there is joy, and it can make a day tolerable when it has been full of disturbing levels of any or all the other five.
Joy is signaled to those around by such actions as a fresh laugh, a warm smile, singing, humming, jumping, or moving towards human touch in many different ways. It makes us lighter, more optimistic, more appreciative, and has many words to describe it – bliss, delight, warm, happy, elated, comforted, naturally high, stoked, and even “cool”.
What can we find in the character of potential politicians by looking through the lens of joy? Anger we can often see publicly in a person’s voice volume and tone. It obscures the fear, hurt, and sadness underneath it. And in political discourse there are almost never hints of genuine regret from shame or guilt in politicians.
But what about their joy?
Wanting to appear attractive in as many ways possible during campaigns, candidates show joy in many hues, some spontaneous and some appearing manufactured for image effect.
Joy, in its satire form for example, chides powerful leaders by the weak using artistic ridicule. Comedians and buddies use humor to send those covert messages about displeasure with political leaders when being direct would be too perilous. And satire can bolster the spirit of the downtrodden and those people who are chronically disappointed by highlighting leaders’ foibles and faults.
It takes a special gift to carry off satire effectively. But well worded and spontaneously delivered it gives a gift to those of us who struggle to articulate how we feel about disappointing and abusive leaders. Satirists and comedians speak for us. We laugh, either internally or boisterously, and can actually feel the injection of bits of enthusiasm into our spirits. A morsel of joy.
There are other faces of joy. There is the delight, unintentional and spontaneous, at the sight of a child’s animated face, especially one’s own son or daughter— maybe even more so of a grandchild. There are the monumental joyful moments reproduced by the memories of key events in an offspring’s life – birth, graduations, performance successes – all classic smiles and grins that appeared in an instant from nowhere at spontaneous humor, silly events, and “dad joke” puns.
There is the joy of surprising success in athletic and academic achievement, and the frequent little acknowledgements of closeness and affection in sibling relationships. There is the excitement of the serendipity of first meeting somebody you see as a potential long-term friend. There is falling in love and the days that follow that make the whole world look brighter. There is cuddling with a lover, the profound relaxation after carnal engagement, and the serene promise of a life together that just might work.
All of these are brushes with a power far beyond us. Maybe gratefulness is not expressed enough. We can influence our joy to an extent, but mostly it comes from another world, leaping into our consciousness for at least temporary relief of our discouragement and calming of our anxiety.
Joy in its potentially abusive form however, uses the brandishing of ridicule and clever naming and blaming to cut into the feelings of anybody the abuser opposes. Ridicule can really hurt, almost physically. It is joy turned bad, a standard weapon of manipulation.
Manipulating, in its simplest definition, is getting people to do what you want by using their feelings. Manipulation can be conscious or unconscious. When politicians are running for office, they are intentionally trying to positively influence voters’ behavior. They need to sell themselves to the electorate as the best option to mark on that ballot. At times the quickest and sharpest way to do that is to ridicule selective aspects of the opposition personally, even if that requires making up “alternative truths” with which to do so.
Campaigning necessarily includes a kind of manipulation. Like in administration and management the need for compliance can be seen as paramount. Carrot or stick, take your pick. Get it done. Joy in that scenario is in the financial bottom line for investors and the corporate top leaders. Some politicians, particularly out of the Midwest, have been working to improve those carrots for decades now and are having some success. (e.g., See Robert Reich and Heather Cox Richardson on Substack)
Political conventions now feature lots of joy. The apparent cheery emotion that pervades them will almost certainly be designed or intentionally fashioned as a component of the “sell” while only partially authentically representing the candidate’s essence or plan. The rest of it may be giddiness at the massive attention at the moment, and hope for political success. Character can sometimes be boring. Deep down joy often takes some laborious preparation on the part of someone. And preparation for a convention can be fun.
Still, despite the distracting celebrative giddiness, with close observation a citizen who is present, or even watching on TV, can gain an impression about the candidate’s joy. It won’t be perfect, but It may be useful for voting decisions..
There is a list of virtues Paul of Tarsus wrote about that were observable in people who first converted to Christianity. He saw those positive characteristics boldly enough to distinguish people who first converted to “The Way” from those who didn’t. To him it was obvious.
In that list of Paul (Gal 5) the first virtue named was charity. That makes sense since the pivotal characteristic of early Christians was kindness and generosity. The converted people were generous, open and giving.
The second characteristic in that list however, was joy. Early Christians were a joyful group for sure.
The many faces of joy can be taken theologically as human experiences of the Divine. God is love. Love warms. Love cares. Love helps out, supports, sacrifices, and ponders someone else’s life to improve it. All of those actions create joy in ordinary people. Is there some genuine love that is not God? We experience the living God in whatever warms our hearts, from parental embraces to the last words before dying. “Joy is the surest sign of the presence of God.” (Unknown origin, attributed to several.)
So what can we learn from noticing the way a political candidate expresses joy? We can learn to take time for reflection, to look closely at a candidate and not too impulsively, and to intuit what brand of joy this is. Then decide how much it means to choose this candidate to be a leader for you. For examples:
What of a politician whose humor it mostly ridicule? Would that candidate make a positive role model for your young son or daughter as a top government leader? Isn’t that worth noting?
What about the politician whose humor seems mostly to be the thin joy of being giddy together. Does that impression suggest shallow character?
What about the politician whose humor seems mostly to give a light side to the highly ambiguous nature of national elections outcomes. They may not be as cheered as they act.
Is this joy satirical humor, with some of the same self-satisfying inner excitement? Is it effective, by showing boldly an aspect of the situation or another candidate that sheds light on them and their character?
Is it raw delight at lucky good fortune, that things are going extremely well, akin to gratefulness rather than taking things for granted?
Is it a habitual carrying of the persistent positive attitudes of a genuine optimist, an enduring component of their sterling character?
Is it merely a refuge from the thorny world of manufactured political masks that seem awkward to maintain?
Or is it healthy pride at being able to parry the thrusts of a powerful political foe?
I believe most of us do want leaders who can smile and have that smile feel genuine, as one human being to a sometimes appreciative other. What does your intuition say about this time of apparent joy in politics?
Gordon J Hilsman is a retired clinical educator and the author of the book Assessing the CHARACTER of Candidates for National Political Office: In Search of a Collaborative Spirit. He is now living in the Pacific Northwest with his wife of 44 years and can be reached at ghilsman@gmail.com or www.spiritualclinician.com
