George Carlin spent nearly his entire life trying to warn us of what is happening

People only call Carlin a comedian because it’s a convenient label. That isn’t all he was.
He was a philosopher and social/political/economic critic who wrapped his observations in comedy in order to make the pill easier to swallow. He genuinely worked harder for the American people than virtually every politician who claims to.
I miss him, but I’m also glad he isn’t around to see how badly we fucked up.
- I'm sorry, but I think Carlin would be insulted by the claim that he wasn't a comedian. He was a master at his craft and constantly honing it to stay relevant and in the zeitgeist. Comedy at his level (really at any level because I did it professionally at a very low level) is incredibly difficult work. Do not sell him short.
  
  You make a very good point. My wording was poor. I’ve now changed it to “that isn’t all he was.” Thank you.
  
  This is the closest you’ve come to making me think you’re one of the Knowledge Fight hosts ;)
  (I’m guessing you’ll get the reference but my sincere apologies if not)
- I think you could say the same about Bill Burr. Not just making it comedy to make it easier to swallow, but because the only thing you can do is laugh at the irony and how hopelessly we are along for the ride.
  
  I'm not trying to insult my fellow Americans' intelligence, but when you-know-who is the bus driver, propaganda is everywhere, and brains are overwhelmed:
- My father was a Carlin fan, I would take his albums and started reading his books when I was maybe 14. It was a part of my education that I wish every American shared. We'd be much better off. Al Franken's books, too.
  
  It still pisses me off how they did Franken. They cancelled him for absolutely no reason and you know the Dems were so excited to get an actual progressive out of the party.

What is happening is happening because people don't vote and regularly allow right-wing shitheads to erode the government and society in bad faith, and George Carlin also said "wHy BoThEr VoTiNg?"
So George Carlin was no messiah and no prophet.
There are no messiahs. There are no prophets.
Yet people insist on "if it's not perfect and requires my patience and consistency, I'd rather eat shit than lift a finger once a year".
- It's an odd reaction many seem to share
  Simply recognizing a man's work doesn't elevate him to messiah or prophet
  Also, that bit about not voting goes hand in hand with this bit as well
  It boils down to the question of why vote if neither option will bring about real and lasting positive change?
  Just as it does in this bit that voting is only there to give the population the illusion of choice
- Absolutely. People like George and Jon Steward are fantastic at shining a light at the bullshit, but their solution is either apathy or just laughing at the bullshit and moving on. Both are akin to giving up.
  All their bits should end up with the message don't just vote, get involved in LOCAL government. Don't just wait to vote for president and expect things to get better.
  The GOP controls everything because they started the local level, from city councils to librarians, these fuckers are everywhere

So did Frank Zappa, so did Christopher Hitchens, so did many many others. Did we listen or did we compile the best of their material into top-10 moment videos on YouTube?
- I guess we need actionable top 10 videos
  We can tell people they only have the illusion of freedom and that they're owned by the ultra wealthy, but they have no idea what do with that information

he used to say "Germany lost WW2 but fascism won" and he meant the US back then. if only he could see it now.

Republicans turned out to vote. Democrats couldn't be bothered. And now, it's all over. Whatever happens next, we'll never again return American Democratic institutions to the cohesive force they've been since 1945, ever.

I only post this because I saw someone say that they'd never vote because Carlin had a comedy routine where he said he'd never vote.
Carlin was an iconoclast; I think he'd hate the idea that people were trying to turn him into an icon. He was an entertainer and happily worked with Fox Television to make a sit com.

Heas a real whistle blower

Carlin was way ahead of his time, he is missed.

because he was right back then, and nothing has changed for the better since. We've finally hit the end goal that Carlin knew was coming.

Circling the drain.

Whilst hooning a ton of coke.
- Good ole ”lemmy.world" hating and downvoting the truth.
- Did you down vote that because:
  You think it isn't true.
  You don't like that it is true.
  You sort of moralising cowards are the sort of folk he took the piss out of.
  
  Or 3: it's irrelevant mud slinging
  
  Downvoted due to this cringey reply
  
  Upvoted because
  A. It's true
  B. "hooning" is a word that amuses me