Can you make jokes about climate crisis?

In this article, I discuss whether you can make jokes about climate crisis or if it is too insensitive.

This is text is based on my newsletter I published in October 2023.

The world seems to be in a dark place. It looks like we are beyond laughter. But is this true? Couldn’t it be helpful to laugh? But on the other side, is it ok to make jokes about the climate crisis? Or is counterproductive to do that, is it even cynical?

In my opinion, you can make jokes about anything. In fact, humor can help to process difficult situations. Such as death, sickness, war, or other cruel things.

The thin red line for jokes about climate crisis

However, it is a thin red line, if you make jokes about climate crisis. On the one side, you have to be careful not to offend someone and, on the other side, not to become cynical. Being funny in this narrow space is difficult and an art form.

Many people fail trying it. Often all you get are memes on social media that aren’t as funny. But a few are:

Hand-Drawn meme
byu/Vivi370 inClimateMemes

The problem with memes is, they typically make fun of the climate change deniers. I think it’s cheap.

Since our system is crashing on multiple levels simultaneously, it’s easy to become overwhelmed and be cynical. Making fun of the ones that responsible for this is natural and understandable. Trying to overcome this need, maybe one reason why it is hard for me to make jokes about climate crisis.

And perhaps it’s wrong.

I’m not funny…

I also have the feeling I am not that funny anymore. It might be I matured, maybe I was never funny. At least formerly, I always made a joke. Nowadays, I often can’t think about one.

Has the current situation of the world made me unfunny?

…but Jews are

As a counterexample, many Jewish comedians who survived the Holocaust were able to write jokes about it. And yes, there are also many jokes about Jews, which are mostly just antisemitic crap.

I would rather not compare myself with people surviving concentration camps, quite the opposite. These people lived through a much greater horror than we do, and they still found a way to laugh about it.

Is the good system funny

The good system is fun, for sure, but is it also funny? Can a system be funny? Its representatives can, and they should, be allowed to be funny. But for politicians it is also a thin red line. Except you are Donald Trump, then you do not have any lines.

Politicians should be allowed to be funny to show their human side, but their jokes should not be at the cost of minorities. At best, politicians joke about themselves.

It’s also true for writing about the good system. It should be entertaining, and humor is a big part of entertainment. As you can make jokes about climate change, you can for sure make jokes about the good system. As the good system is my baby, I am allowed to say this.

It will be a little bit funny

As I said, you can make jokes about anything. But sometimes it may not be possible for you to do so. At least, you may not be able to establish a good joke. But maybe there is someone else who can make you feel better in a bad situation, if you laugh about it.

Long story short, I try to be funnier about fixing our failed system. As I tried it for the last year and failed. But now it looks even darker, the best time to make some fun.