satire

I’ve long appreciated the clever deployment of sarcasm and satire, but have come to reflect on their drawbacks, specifically how they give the illusion of power or critique without actually changing anything: Andrew Bosworth feels likewise:

At the time I loved The Daily Show with Jon Stewart but in retrospect I fear it created a generation of people who can make jokes about the status quo but feel powerless to improve it.

So if you want to make a critique then do it explicitly and earnestly. Take a position of your own and defend it. It takes a lot more work but in exchange it holds the promise to create a great deal more value for society.