They’re not even close to contemporaries. Carlin started in comedy in the late 1950’s.
And there’s no way that the South Puckers would warn you that they’re coming for your social security- they couldn’t care less. You’re confusing outrage and despair with glee over the shitty situations people face.
It seems to me that blaming Carlin for the people who didn’t grok his message 20-30 years after the fact is counterproductive, at best.
And which Carlin? 1950’s conventional comedian? Early 1960’s Hippie Dippy Weatherman? 1970’s angry not so young man decrying the system? 1980’s - 90’s bitter at the state of affairs middle aged guy?
Excellent point; Carlin evolved and so did his humor.
And some bits have aged better than others, such as “Stuff”:
This is like blaming Orwell because some people read 1984 as an instruction manual.
That’s true… he employed the language of the counterculture to great effect. His biggest influence in that came from Lenny Bruce whose work sought to point out the hypocrisy censorship of mainstream culture, where morality was used to censor alternative points of view. Carlin started out as a more conventional comic and moved onto a more counter cultural figure in the mode of Bruce. Of course, what some people get wrong is that the goal is to say as many offensive things as possibly, as opposed to pointing out imbalances of power.
I think some times, his stuff still can provide insights, though.
Exactly! He’s telling us that we’re not alone in our despair!
The shit he gets wrong doesn’t necessarily take away from what he got right, though. I’m not a fan of that stuff either, but is he wrong about the hypocrisy of censorship, or that powerful corporations are basically running the show?
Time travel guide / school lecturer from a utopian 27th century?
Yeah, I didn’t mean to say the insights weren’t valuable even if that’s pretty much what I said. There are always some oldies that are still goodies. We could say the golden rule is cliche at this point, but it’s still not bad advice.
A philosophy professor once said to my class that one generation’s anathema is the next generations veridical paradox is the next generation’s cliche. In that model I might call quantum superposition cliche, or human rights cliche. I recognize this is torturing the word “cliche” to the point of nonsense, that’s how the web of ideas connects in my brain for some reason.
Poppy: This song is so sad.
Branch: Yeah, but life is sad sometimes, so I think I kinda… like it?
Oh, I know that! But thanks for clarifying!
Here’s one that could have been recorded yesterday.
I can only wonder what he would have said about the current situation; he probably already saw it coming.
I’m sure you’re aware of this, but it’s worth letting others know that Carlin got himself deliberately arrested alongside Bruce at the typical end of one of the latter’s shows at The Gate of Horn (Lenny was not impressed). Both of them are true heroes of American culture.
I guess watching the video they seem to focus on the GOP and Trump supporters. I could easily see Trump’s campaign using the audio 4 years ago and putting HRC and Soros etc. in the video. You could literally use the video to paint any politician as being owned. His tone is pretty nihilistic and he doesn’t really offer any solutions unless its an unspoken rise up and eat the rich.
That’s basically how I hear it. As a confirming articulation of how many thinking people suspect that life isn’t fair. Not that it’s intrinsically unfair, but that society has been set up by greedy, controlling fucks for their own benefit. I don’t hear “You know, you’re right about that!” as a nihilistic message.
He was a comedian; fixing all society’s ills wasn’t really part of his job description.
Oh, come on… you know that you can’t be in the least bit critical of society unless you have a full set of solutions to offer… /s 
Nirvana something, something…
My commentary more relates to how his speech is being co-opted for political points and how really either side can use it to score cheap political points.
Well he wasn’t really a big fan of either party so that seems apropos.
“This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Virginia Military Institute.”
Here’s the clip of him doing this bit on stage, it’s worth watching even without the nifty visuals:
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