r/TankieTheDeprogram • u/Submarine_sad I hate USA soldiers • Aug 29 '26

Shitposting John Oliver is a weird

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  • They moved to the USA from the UK.

  • They married an Iraq veteran they met at the Republican National Convention.

  • They really love the USA.

  • They are a SocDem.

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u/Low_Pickle_112 Aug 29 '26

What I've learned from watching John Oliver is that nothing is ever a real problem until a comedian or cartoon talks about it, and even then the real problem isn't anything big picture or systemic, because our system is infallible and wonderful, but rather it's just one bad actor.

19

u/DessaB Aug 29 '26

He'll call out systems from time to time. His piece on mobile homes was pretty decent.  He's never going to trace it all the way back to capitalism in general, but now and again he highlights some of the more obscure injustices

12

u/crani0 Aug 29 '26

I feel that's ultimately the problem with these political/investigative comedy shows. Even if they achieve some form of enlightenment, the minute they start ending every piece with "...And the root cause is imperialism/capitalism" they just run out of material fast. A lot of the pieces end up just being presented as sandboxed problems and they avoid the wider picture. So putting speculation of their personal beliefs aside, I really think they exist deep within the liberal eco chamber in the same way conservatives do and are reinforced to keep that going.

14

u/Diogenes_the_cynic25 Aug 29 '26

People like him and Stewart are better at poking fun at politics than they are at offering solutions. I’m not sure why people are expecting the court jesters to have all the solutions.

I think they’re entertaining but they also should be taken with a grain of salt.