“Giggling at the darker side of reality… that’s best left to one of those “edgy” comics, really. Or a drunk guy on Facebook.”
So a few months ago I said I’d been finding goofy Wikipedia quotes in depressing Wikipedia articles, and it made me nervous because I wasn’t sure if I was doing the right thing by mocking them. It’s one thing to make fun of Marc Cohn’s “Walking in Memphis,” but giggling at the darker side of reality… that’s best left to one of those “edgy” comics, isn’t it? Or a drunk guy on Facebook.
But what seemed like an ethical crisis of considerable proportions to me was, apparently, of little concern to any of the people I knew. “I thought you were done with Wikipedia,” said a relative. “Aren’t you watching the A-Team now?” The only one in my circle who would even broach the subject was a great aunt of mine. She was generally supportive of me writing about the darker topics, though her advice is suspect given that she’s been convinced since the 80’s that she’s actually singer/songwriter Cat Stevens.
I may have lacked advice, but I was not lacking in inspiration, for later than day I came across a YouTube video of a monkey eating crackers, and I learned much:
And so I realized that I should approach my dilemma the way the monkey would: just tear into the heart of the thing, do what needs to be done, and hiss at everyone around once finished. With that in mind, I present a disappointing quote from the Wikipedia article on slavery:
A US Government report published in 2003, estimates that 800,000-900,000 people worldwide are trafficked across borders each year. This figure does not include those who are trafficked internally.
I’m pretty sure that “internally” and “across borders” filter each other out… just… eh… hissssssss hissssssss hisssssss hissssss
