What's it say when you can laugh at yourself?

Submitted by Jeff (United States), Jan 24, 2021 at 17:44

Watch some old reruns of Monty Python, Fawlty Towers, or Keeping up Appearances. Only members of a culture with a fair amount of faith in itself can ever laugh at themselves and their own culture as much as the English have.

Sorry to say, my three examples and others like them are all decades old. If the English are losing their ability to laugh at themselves, then they may be in the process of losing a whole lot more.

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".