How Much Does Laughter Cost in a Democracy?

“Democracy is just a concept found in textbooks. Do you really think that public opinions affect the decisions of those who rule?” – Voltaire

Sitting on a bench in the park, four of our women were happily laughing over a joke. Two Canadian women stopped by and, with a smile that stretched from ear to ear, said – How wonderful to see you enjoying yourselves! – and still smiling, they continued their walk. The ladies on the bench continued chatting in Serbian, laughing even louder. Unconsciously they understood that this was a free and democratic country, since you could tell a joke in your native language and laugh loudly in the middle of a public park, just as they were currently doing.

But is it truly like this everywhere?

Loud Laughter and Careers

Those who work for corporations practically don’t remember the last time they really laughed out loud. Occasionally everyone laughs uproariously at a meeting, but only if the joke was told by someone higher up. It is not recommended telling a good joke in the presence of your superiors, for the one who you report to is the only one allowed to be funny. Some companies have a dress code which allows for workers to come to work wearing jeans, socialize louder with co-workers, take a longer lunch on Fridays, and, of course, force laughter after one of the boss’s jokes. On command, everyone sits at their computers and a dead silence falls over the office until the end of the working day.

However, if you look at a parliamentary meeting, you will see that the MPs laugh and mock those who spoke before them, but only if they are from an opposing party. I ask myself, has anyone from the opposition ever voted in favor of an idea that stemmed from the ruling party? Yes, that’s called democracy, isn’t it?

Have you ever wondered why people don’t laugh on the streets or on Toronto’s public transit? And nobody looks at anyone else. Why? Because laughing and looking are only harmful, and of no other use. You can be blamed for inappropriately sizing someone up, for disturbing them, without even touching or addressing them… However, recently the Ontario government did reject a proposed law which would define laughing and loud talking in the streets as disturbing the peace in some cases, and therefore something which could be subject to fines! Laughter is sometimes quite expensive in a democracy, especially if you can’t sell it somewhere where it is considered appropriate behaviour, and for the appropriate price.   

Advertising Laughter

Laughter is sometimes sold with great discounts. For example, tickets to plays and musicals are sold at decreased prices after the peak season. Comedy clubs are places where you pay for the humor of comedians along with beer, who are themselves paid in relation to the amount of laughter produced at the venue. Well isn’t that the way to measure it, the democratic distribution of funds and contentment among the working class.

< Have you heard of the new Laughter Yoga, Toronto? This is how the website of this new, paid expression of laughter professionally explains how you too can laugh like crazy: “Laughter Yoga is a unique exercise routine, which combines unconditional laughter with yogic breathing. Anyone can laugh without relying on humour, jokes or comedy. Laughter is initially simulated as a physical exercise while maintaining eye contact with others in the group and promoting childlike playfulness…” >

There is still some novelty, even with TV shows that have a laugh-track. The public fills the studio and is well-fed and watered before the program begins, then these viewers are trained to what extent and in what way to applaud and cheer. During the show, the public scream wildly. But do you know why? Apart from food and drink they, without fail, get gifts. Regardless of whether it’s an electric toothbrush or a color TV, the hallucinatory screaming is hard to control… I call that 20 seconds of talking and 5 minutes of screaming. Well, to each their own! I ask myself whether the viewers at home also scream and jump around their living rooms, completely rapt in joy. Who knows… Orwell predicted methods of controlling the behaviour of citizens even in their private spaces. However, cameras have long since entered our homes, although this happens under the name of ‘reality shows’ and the participants are, I assume, willing (and well-paid, of course).

The price of laughter at the shows of famous comedians, such as Adam Sandler, Jerry Seinfeld, John Mulaney, among others, are especially of note. This is how the prices are structured for tickets to see these most famous entertainers in smaller venues – regular seating is around $500, a table is sold for $5000, and a VIP table goes for around $7500!

Don’t Be Too Polite…

… Since the government really doesn’t like it if you rub salt in their wounds. If you haven’t already experienced it, let me tell you… You’ll have a high price to pay if you give an unexpired parking ticket to someone else. If a camera catches you in such an act of kindness, you can expect a ticket and a trip to court for the illegal act of giving your ticket to someone else, who is legally obligated to buy their own individual parking time.

You also won’t be laughing if you leave your car for more than three hours on a Toronto street with no parking signage. You’ll get a ticket. The government limits your movement, and especially in terms of parking in this city. How, then, can you go to a friend’s party and sing and laugh until dawn? It’s impossible, since you’ll have to re-park your car multiple times during your visit, look for a permit, or pay for each hour that you spend enjoying yourself…

Laugh During Your Lunch Break While You Mediate Standing on One Foot

Even Plato, a few centuries before the Common Era, feared that tyrants and uneducated people would appear at the head of a nation as the result of democracy. The trial and execution of Socrates was a reflection of the society in which “the doctor was accused by the cook, and the jury consisted of children.” Are we too, in the twenty-first century, witnesses to the fact that more and more inadequate people are appearing in positions of power, who don’t have the respect of the people. And all of this under the banner of democracy, just like the promise of ‘freedom’ of life under the banner of globalization. The tastes, culture, and thinking of the masses is being increasingly instated in the name of democracy, and all in a shiny shrink-wrapped package of nonsense, with a form of rule and laws which we ourselves, allegedly, chose.

Regulations and laws often appear logical, yet when they are seen in their full application to daily life, we ask ourselves, does any of that make sense?

Does it not appear in daily life, that we go from one controlling bubble into another? Just think of when you land in an airport in Havana, and immediately light up a cigarette. What joy! Yet if you lit up a cigarette in Toronto, you have to consider how many metres you are from an entrance to a building, or if there’s one of those famous no-smoking signs somewhere nearby. If they don’t get you for smoking on the bridge, they’ll get you on le pont: that is, with life insurance. As a smoker, you will pay well for that pleasure and you’ll be invoking Winston Churchill in vain, even though he lived well into his nineties having continuously smoked a pipe.

When a friend of mine compared her life insurance with that of a younger colleague from work, she realized that the insurance of her colleague was a whole year’s salary, and that hers was only half of that, since she was older than 65. The message is clear – you are not valuable to us anymore, and if you die soon, your family will only get a pittance. Far from receiving a whole yearly salary! She laughed bitterly at that discovery.

Regulations are always changing, especially in relation to interpersonal behaviour and what constitutes disturbing behaviour at the workplace, on the street, and among families… Even in 1981, in an amendment to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms (?????), more space was devoted to behaviour that infringes on the rights of workers. Especially in the last fifteen years, even more attention has been devoted to regulating laws pertaining to unacceptable behaviour in the workplace, especially in relation to sexual harassment.

Whatever may be the case, I ask myself how much the use of antidepressants has gone down since these regulations have been implemented, since it is known that according to official documents, every one-in-five employees uses antidepressants. We won’t mention unofficial documents, although we should, since this is a democracy.

Since this is a multicultural community, the topic of racial discrimination is an especially sensitive one. However, if you attend a Russell Peters show, you’ll laugh until you cry at his imitations of various accents and manners that belong to people from various different cultures. That is where one can freely release what is hidden in the workplace and on the street, since this time, one has paid for it.

He Who Laughs Last

Can you imagine someone who has no money coming out as a candidate for a high political position? It’s an impossibility. But that’s also why a murderer can get out of jail in 24 hours if someone paid a million dollars for their bail. A true example of democracy.

In court, lawyers behave in exact accordance with the laws and regulations. In the trial of a murderer, who killed a young boy with leukemia, the fact that “the boy wouldn’t have had long to live anyway, even if he wasn’t run down by a drunk driver,” was seen as a mitigating factor. And so, the drunk driver gets a two-year jail sentence, and is released after just nine months due to good behaviour, and his license is returned to him after three years. Go ahead and freely cross the street at the pedestrian crossings. If someone runs you over, your family might even be grateful for the service.

And so, today, as soon as the sun rises early in morning, laugh for no reason. For if you’re not at work or crossing the street, you can assume you have your freedom. That is, if you can manage to laugh.