John Kerry and the Ethics of Humor

For those of you who think ethics is either an academic exercise before the fact or a finger-pointing event after the fact, John Kerry's recent "botched humor" tells a different story.

What are the ethics of humor?

Ethics can be broadly defined as the choice of behavior based on one's beliefs. What we say with humor is often what we really believe. I don't pretend to know Kerry's inner thoughts, but I suggest his "botched humor" reveals some disturbing beliefs about our armed forces - and of course, that's the charge many are leveling at him.

What about you and I? What does our humor reveal? Sarcasm is a thinly veiled criticism wrapped in humor so that we can toss it off with, "Oh, it was just a joke." Ethnic or gender related jokes are funny because there's a part of us that either believe their basic premise, or, worse yet, believe it's okay to demean others.

Humor is a great gift, but used without conscious thought, it can hurt and destroy. In the public sector it is more visible, but no less harmful.

This is a tough lesson to learn, especially for those of us who are more outgoing and tend to talk off the top of our heads. I'm still working to bring my humor under a tighter rein. I challenge all of us to be able to say, "Starting WIth Me, humor will not be used as a weapon." - SWiM™