Whether it’s a hectoring harpy screeching at teenagers playing football in a park, and wishing them a painful COVID-19 death, or a government bureaucrat wielding his paltry power to mess up your life, we are surround by a nation of Karens. Why does Karen think she IS the boss of you?
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28 replies on “A Nation of Karens: She IS The Boss of You”
CS Lewis offers some understanding and compassion for functionaries and busybodies:
Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.
Was going to post this one, but ya bet me to it!
My first reaction to that video clip was, “now, there’s a person who needs to stop watching MSNBC/CNN/etc.” She’s been frightened out of her mind by the malignant press.
I think Scott nailed it. These are people whose pet peeve is encountering someone who thinks the rules don’t apply to them. They further think that people who break the rules are actually harming other people, just by breaking the rules. They’re more interested in the letter of the law than the spirit of the law. They’re more interested in processes than results.
When I first heard of this topic on the Backstage show (I had never heard the term “Karen” in this context), I felt some trepidation. Oh, no, am I a Karen??? I’m relieved to learn that I’m not.
A Karen is just the Church Lady on steroids given the ability to actually affect peoples lives. Dana Carvey was funny this is not.
I think the Karens suffer from the need to tell others what to do because of jealousy and envy along with innately being control freaks and tattletales. I think they’re all minor mutations of the same dysfunctional gene.
On side note, I did punch other females that got into my business when I was a teen, so its not just reserved for guys. However now, I just prefer to make them look and feel stupid.
And they got through the entire clip without mentioning homeowner’s associations.
Reminds me of an old joke. A woman calls the police and says her neighbors are have sex right where she can see.
The officer arrives and asks her to show him where it is. So, she takes him to the 3rd floor of her house, opens the attic door and has him go up with her. Then she has him stand on a chair and look an attic window, then says, “see, right there they are!”
LIGHT WORKER or light worker?
Way to go, Steve! You referenced my absolute favorite Heinlein book. I think I have read it 5 times. Love the notebook of Lazarus Long lines in there.
I don’t think it’s that they don’t want to follow the rules; they are predisposed to bow to authority. And if they do, then everybody must.
I don’t get that first clip. Isn’t she inside the park herself?
She is standing outside the fence walking her dog.
You see this in every stupid law that gets passed. Don’t want to use a straw? Don’t. Want to use reusable plastic bags? Go ahead. Want the government to have more money? Send yours in. Nope, they’re not content to act on their own, they want to force EVERYBODY to do it.
I’mma go way out on a limb here about this meme. There’s a reason the meme is a Nation of Karens rather than a Nation of Kevins. I think it’s because women are more risk adverse (following the rules is safe), more emotionally driven (I denounce myself) and are more susceptible to peer pressure. W/ those tendencies, you’re going to have more outliers that go full Karen. Whereas a guy going full Kevin is going to be ignored or punched in the nose by other guys.
Or maybe I’ve been watching too much Honey Badger Radio on YouTube.
You are 100% correct.
The appropriate response to KAREN is to tune-out and carry-on. Eventually, her lungs will fail to the incessant screeching.
LOL…… Famous last words. “Go ahead and record it, who are you going to show it too?”
Like an old Norm McDonald joke, “The World”
Barack Obama made ONE mistake? Or a dozen plus?
MORE!
At least a dozen dozen. Also known as a gross.
Mrs. Grundy? I had no idea that Solomon got married, but good for him! I’ve wondered what he’d been up to after leaving The Legion of Doom.
And I would pay money to see some Karen try getting into Solomon Grundy’s business!
For that matter, does anybody know what the rest of the Legion of Doom is up to these days? I haven’t been able to confirm it, but I swear I’ve seen Bizarro in the White House Press Corps
Among Obama’s nicknames, you forgot “The Kwisatz Haderach”
I’ve always preferred Obozo, because my gutter-mind often asserts itself.
A friend of mine called Obama Barack Obey Me.
I always liked the bumper sticker that said Obama Bin Lyin’
Ooohhh! A Dune reference. My stillsuit is around here somewhere…..
The lives of the Karen’s of the world are totally out of control. Rather than working to control themselves, they work to control everyone else. This will to control others gives them only momentary respite from their feeling of impending doom. Hence, if they get to do a little bit of control of others they seek to gain still more control. If this tendency is allowed to continue, the drive will lead to the stopping of everything.
The fact is their internal state is a living hell so they want everyone to suffer even more than they are suffering by making living on earth hell incarnate.
We need to learn how to tell them to go to hell and require that they pay for the expense of going there.