> The tragedy of Jon Stewart was not that nobody listened to him but that everybody did.<p>Listened to what underlying ethos, though? Stewart himself is still quick to assert that he's only a comedian. He points out the problems and contradictions of our modern dystopia while making funny faces. He never proposes a comprehensive alternative, just general platitudes. He's just here to put a smile on your face while everything goes to hell.<p>The article mentions his admiration for George Carlin, and in spite of Stewart's gentler demeanor the apple didn't fall far from the tree. Carlin's comedy was politically nihilist. "I don't vote. If voting could change anything, they wouldn't let you do it." Stewart's comedy is just a more cheerful flavor of nihilism.<p>It's no wonder Stewart doesn't use his platform to promote some tidy vision for the future. Unironic takes on ideology died last century. Mainstream culture will give an equal smirk to anyone saying the workers should seize the means of production, or laissez-faire capitalism is the way and corporations are our friends, or we should just let Jesus take the wheel, or any new variation on the above.<p>We're all just too smart to believe in anything, and the only comfort is to laugh at the absurdity of it all.