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Blog 4: meme

 The first meme that came to mind is one that was circulating on Twitter a few months ago, around the time when people were receiving their stimulus checks. The format was such: 





I thought this meme was really interesting because yes it's silly humor, but it's also an expression of how many Americans feel that the government has been unable to help its citizens during the pandemic in an efficient and sound way. I think political memes are an especially interesting phenomenon because of the way people use light-hearted humor to showcase their critiques of real and pressing issues. 

This meme in particular, I think is a reflection of how many people have lost a lot of respect and trust for the government over the past couple of years, that was only exacerbated by the way the American government has handled the pandemic. This meme tackles the reactions people had when congress was arguing over whether or not to give qualifying Americans a one-time payment of $1400- A payment that just barely covers some people's monthly rent. 

 The overall idea was that many people think a one-time payment of $1400 was a lousy and careless way to address the economic hardships of the pandemic, and all versions of this meme jokingly detailed situations that one could 'finally do' because they received $1400. Like the first two examples above, some variations of this meme detailed situations that were very much exaggerated fantasies of what someone could gain with $1400. This version used irony as a way to highlight actually how little $1400 is in reality to someone who has multiple different financial responsibilities. 

Other versions of the meme like the last one, I think used the structure that the meme offered to further attack American political and economic institution, by detailing real-life situations that exposed how little $1400 is to working-class people in comparison to the cost of living in America, in instances such as healthcare routines and/or health emergencies. 

Overall I found that the humor in this meme was the kind you might have when someone falls- It's funny but it's not funny, because someone might be actually hurt. In this case not by falling, but by the lack of governmental aid during Covid. What a world. 

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