QUESTION: And so I just want to hear more about your philosophy and what (inaudible) areas of policy are where you think comedy can have a big impact?
STEWART: You know, here's the only thing I would say, shame can be a final gust of wind. Comedy can't have an impact on policy. People can have an impact on policy. Grassroots lobbying, foundational lobbying, have an influence. Comedy and satire are an expression. They are an artistic idea. They are not activism. It is not anything other than a painting, a song, a joke. None of those can change anything. They can, occasionally, focus a conversation at a crucial moment and help the good work of all the individuals that have put in that time, and I never forget that. Nothing that we ever did meant anything compared to the people on the ground in grassroots who work tirelessly in anonymity against all odds to do what's right, and have to do that facing headwinds that shouldn't be there in the first place, that are artificial.
This was the realization that hit me in 2004 when I realized that no matter how many times Bruce went around singing to people, it's possible that rock n' roll can't immediately change the world. Read the entire transcript HERE.
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