here's a thesis: joy is power. it threatens authority. therefore, authorities strive to control it.

it is telling to then see where joy and its instruments are expressly permitted, and where they are being suppressed.

there is a history to joy. the counterculture movement was suppressed precisely because it started out as joyful.

and it is understandable then why minority issues co-opted symbols of joy: the rainbow. the word "gay".

but this is just a thesis. i'm still building it.