I wrote a book called “Crap Towns”. It seemed funny at the time

Evolving Humor and Context

• Many see the core insight as: the same joke no longer feels funny even to its creator. Humor ages; some 80s–2000s shows now feel either dated, depressing, or mean rather than subversive.
• Several argue this isn’t just “political correctness” but a shift in mood: 90s/early‑2000s cynicism sat atop optimism; now, with austerity, Brexit, and visible decline, mocking struggling places feels like kicking the terminally ill.
• Others note some older satire (e.g. political comedies) still lands because its targets (institutions) haven’t changed, i.e., clearly “punching up.”

Class, Housing, and “Crap Towns”

• Strong thread on whether it’s ethical to mock “crap towns” that are often just poor. Some call it straightforwardly classist punching down; others from such towns say they felt “vindicated” by the book.
• Home value anxiety appears: some would be angry if a book hurt their property prices; others criticize treating homes primarily as investments and point to a broader housing Ponzi‑like dynamic.
• Debate over housing vs index funds as retirement: houses seen as “inherent value”, but others emphasize property taxes, foreclosure, and policy risk.
• Several argue that regional inequality, housing unaffordability and gutted local services have deepened since 2003, so the same joke now lands differently: what was once shared mediocrity is now stark divergence.

Offense, ‘PC’, and Free Speech

• Mixed views on “you couldn’t publish this now”: some say you clearly still can, it just wouldn’t be celebrated uncritically; others argue comedians and writers face mob pressure, boycotts, and career‑threatening campaigns.
• Long back‑and‑forth over whether online pile‑ons and deplatforming are legitimate social feedback or “mob rule” and non‑physical violence.
• The “punching up vs punching down” frame is widely invoked; some see it as central to modern comedy ethics, others say it turns humor into propaganda and creates new “sacred cows.”

Media, Internet, and Who Gets Heard

• A running example is a still‑running “worst places” site: it survived but is starved of traffic while larger outlets scrape its content and outrank it.
• Broader lament that independent sites and quirky projects have been squeezed by SEO, big news networks, and now AI; creators retreat to social platforms or private spaces.
• Several connect this to the article’s theme: people in “crap towns” now have easy channels to answer back, changing both the ethics and reception of ridicule.

Reception of the Piece

• Many praise the essay’s self‑reflection and its admission that later imitators feel “grubby” even to the originator, suggesting the world — and his own sensibility — have moved on.
• A minority think he over‑intellectualizes a lightweight joke book or uses it as a vehicle for familiar complaints about identity politics.