The first episode of the new season of Baskets (which aired on January 19) sees the show’s hero, the tragically luckless Chip Baskets (played with farcical malaise by Galifianakis himself), living life as a wandering hobo after dejectedly abandoning the rodeo as well as his family and friends. He feels lost and unwanted in America so he’s going it alone.

Chip and the Troupe (FX)

Eventually he chances upon a troupe of wandering street performers and, as a trained clown, he quickly becomes a lucrative asset and welcome member of the group. The performers are all fellow suburban runaways, resembling the young hippie-punk homeless that live in America’s major cities, complete with tragic Bogosianic pasts and, as Chip naively discovers, drug addiction. Not just any drug addiction, the most American of them all: pills and heroin.

The episode concludes with the arrival of police after the troupe breaks into a home to enjoy their “snacks” as they call them. Innocent Chip is seized by harsh awareness of the realities of low (in this case zero) income Americana. It speaks to a larger pain that flows through the veins of the United States. It’s a pain that too many Americans feel, too many have proper assistance for, and a select few, like the new Whitehouse, misdiagnose treatment for, just like the pushers that started this mess. Those who turn a blind eye (usually by ignorance not contempt) are generally the ‘coastal elite’ that Galifianakis is unwillingly slotted into.

Clearly, however, Galifianakis, his co-producer Louis C. K. , and all the other “coastal,” “Hollywood,” “media,” and “creative elite” that make his show are very aware of that pain and their gut-wrenching, un-romanticized portrayal of it serves as testament.

I am fully attentive now. I’ve woken up to an unfortunately additional domestic danger that is being further and further politicized while more people die and progressive bystanders like me keep sleeping in our artisanal beds (mine’s from IKEA, actually). I can only assume, out of my last shreds of humanist optimism, that fans of The Blue Collar Comedy Tour, America’s Got Talent, and NASCAR can also wake up to the human tragedies I and millions of other “coastal elites” want fixed if they read, listen, or watch something despite the feeling (or Netflix recommendation) that breeds the thinking it’s “not their cup of tea.” Positive, all-encompassing American remedying is dependent on ignoring labels.

Baskets is peddled at an interesting crossroads as FX leans left, but is a subsidiary of right-wing sensationalist Fox. Despite its target audience, Baskets inherently refuses to adhere to the artificial divisions pushed by the new Whitehouse in 2017 or “liberal” media outlets that oppose them for profit instead of genuine ideology. Simply by presenting its tragic tale in apolitical absurdity, Baskets bridges the information gap and, for me, makes the case to be a better, more caring American and pay more attention to those who suffer and happen to be on the other end of the ideological spectrum.

Galifianakis and his team have crafted something sad, beautiful, funny, and uniquely American. Through thoughtful, human storytelling we all can see the universal themes that bring us together in solidarity against real threats, not the ones sold to us. Yes, it’s tempting to subscribe to something, and it’s validating to surround yourself with more and more stuff like what you already have, but rather be the kid in the after-school special who “just says no” to the pusher telling them what’s really good; what’s “cool”. You don’t need to be “cool.” There is no “cool.” You need to be an individual, so that you can pursue your dreams, even if everyone around you thinks they’re a bit clownish, because that’s what America is supposed to be about.