Hard Truths: SPECIAL DISCUSSION: The Political Assassination of Charlie Kirk

It would be impossible to not be aware of the events of this week. So I will not rehash them, especially given the traumatic images that we all witnessed, the complexity of the situation, and the need for conciseness. However, the political assassination of conservative activist, Charlie Kirk, the concurrent school shooting in Colorado, and subsequent bomb threats at the DNC, multiple bomb threats at HBCUs, and a shooting at the Naval Academy – all occurring since mid-day Wednesday – warrant a broader discussion about where we are and how we are reacting to it. 

Horseshoe Theory

There is a prominent theory in political science called the Horseshoe Theory. The gist of it is that the political spectrum is not linear, rather it is shaped like a horseshoe or a teardrop . I would argue it is more like a teardrop, and the short explanation is that when you get to the extreme of either the political right or the political left, they overlap and become indistinguishable from each other. 

The individual (22 year old Utah resident Tyler Robinson) that mercilessly executed conservative activist Charlie Kirk in front of his wife and children at this week’s Turning Point USA event provides a perfect example of this theory as it plays out in a politically motivated individual. And, the public’s relative inability to pinpoint where he falls politically because of the overlap.

Beyond how difficult it is to decipher whether the guy is extreme left or extreme right (and, in the end it doesn’t really matter), the biggest problem we are facing is that average Americans have been brainwashed over the years to believe that only Democrats and Republicans exist.  The result of this is that many of the more dangerous and radical ideologies along the spectrum of different political belief systems have been allowed to grow and fester relatively unchecked. Robinson Is either extremely to the right or extremely to the left – depending on who you speak to; but there is also that possibility that he is both, or rather at the place where the two have converged. And overarching all of this is that most people out there talking about it are conflating the extremes with the two, major political parties. It is an unforced error, though – again – a result of brainwashing by partisan organizations and corporations that have benefited from the two party system.

Some overlapping beliefs and themes that you’d find between both the extreme right and the extreme left include:

• Thinly veiled or overt antisemitism,
• The belief that revolution must be violent,
• Applying the notion of fascism to individuals and ideas that are not traditionally fascistic,
• Gun culture,
• Toxic masculinity,
• White supremacy, or White superiority,
• Abolition of the state
• And more…

Insanely dangerous beliefs held by both sides, though not the both sides average Americans think of when they think of political factions. This has presented a real problem for the public’s ability to accept the political ideology (again, not that it really matters).

Radicalization Without Celebrating Death

It seems upside down to say this, but non-violence appears to now be the socially radical viewpoint. At least after the last 48 hours this is pretty clearly the case.

Personally, I can understand why people were ambivalent to Charlie Kirk’s death. He did not always say the nicest things, and often engaged in click-bait style debates for rage baiting and views. What continues to shock me, though, is the total abandonment of any sense of humanity in the face of a public tragedy. People did not just respond with indifference, they responded in celebration (and still are at this hour). 

Last year I published a paper that discussed at length the loss of empathy that we have seen across America just prior to and especially since COVID-19. (You can read that HERE.) However what has been staggering about people‘s reactions to Charlie’s Kirk‘s death, continuing even this evening, have been the public calls for more deaths, and posting on social media these insanely glib and gleeful celebrations and calls for violence with total reckless abandon. And, there has been no consideration for the consequences of those types of posts. 

We are not in an economy where jobs are plentiful and it is therefore not very wise to risk the one you have over a social media post. Just this evening, a video went viral where an Office Depot employee is seen denying service to people printing posters for a vigil for Charlie Kirk. In the video, she says that it is political propaganda, and that she doesn’t have to justify her decision. Of course a poster advertising a vigil for a dead man is not “political propaganda” – no matter how you spin it – but that is really not the point. The point is the lines between personal, political, and professional life have become too deeply enmeshed. It should come as no surprise that the Office Depot employee got fired, joining many that have been fired across a variety of industries in the last two days. Is it worth it to so brazenly celebrate death on principle?

And what is that principle exactly? I have been the recipient of political violence; albeit much less serious and final than that which causes death. But it was as simple as people did not agree with me, and felt – for some strange reason, as I am a nobody – that my words were so great a threat they must be silenced. As will be the case with Charlie Kirk, it was my innocent children who suffered the most for that. It seems like today the principle is the normalization of murder. That some arguments are just too weak at this point to win on merit alone, so “the opposition” must be silenced by force that bears finality. Murdering anyone whose views you/we disagree with. The extent to which Charlie Kirk’s views were intolerant is not relevant to the point that now it is quite clear that a whole hell of a lot of people believe that any murder is now justified if the murderer thinks the other person deserves it.

That is just pure state of nature nonsense. It is terrifying and will not end. Remember what Thomas Hobbes said about the state of nature: life within it is “nasty… brutish… and short.” 

The Way Forward

Most alarmingly about not just the Charlie Kirk assassination, but also the other shootings that occurred this week, and violent crimes in weeks prior, is the apparent epidemic of young men being poisoned by social media, social isolation, and the radicalization that follows.

Last week in my September newsletter I discussed the pervasive problem of men in online spaces, especially ones involving podcasts and other online forums where their voices are amplified. Though the problem extends beyond that at this point, with social isolation leading to an alarming increase in the type of radicalized, destructive belief systems held by these young men at such alarming degrees that there are now terms for them, like Reddit Kid or Chronically Online Gooner. Moreover, the ability for the rest of the world to even understand, identify, and decipher the problem, amidst a world of meme culture, Internet slang, and complex and overlapping political belief systems… well it leads us to believe that the problem – at this point – is insurmountable. And this is especially the case when technology companies feed into this algorithm of hatred and rage because it makes them more money.

I still believe – in spite of the hopelessness of it all – that at our individual levels we can all choose how we respond to the situation we find ourselves in, and choose a better path forward. First and foremost, I would invite the keyboard warriors calling for violent revolution and a continuation of political violence to take a beat, touch some grass, and get out from behind their keyboards. Failing that, the rest of us still have a choice about what we each put out into the world. We can choose non violence over massacre. We can choose empathy or sympathy, even if that is for people who did not have it themselves or do not deserve it. We can live by the idea that what we put out into the world is really a mirror reflection of who we are – do you want to be a symbol of anger and hatred and spite? I know I do not.

I fear that our country is walking down a dark path, one that we have unknowingly been on for some time. And unlike other issues at the national level, this one seems to have infected every single segment of life and community. I understand the complexity and pain that many different people and groups have felt at the hands of political foes. I still believe we can do better.

We have to.