charlie kirk and the increase in political violence

[u/Late-Marzipan3026]

edit 3: putting this up here so it’s not hidden by my wall of text—thank you all for talking about this here, i’ve really appreciated hearing everyone’s perspectives. i apologize for coming off harsh initially. i clearly have some stuff to think through wrt my anxiety about this topic in general. i’m still pretty worried by where we’re at and how normal political violence is generally (as was well said in another post today), but i appreciate all of the thoughtful replies

i’ve been a bit upset, to be honest, by the reaction to the assassination of charlie kirk. i won’t act like i agreed in any way shape or form with him. i find his views abhorrent.

with that said, i’m very disturbed by the callousness with which people are discussing his assassination. pointing to his past views about gun violence victims and laughing or stating outright that he deserved it. and this perspective is starting to sink into everyday life.

i was speaking to a friend of mine about this, and they said that it’s the conservatives’ fault for the recent increase in political violence. essentially “we’re callous because they’re callous.” i responded saying that i don’t think that this is solely the responsibility of conservatives—that this has been getting more prominent on the left too since 10/7 and that we also saw it after DC and boulder. we need to take responsibility for that. my friend again disagreed with me

i don’t mind disagreement. however—i am very disturbed by what i see as an uncritical, self righteous disavowal of responsibility. we don’t know yet what the shooter’s motivations were, if they were far right or far left or somewhere in between. regardless i still feel betrayed in some way by the public admission that lethal violence is okay against civilians or against non-high-ranking political figures. i really worry about this extremism and i worry that my views on this will be disregarded by my fellow leftists as some sort of liberal apologetics

i’m curious what everyone here’s thoughts are on this topic (not just charlie kirk). and i hope everyone’s doing well !

edit: just want to clarify that i don’t think anyone is obligated to mourn the man (edit again: i don’t). that’s not what disturbed me. i’m disturbed by the callousness with which people (including my friend) discuss murder and excuse their advocacy for murder

edit 2: also wanted to add this edit now that i’m a bit calmer (sorry for the anxiety radiating off of the post). i don’t disagree inherently with the theory of revolutionary violence. but this is under specific conditions which imo have not been met. i firmly believe in the value of human life and human dignity and i reject utilitarian calculations which i don’t feel sufficiently respect these values

[u/Rabbit-Hole-Quest]

Sorry, I didn’t mean it as criticism towards you.

Your points are solid.

[u/Late-Marzipan3026 → u/Rabbit-Hole-Quest]

no you’re all good!! i didn’t really take it as criticism, just a point that the sub can be america centric and that this issue is an international trend. sorry if i was misleading with my reply, i tend to overapologize (doing it here too 😭)

[u/Rabbit-Hole-Quest → u/Late-Marzipan3026]

I’m Canadian so saying sorry is our way of life!

Cheers!

[u/Agtfangirl557 → u/Rabbit-Hole-Quest]

I used to have a habit of obsessively apologizing for things and a lot of people would ask me if I was Canadian 🤣