Killer Instincts
Charlie Kirk’s assassin has been apprehended. It turns out that he doesn’t represent half of America. In fact, if he represents anything, it’s the intersection of three American trends: The wide and easy availability of high-powered guns, the increase of politically-motivated hate speech (starting from the top), and the scourge of online radicalization happily powered by social media companies. All three elements of this unholy trinity have only accelerated this week. I shared my take on this yesterday: This is U.S. But it probably won’t matter what Kirk’s killer did or didn’t believe, as the broader meaning and battle lines associated with his act were being instinctually etched into our alternate realities before we even learned what he etched into his bullet casings.
+ “The assassination of a high-profile political figure like Charlie Kirk marks a continuation of the trend toward lone-actor violence, rather than the emergence of organized political conflict or even partisan conflict. The U.S. has a concentration of serious violence in individual attacks without a partisan motivation or trend. The perpetrators and victims of school shootings, racially motivated assaults, and targeted killings of political leaders, corporate executives, and public officials are not partisan or even coherently political. Because the murders are not motivated by a shared political agenda, they are a manifestation of the U.S.’s unique vulnerability to individualized violence in a polarized, heavily armed society.” Politico Magazine: 10 Political Violence Experts on What Comes Next for America. (Alternate link.) “The radicalization pipeline runs through a handful of American tech companies that remain almost entirely unregulated. If lawmakers were willing to curb the algorithms that amplify conspiracy theories, disinformation and hate, they could weaken the pipeline feeding violent extremism. After Charlie Kirk’s assassination, that may be the single most immediate lever left to pull. The question is whether America has the will to pull it before the violence grows worse.”
+ NYT (Gift Article): ‘Civil War’ Mentions Surge Online After Kirk Assassination. “The talk of civil war came largely from Republican lawmakers, right-wing media personalities and conservative podcasters, according to a review by The Times. Some questioned whether America was already engaged in a civil war over its values, while others called for violence after Mr. Kirk’s death.”
+ Garbage Day: Charlie Kirk was killed by a meme.
