Thoughts on the Kirk incident?
Oh, hey. Maybe take me to dinner first.
Jk. Though this is a history blog, history is the foundation upon which all things exist, and the past allows us to comprehend current events holistically rather than cherry picking information.
Content warning for discussions of violence, hate, genocide, and other heavy topics. There will be a less intense discussion after another bolded line.
To clarify before I continue talking, I fucking hate Charlie Kirk. I think he was the same as every other conservative grifter who sucks the dick of whatever Republican holds the most power while believing he’s absurdly smart because he can’t create a sound argument, making his opponent justifiably angry and relying solely on optics to seem like he’s winning the argument. Not to mention, Kirk has previously called the victims of gun violence “necessary deaths” to protect the Second Amendment (this is an anti-Constitutional and unpatriotic sentiment), justified massacres in Gaza, claimed he would force his pre-pubescent daughter to carry a rape pregnancy to term, and has encouraged the rapidly growing hate and targeting of trans people.
I should also clarify that gun violence does scare me. Especially as a perpetual student, and as a transgender man, I am daily in fear of being the subject of violence and constantly in mourning of my classmates across the country. Every day with less of them is a day of infinite loss for all of society. Charlie Kirk’s death is one in a sea of small bodies who never got the chance to live at all. And he called that “necessary.”
I think I’ve made myself clear. However, I also want you to know that I do not identify with any political party, as I believe the concept of these factions is entirely un-American. I believe Charlie Kirk was an intelligent man. I believe he used his intelligence for money, willing to perpetuate violence rather than challenge the ideologies which filled his piggy bank. He was smart, but he was corrupt.
I don’t believe that this was an event that was enacted by an isolated individual- not in a conspiracy theorist way, but in a sense that this has all the characteristics of a political assassination, despite the fact that Kirk was not a politician. That is to say, I don’t believe this was Republican or Democrat. I believe this is more politically complicated than the black and white.
I think my thoughts relate more into what is going to happen.
I think this will be used to attack higher education. A major radical conservative talking point is the fact that conservatives aren’t heard in places of higher education. As someone tending a liberal arts college in a blue state, this is bullshit. I speak to conservatives every day. Trust me, they’re heard. In fact, they’re given podiums, microphones, and administrative roles. This is a lie to make the “woke Left” seem corrupt and authoritarian. They’re definitely corrupt, but they surely don’t have the backbone to be authoritarian.
I think this will be used to attack minorities. LGBTQIA+, especially the trans and genderqueer community, hispanics and latinos, African Americans, Asian Americans, and Indigenous peoples are continually being used as scapegoats, having violence falsely attributed to them in exaggerated proportions that are used to justify racism, hate crimes, eugenics, and legislative oppression. This is never okay. Even though Charlie Kirk was complicit in this, his death should not be used to justify the oppression of other Americans. It goes entirely against the founding principles of our nation, degrades further the false promises the European settlers made to the people the land was stolen from, and is an insult to the entirety of history.
Phew, that was intense. Glad I’m done with that.
Gun violence is one of those issues that I think is fairly straightforward, at least in terms of the Constitution: society should function so that our greatest fear is government corruption, not sending our kids to school. The Constitution is something I get asked about a lot, and I do really enjoy studying it, but I just find it so draining to talk so much about this. The takeaway from this part of my rant is that there are two views on gun control: the Constitutional, and the self serving. Only one of those is American. In fact, you could say this about a lot of subjects.
Anyway. Thanks for your ask! I talk a lot more about current events on my instagram (plug) and generally that’s where I’m the most active. I also talk a lot about history things! And just silly parts of my day. I am fine with current event questions here. As always, if you want a more academic response @publius-library is where I employ most of my scholarly skills and use less profanity, as this blog is mostly for my personal opinions and particular interests. Anyway, thanks for hearing me out, love ya!