We are barely 48 hours from a human being violently snatched away, yet a number of his "supporters" are "ready for war" and looking for a reason to exact revenge on "those people."
Or maybe they are simply looking to continue the cycle of online, lowest-common-denominator emotional commerce - say something wild, get attention, watch that direct deposit amount grow over the next few weeks, maybe months. Then the theater, as you so eloquently stated, becomes not just a "side hustle", but now a way to make money. "Real" money.
Notoriety. Sponsorships. Engagement. Clicks. Click-thrus. SEO. Paid advertisements. Influencer status. Like. Comment. Subscribe. Make sure you buy my branded gummy worms using code "Freedom" for 10% off your subscription.
No more working "for the man". Now you can sit at home, look for more rage-bait, and regurgitate it to the masses while the likes and "how do you sleep at night?" comments fatten your wallet.
Be as crude as you want. Blow as many dog whistles as you want. After all - freedom - amirite? The American dream... monetize whatever you can, any way you can.
"If they like you, they'll listen for 5 minutes. If they hate you, they'll listen 10."
That quote is attributed to Howard Stern; I'm not sure who actually said it. But it takes me back to the "shock jocks" of the 90s, whose "edgy" material consisted of prank calls or middle school innuendo.
We've blown past decency into full-on disdain and distrust of "others". Instead of using technology to enhance our relationships and communities, the algorithm rewards the worst of the worst content because we'd rather watch the aftermath of a car wreck on the other side of the highway, instead of paying attention to what's directly in front of us and getting home safe.
I can go on and on about how the rich and powerful become richer and powerful-er on the backs of us plebes... but I think we all (mostly) realize that, even if we enjoy feasting on the "us vs. them" culture wars buffet.
I wish I had the answer to put the toothpaste of hatred back in the tube, but it may be too late. I hope my cynicism is wrong and we can right the ship for future generations.
The Second Amendment of the US Constitution was clearly enacted to prevent the Federal Government from infringing on the state's right to have their own militias to enforce the laws of the respective states without interference from the Federal government. It does not and never was intended to allow citizens to own and/or carry guns without restrictions on same. That is the history of its adoption and it is clear. No one has the right to interpret laws in such a way that they act in contridiction of what they were intended to do. The Supreme is support to support the intent of the law but sadly it has become a merely political organization just like everything else and the law be damned!!!
He was a bad man, a depiction of where this country's people are headed, a place where we put ourselves and not merely our survival, but our glut, above basic humanity. Indeed, too many are leveraging differences like nationality, sexual orientation, and even gender, to dehumanize, making it even easier to step on others to rise, and he was a leader of that.
The problem is not the violence, per se. I have been in situations where my survival and the survival of my loved ones depends on another's demise. And I rest at night; sometimes not easy, but I rest nonetheless.
The problem is that there is no viable scenario where one individual can judge the value of the life of another. Just as it is heinous what our government is doing to immigrants, it is equally as abhorrent to minimize the life of Charlie Kirk, no matter his vitriol. This fact makes it impossible to reconcile or justify what happened.
Unfortunately, this is where we are as a society.
We are barely 48 hours from a human being violently snatched away, yet a number of his "supporters" are "ready for war" and looking for a reason to exact revenge on "those people."
Or maybe they are simply looking to continue the cycle of online, lowest-common-denominator emotional commerce - say something wild, get attention, watch that direct deposit amount grow over the next few weeks, maybe months. Then the theater, as you so eloquently stated, becomes not just a "side hustle", but now a way to make money. "Real" money.
Notoriety. Sponsorships. Engagement. Clicks. Click-thrus. SEO. Paid advertisements. Influencer status. Like. Comment. Subscribe. Make sure you buy my branded gummy worms using code "Freedom" for 10% off your subscription.
No more working "for the man". Now you can sit at home, look for more rage-bait, and regurgitate it to the masses while the likes and "how do you sleep at night?" comments fatten your wallet.
Be as crude as you want. Blow as many dog whistles as you want. After all - freedom - amirite? The American dream... monetize whatever you can, any way you can.
"If they like you, they'll listen for 5 minutes. If they hate you, they'll listen 10."
That quote is attributed to Howard Stern; I'm not sure who actually said it. But it takes me back to the "shock jocks" of the 90s, whose "edgy" material consisted of prank calls or middle school innuendo.
We've blown past decency into full-on disdain and distrust of "others". Instead of using technology to enhance our relationships and communities, the algorithm rewards the worst of the worst content because we'd rather watch the aftermath of a car wreck on the other side of the highway, instead of paying attention to what's directly in front of us and getting home safe.
I can go on and on about how the rich and powerful become richer and powerful-er on the backs of us plebes... but I think we all (mostly) realize that, even if we enjoy feasting on the "us vs. them" culture wars buffet.
I wish I had the answer to put the toothpaste of hatred back in the tube, but it may be too late. I hope my cynicism is wrong and we can right the ship for future generations.
The Second Amendment of the US Constitution was clearly enacted to prevent the Federal Government from infringing on the state's right to have their own militias to enforce the laws of the respective states without interference from the Federal government. It does not and never was intended to allow citizens to own and/or carry guns without restrictions on same. That is the history of its adoption and it is clear. No one has the right to interpret laws in such a way that they act in contridiction of what they were intended to do. The Supreme is support to support the intent of the law but sadly it has become a merely political organization just like everything else and the law be damned!!!
He was a bad man, a depiction of where this country's people are headed, a place where we put ourselves and not merely our survival, but our glut, above basic humanity. Indeed, too many are leveraging differences like nationality, sexual orientation, and even gender, to dehumanize, making it even easier to step on others to rise, and he was a leader of that.
The problem is not the violence, per se. I have been in situations where my survival and the survival of my loved ones depends on another's demise. And I rest at night; sometimes not easy, but I rest nonetheless.
The problem is that there is no viable scenario where one individual can judge the value of the life of another. Just as it is heinous what our government is doing to immigrants, it is equally as abhorrent to minimize the life of Charlie Kirk, no matter his vitriol. This fact makes it impossible to reconcile or justify what happened.