In the last 24 hours, I have witnessed an outpouring of sympathy for an undeserving man unparalleled to anyone in recent history. Many a condemnation of “political violence.” Lots of speak that “people should not be killed for their political views.” How privileged you must be to view racism, bigotry, homophobia, transphobia, misogyny, zionism, idolatry, and white supremacy among other things as “political views.” Those are not political views. They are violence in and of itself. His death cannot be separated from the systems and ideas that he spent his entire career platforming. These are not views. They are a moral failing. They are hate speech. The idea that women shouldn’t be able to vote, or that girls should have to carry their rapists’ offspring, or that gay people should be stoned to death, or that slavery was good for Black people, or that trans people shouldn’t exist, or that some kids have to die for you to have the 2nd amendment, or that Palestinians should die, or that Black people don’t possess the brain power to hold positions of power are not political views. They are false ideologies rooted in cognitive dissonance and hatred. This is not activism. Never once did this man advocate for the betterment of anyone who was not cis, straight, white, and a male. While I agree that no one should be killed for their beliefs, I feel no sympathy for a man such as this. Let me be clear that there is a stark difference between a lack of sympathy for someone who has perished and a want for someone to perish. This man is not a martyr. He is simply a casualty of the violent rhetoric he dedicated his entire life to spreading. No one should be killed for their beliefs, but when you go so far as to make a career out of pushing beliefs that are rooted in violence toward everyone that doesn’t agree with you, you should not be surprised when that same violence befalls you, do not think you are immune to violence. If it can happen to others, it can happen to you. They are saying but he was a husband, he was a father. Spare me. Most bad people are those things. While I feel sympathy toward his family, I also hope that they will get to grow up in a world that is the opposite of what he wanted for them. I have watched many people call this “one of the darkest days in American history.” The President has called for flags across the nation to be flown at half mast for the rest of the week. They have said this is worse than when MLK was assassinated. They have called it the American Reichstag fire. Any excuse to fully remove the mask. Please give me a break, that is laughable. We are lowering the flags for a podcaster? Might I remind you what day it is today? Please touch grass. Suddenly you are upset about political violence. Suddenly it has no place in America. This country was built on political violence. Political violence is the fabric of our flag, the foundation it was built upon, and the ground on which it stands. This country has an ongoing epidemic of political violence. Where was the outrage about political violence while we have been witnessing unimaginable evils 24 hours a day every single day of the last 2 years in Palestine. Where was the outrage while families were torn apart on our own soil in the name of imaginary lines in that very same soil. Where was the outrage for 877 school children killed in their classrooms this year alone. For hundreds of journalists murdered around the world for showing the world the realities of what is happening on the ground. For the Minnesota lawmakers assassinated in their homes in June. For peaceful protestors who had their constitutional rights that you claim to love so dearly trampled upon. For the people of Lebanon. Yemen. Jordan. Sudan. Congo. Iran. For people being denied due process. For the state abducting people including American citizens off the street in broad daylight. For the countless atrocities our country has dealt to the global south and its people. For the elderly and disabled who have had their healthcare ripped away from them. For the Black and Brown people murdered by police. For the women who had to carry the offspring of their rapists and oppressors. For the entire cities of people being poisoned by corporations in the name of a soulless technology. For the houseless population currently being criminalized for simply trying to exist in this harsh world. The list goes on and on. If your empathy is conditional, it is as good as nonexistent. If you want to say that political violence has no place in our country, you need to be outraged at the political violence happening in and perpetuated every single day of the week by and in the name of our country. You are not allowed to be selective about what is considered political violence. It is not a subjective topic. If you want to speak up, speak up about the political violence that has ensued as a result of the rhetoric this man spent his entire life spreading. Speak up about the political violence this administration is engaging in on a daily basis. We will undoubtedly witness horrors we do not yet comprehend the scale of because of this event. Horrors that will be greenlit in the name of the martyr that they will falsely make this man out to be. Horrors that are already happening, that they will use this to justify further. We will remember how you spoke of this when you are silent.
九生 