So how do you feel about the whole Charlie Kirk divide?
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How can they be hurt more. They are no longer the country they were 8 months ago, not even a close approximation. They've flipped the script and then thrown the script in the garbage.
Outside of the Internet, where nuance still has meaning(for now), the US is largely populated by reasonable people that want pretty much the same thing. Which is to say, they want life to be better for themselves and their communities.
The steps on how to make that happen and who is at fault for the situation currently are debated at length, but widespread calls for real violence are a fairly recent phenomenon. It wasn't like this a decade ago and they are cashing in whatever global goodwill they had at record pace, but outside of the admin, most of the people in the US are just people, with complex opinions and ideas. They aren't the caricatures they appear to be online.
A civil war is going to throw basically everyone's current life into disarray, leading to even greater instability, and misery as well as problems in policy both domestic and foreign.
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I'm going to challenge you all, right here, right now. Put down the thought of what's right, what's wrong, how people should be reacting, ect. I'm an apathetic bastard and I really could care less either way.
What I have noticed though is there's a LOT of divide on this one, more than usual. Lemmy's pretty homogenous but go outside to Facebook, Instagram, reddit, any of the mainstream places, hell, even talking about it with friends or family, you get some really differing views and people seem ready to discard longtime relationships over it. Hell, I've seen it happen 3 times now so far.
°So what do you think, take off the politics hat for a second and put on the sociology hat. Take a breath, and examine your surroundings.
°How does what's going on make you feel, sad? Angry? Scared, tired or relieved?
°What do you think this says about which direction our society is going, have you got any predictions? Any old timers who have been through near societal collapses before want to throw in their perspective?
I'm genuinely interested in what you all think
Fight fascists but don't shoot them in the face if you don't have to because it will literally backfire.
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I'm going to challenge you all, right here, right now. Put down the thought of what's right, what's wrong, how people should be reacting, ect. I'm an apathetic bastard and I really could care less either way.
What I have noticed though is there's a LOT of divide on this one, more than usual. Lemmy's pretty homogenous but go outside to Facebook, Instagram, reddit, any of the mainstream places, hell, even talking about it with friends or family, you get some really differing views and people seem ready to discard longtime relationships over it. Hell, I've seen it happen 3 times now so far.
°So what do you think, take off the politics hat for a second and put on the sociology hat. Take a breath, and examine your surroundings.
°How does what's going on make you feel, sad? Angry? Scared, tired or relieved?
°What do you think this says about which direction our society is going, have you got any predictions? Any old timers who have been through near societal collapses before want to throw in their perspective?
I'm genuinely interested in what you all think
I think the people that have been salivating for violence are about to start getting some of that violence they've wanted, and they're not ready for it.
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I'm going to challenge you all, right here, right now. Put down the thought of what's right, what's wrong, how people should be reacting, ect. I'm an apathetic bastard and I really could care less either way.
What I have noticed though is there's a LOT of divide on this one, more than usual. Lemmy's pretty homogenous but go outside to Facebook, Instagram, reddit, any of the mainstream places, hell, even talking about it with friends or family, you get some really differing views and people seem ready to discard longtime relationships over it. Hell, I've seen it happen 3 times now so far.
°So what do you think, take off the politics hat for a second and put on the sociology hat. Take a breath, and examine your surroundings.
°How does what's going on make you feel, sad? Angry? Scared, tired or relieved?
°What do you think this says about which direction our society is going, have you got any predictions? Any old timers who have been through near societal collapses before want to throw in their perspective?
I'm genuinely interested in what you all think
Pretty much every single person that has posted in here should hang their head in shame. Despicable.
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I'm going to challenge you all, right here, right now. Put down the thought of what's right, what's wrong, how people should be reacting, ect. I'm an apathetic bastard and I really could care less either way.
What I have noticed though is there's a LOT of divide on this one, more than usual. Lemmy's pretty homogenous but go outside to Facebook, Instagram, reddit, any of the mainstream places, hell, even talking about it with friends or family, you get some really differing views and people seem ready to discard longtime relationships over it. Hell, I've seen it happen 3 times now so far.
°So what do you think, take off the politics hat for a second and put on the sociology hat. Take a breath, and examine your surroundings.
°How does what's going on make you feel, sad? Angry? Scared, tired or relieved?
°What do you think this says about which direction our society is going, have you got any predictions? Any old timers who have been through near societal collapses before want to throw in their perspective?
I'm genuinely interested in what you all think
If you could care less, why don't you? Grammar stuff aside, as a European I feel pretty good about this. He got what he deserved.
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I'm happy he's not spewing hate anymore. However, I abhor (and denounce) how that came to pass and remain genuinely disgusted at the sick, bloodthirsty mob social media turns into when shit like this happens (or attempted happens).
I am very much not an "ends justify the means" kind of person and firmly believe that kind of logic is extremely dangerous.
How does this make me feel? Well, disgusted. Disgusted that there's more gun violence in the world, disgusted that people are cheering it on, and disgusted with pretty much everyone's knee-jerk takes on the matter. I can forgive celebrating his passing as dark humor / gallows humor. I can even understand laughing at the schadenfreude due to the guy's stance on exactly this kind of thing. But for people to be praising the suspect or calling for more is firmly crossing the line into psychopath territory.
Again, the ends do not justify the means.
I can feel in my bones that the other shoe is about to drop, and all these people salivating over the bloodshed are not going to be happy when it does. Violence only begets more violence, and people need to understand that and not be cheering it on.
I do agree, I think more is to come soon, and we should take take precautions to be ready.
This may come off as a bit crazy, but I think it might not be the worst idea to prepare a bugout bag, just in case
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I'm going to challenge you all, right here, right now. Put down the thought of what's right, what's wrong, how people should be reacting, ect. I'm an apathetic bastard and I really could care less either way.
What I have noticed though is there's a LOT of divide on this one, more than usual. Lemmy's pretty homogenous but go outside to Facebook, Instagram, reddit, any of the mainstream places, hell, even talking about it with friends or family, you get some really differing views and people seem ready to discard longtime relationships over it. Hell, I've seen it happen 3 times now so far.
°So what do you think, take off the politics hat for a second and put on the sociology hat. Take a breath, and examine your surroundings.
°How does what's going on make you feel, sad? Angry? Scared, tired or relieved?
°What do you think this says about which direction our society is going, have you got any predictions? Any old timers who have been through near societal collapses before want to throw in their perspective?
I'm genuinely interested in what you all think
If you want a variety of opinions and potentially unpopular opinions, I can throw mine in:
I don't care. This is a USA local issue. The internet and the world do not cater to only America. I Ignore and block American news. I hate that this is plastered across Lemmy. I don't want to add "Kirk" to my Lemmy keyword blacklist because I don't want to miss the Star Trek memes. I wish he had a more unique name. I wish Lemmy had more ways to block politics.
It's not the end of times. The world has always been on the brink of collapse, we're not unique for thinking we're the most special people to live in the worst times ever. There are a thousand assholes ready to replace Kirk. Life goes on. The world keeps turning. Just stop making this shit pollute my memes feed.
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I'm going to challenge you all, right here, right now. Put down the thought of what's right, what's wrong, how people should be reacting, ect. I'm an apathetic bastard and I really could care less either way.
What I have noticed though is there's a LOT of divide on this one, more than usual. Lemmy's pretty homogenous but go outside to Facebook, Instagram, reddit, any of the mainstream places, hell, even talking about it with friends or family, you get some really differing views and people seem ready to discard longtime relationships over it. Hell, I've seen it happen 3 times now so far.
°So what do you think, take off the politics hat for a second and put on the sociology hat. Take a breath, and examine your surroundings.
°How does what's going on make you feel, sad? Angry? Scared, tired or relieved?
°What do you think this says about which direction our society is going, have you got any predictions? Any old timers who have been through near societal collapses before want to throw in their perspective?
I'm genuinely interested in what you all think
They killed the "lets talk it out guy". They have no idea what theyve done
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I'm scared about the blowback.
It was inevitable that eventually somebody would 'fight back' somehow.
Now we have to deal with how all the idiots act, react and overreact.
It won't be pretty, but again, it was inevitable.
The day of, when it happened, I watched the video... and then had to literally touch grass, walk it off, get some fresh air.
Wife got home, wanted to see it, had the same reaction.
I just don't like watching people die, no matter who it is. But now and then I gaze into the void deliberately.
Its fortunate you and her have the same perspective on this, I know a couple who does not and it's, frankly, getting ugly.
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I'm not a huge fan of anyone meeting this sort of end.
A little mixed feelings because on the other hand I have a bit of an appreciation of the context of a man that has openly consistently declared gun deaths as somewhat acceptable getting killed by a gun.
But ultimately, I would have rather seen him get his ass kicked or a few handgun bullets to the vest to give him some appropriate fear and consequences without him becoming a martyr. Ideally i would have liked him to just get scared into not actively trying to troll people the way he did. Further for it to be clear from the very first moment that it was MAGA infighting, to avoid the incident increasing an already strained division and maybe show the movement the dangerous game they are playing.
I did have a passing thought wondering how or if it would affect him if this happened to be an injury rather than death.
I suppose we'll never know
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I won't miss Charlie Kirk. I'm sad for the people who were there and witnessed a horrific public murder. I am exhausted and numbed to all this gun violence and I'm especially tired of the right wing bullshit about gun rights. I'm confounded and baffled by the bizarre depths of alt-right internet subculture. I'm profoundly disappointed and disillusioned by the state of the United States, but neither am I the least bit shocked. I fear for the deeper divide the next generation faces as fanatical parents drive their children to extremism as others quietly steer theirs towards acceptance, empathy, and inclusiveness.
Charlie Kirk was objectively a garbage human being. I will not mourn him. But nobody should be fucking murdered. The violence and hatred coming from the right is fucking insane and intolerable. We're being led by sycophants, liars, sociopaths, and incompetent grifters hell bent on upending the entire structure of our ordered existence so they can rebuild it into something nightmarish and dystopian. We're in the endgame now. The Democrats do not have a time machine.
There's something my dad texted me the other day when I was talking to him about this
"We’ll be ok. I lived through Vietnam, Kent state, watergate, Kennedy assassination, etc. everything works out eventually" (then some choice words about trump)
That being said, it does feel like the end times, but his statement makes me think, how many others have felt this uncertainty throughout history before us, and how many times did it work out versus get worse? Something to think about I guess
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I'm honestly tired. I've been having feelings of impending doom, and none of this shit is going to slow down. The divide gets bigger each day, and by the looks of our leadership, no one has a goddamn clue about what to do.
I'm very sorry, it's understandable, it really is nonstop
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I'm going to challenge you all, right here, right now. Put down the thought of what's right, what's wrong, how people should be reacting, ect. I'm an apathetic bastard and I really could care less either way.
What I have noticed though is there's a LOT of divide on this one, more than usual. Lemmy's pretty homogenous but go outside to Facebook, Instagram, reddit, any of the mainstream places, hell, even talking about it with friends or family, you get some really differing views and people seem ready to discard longtime relationships over it. Hell, I've seen it happen 3 times now so far.
°So what do you think, take off the politics hat for a second and put on the sociology hat. Take a breath, and examine your surroundings.
°How does what's going on make you feel, sad? Angry? Scared, tired or relieved?
°What do you think this says about which direction our society is going, have you got any predictions? Any old timers who have been through near societal collapses before want to throw in their perspective?
I'm genuinely interested in what you all think
No idea who he is, and all the reporting around it seems to assume people know him for some reason.
It sucks that he got shot, but enough people get shot every year that I'm unclear why this one is any different.
If he has any family, I hope they have a support system to grieve
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I'm going to challenge you all, right here, right now. Put down the thought of what's right, what's wrong, how people should be reacting, ect. I'm an apathetic bastard and I really could care less either way.
What I have noticed though is there's a LOT of divide on this one, more than usual. Lemmy's pretty homogenous but go outside to Facebook, Instagram, reddit, any of the mainstream places, hell, even talking about it with friends or family, you get some really differing views and people seem ready to discard longtime relationships over it. Hell, I've seen it happen 3 times now so far.
°So what do you think, take off the politics hat for a second and put on the sociology hat. Take a breath, and examine your surroundings.
°How does what's going on make you feel, sad? Angry? Scared, tired or relieved?
°What do you think this says about which direction our society is going, have you got any predictions? Any old timers who have been through near societal collapses before want to throw in their perspective?
I'm genuinely interested in what you all think
Obviously everyone in the country should be scared and sad about where the country has headed in the last decade. MAGA is both a symptom but also an accelerant, and is the natural evolution of late stage capitalism. Until the real root issues are fixed, nothing will actually change it. Stochastic terrorism will get worse, the divide will get worse, the hollowing out of institutions will get worse. Until the common people can turn off Newsmax, Fox, and Tiktok long enough to have a single rational thought of their own, nothing will change for the better.
The elite are dividing the country through those media sources, so that they spend all their time chasing bullshit like LGBT or immigrants, when the real problem is corporate greed and the ultra-wealthy (influenced by Yarvin/Thiel aspirations) seeking to further dismantle society for their own personal gain.
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I'm going to challenge you all, right here, right now. Put down the thought of what's right, what's wrong, how people should be reacting, ect. I'm an apathetic bastard and I really could care less either way.
What I have noticed though is there's a LOT of divide on this one, more than usual. Lemmy's pretty homogenous but go outside to Facebook, Instagram, reddit, any of the mainstream places, hell, even talking about it with friends or family, you get some really differing views and people seem ready to discard longtime relationships over it. Hell, I've seen it happen 3 times now so far.
°So what do you think, take off the politics hat for a second and put on the sociology hat. Take a breath, and examine your surroundings.
°How does what's going on make you feel, sad? Angry? Scared, tired or relieved?
°What do you think this says about which direction our society is going, have you got any predictions? Any old timers who have been through near societal collapses before want to throw in their perspective?
I'm genuinely interested in what you all think
I feel nothing about it. It doesn't make a difference to me.
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It's big reminder of the dark times we live in. We've become insensitive to the school shootings, they have been weighing less and less on "societies collective mind" since Sandy Hook. They're covered for a day, and vanish from the mind.
This time it was a person most of us knew of and have formed an opinion about. Weather you liked him or not, there is an emotional connection there.
The stark difference in how people are reacting is chilling.
Honestly, its difficult to accept a group cheering on his death to an extreme degree. Making a meme is whatever, but the videos and comments are filled such hate that it is unsettling to witness.At the end of the day, he was a dude exercising his free speech. His words may be misguided, but he had his opinions and was willing to debate them with people.
I think it’s worth it to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the second amendment to protect our other God-given rights. That is a prudent deal. It is rational.
– Event organized by TPUSA Faith, the religious arm of Kirk’s conservative group Turning Point USA, on 5 April 2023
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I'm going to challenge you all, right here, right now. Put down the thought of what's right, what's wrong, how people should be reacting, ect. I'm an apathetic bastard and I really could care less either way.
What I have noticed though is there's a LOT of divide on this one, more than usual. Lemmy's pretty homogenous but go outside to Facebook, Instagram, reddit, any of the mainstream places, hell, even talking about it with friends or family, you get some really differing views and people seem ready to discard longtime relationships over it. Hell, I've seen it happen 3 times now so far.
°So what do you think, take off the politics hat for a second and put on the sociology hat. Take a breath, and examine your surroundings.
°How does what's going on make you feel, sad? Angry? Scared, tired or relieved?
°What do you think this says about which direction our society is going, have you got any predictions? Any old timers who have been through near societal collapses before want to throw in their perspective?
I'm genuinely interested in what you all think
FAFO, pure and simple. Not a doctor, but that much blood loss that rapidly generally means it was at least a quick death.
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I'm going to challenge you all, right here, right now. Put down the thought of what's right, what's wrong, how people should be reacting, ect. I'm an apathetic bastard and I really could care less either way.
What I have noticed though is there's a LOT of divide on this one, more than usual. Lemmy's pretty homogenous but go outside to Facebook, Instagram, reddit, any of the mainstream places, hell, even talking about it with friends or family, you get some really differing views and people seem ready to discard longtime relationships over it. Hell, I've seen it happen 3 times now so far.
°So what do you think, take off the politics hat for a second and put on the sociology hat. Take a breath, and examine your surroundings.
°How does what's going on make you feel, sad? Angry? Scared, tired or relieved?
°What do you think this says about which direction our society is going, have you got any predictions? Any old timers who have been through near societal collapses before want to throw in their perspective?
I'm genuinely interested in what you all think
The main thing I take away from this is how soft people have become since the corporate sanitization of the web. That video was tame compared to stuff that regularly made the rounds even ten years ago. The way people talk about it, you'd think it was a drug cartel video.
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I'm going to challenge you all, right here, right now. Put down the thought of what's right, what's wrong, how people should be reacting, ect. I'm an apathetic bastard and I really could care less either way.
What I have noticed though is there's a LOT of divide on this one, more than usual. Lemmy's pretty homogenous but go outside to Facebook, Instagram, reddit, any of the mainstream places, hell, even talking about it with friends or family, you get some really differing views and people seem ready to discard longtime relationships over it. Hell, I've seen it happen 3 times now so far.
°So what do you think, take off the politics hat for a second and put on the sociology hat. Take a breath, and examine your surroundings.
°How does what's going on make you feel, sad? Angry? Scared, tired or relieved?
°What do you think this says about which direction our society is going, have you got any predictions? Any old timers who have been through near societal collapses before want to throw in their perspective?
I'm genuinely interested in what you all think
I went to a bar to have a drink when it happened. I will always drink to dead Nazis
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I'm going to challenge you all, right here, right now. Put down the thought of what's right, what's wrong, how people should be reacting, ect. I'm an apathetic bastard and I really could care less either way.
What I have noticed though is there's a LOT of divide on this one, more than usual. Lemmy's pretty homogenous but go outside to Facebook, Instagram, reddit, any of the mainstream places, hell, even talking about it with friends or family, you get some really differing views and people seem ready to discard longtime relationships over it. Hell, I've seen it happen 3 times now so far.
°So what do you think, take off the politics hat for a second and put on the sociology hat. Take a breath, and examine your surroundings.
°How does what's going on make you feel, sad? Angry? Scared, tired or relieved?
°What do you think this says about which direction our society is going, have you got any predictions? Any old timers who have been through near societal collapses before want to throw in their perspective?
I'm genuinely interested in what you all think
Oddly enough, I cherish all life. I joke because the world is often dark, and humor helps me embrace and cope with the unchangeable nature of life and death.
I don’t believe the death penalty is the answer. I’m a strong advocate for reform. I believe everyone deserves a chance to change, mostly because I’ve changed myself, and I want those around me to bounce back from the worst and grow into fathers, mothers, or even symbols of hope for others who have stumbled.
There are people like Charlie Kirk who were angry at the world, consumed by hate. Killing someone like that is the quick path. But the slower and more meaningful path, the one with a greater chance of creating lasting good, is changing their perspective. That could undo not only their hate, but also the hate of those who listen to them. Instead, by destroying them, we often create more fear and more hate.
I know many will say some people will never change, that they are incapable of seeing from the perspective of those they hate. And maybe that’s true. I admit, I struggle to understand fascists, and you might too. But if this conflict is ever going to truly end, it will take understanding, not killing.
Maybe I’m wrong. I just think life, all life, is precious. Some people throw it away through drugs, hate, or wasted time. The addict who never recovers dies with their potential unrealized. The person who clings to hate dies with nothing but bitterness. The real tragedy isn’t just their death, it’s the life they were given and chose to waste.
What happened was unfortunate, no one got through to him in time. Or nothing worked. Just like a heroin addict found dead with a needle in their arm. His hate put a bullet in his neck.