Blind Hatred. Perfect Aim.

I didn’t follow Charlie Kirk online. It’s hard to keep up with the constant flow of new influencers, tik-tok historians and deep fakes. Not that I am saying he is any of these, just that social media is more than toxic; it has become a platform for vitriol with an algorithm set to polarizing echo chambers.

And while I didn’t follow him in life, he is now haunting my feed in death. I decided to write about this, because it isn’t who the person was or what he said. For me, what matters is the shot that killed him is also a bullet for humanity.

Charlie Kirk spoke with the freedom of speech an American college campus should provide and promote. But he was silenced, with a bullet to his throat. The shooter choked on Charlie’s words, and so he choked Charlie with them. 

This isn’t a problem of the woke, the extremists, or the ones that stay silent. This is about a decision we have to make as a society. Who do we want to be, and if we are still human.

I see people that have lost their way, abusing freedom and acting irresponsible. I don’t know if they have slowly been brainwashed, feel lonely, or want to believe in something, but they have become the unfortunate pillars of culture.

Gone are the days we could have a friendly or not friendly debate amongst peers, officemates, or even at a protest. Today, we hide our thoughts. Which of course is ironic, since social media was meant to help us share and connect. Instead it is performance theater, starring those that are louder, more controversial, and want to make a living off your thoughts dying.

Renowned therapist and holocaust survivor Victor Frankl, supported the mental wellness of people in the concentration camps, during his many years there. He took notes, and what he realized was that those who have meaning or purpose in their life, continue living it, at all costs. And those who didn’t, often perished. I believe the Corona pandemic morphed into a loneliness pandemic, where children sat in front of screens, and didn’t have recess. Office workers didn’t gather in the kitchen to talk about TV shows and give spoilers. And we lived in our little bubbles, surrounded by the unknown.

Our social behavior was stunted and for some the return of interactions, intimacy and connection, was just lost on them. Alone in their thoughts, they can’t escape a reality of emptiness. Do they have purpose, or do they make it to the end of the day and hit repeat? And so, when the hatred gatherings online increased, with an equation that figured out how to hold you numb in thought, but full of rage…well, that’s where we find the trolls, the haters, and the ones that started to justify violence if they didn’t like what you had to say.

Here they found a purpose, a narrative, and a community. It didn’t have to be factual, or even based on reality. They needed it to be with others, self-medicating the pain of loneliness, in the hopes of having social media that finally shared. The pandemic affects all people, from all backgrounds, around the world. It is fostered by bots, academic professors who have become activists in the classroom, and manipulated into our souls, so that our brains can malfunction.

Frankl, too, saw this play out in society, when he was introduced to the new world as a survivor. He celebrated freedom, as one who had once had very little of it. But he recognized the danger of not putting clear boundaries on where we can go. That we must be held accountable for our actions, as our duty to society and participation in humanity. He actually spoke out about having a statue of responsibility to match the statue of liberty, explaining that they go hand in hand, to ensure the safety of humanity. Another irony, this statue was set to be erected in Utah, the very place Kirk died due to irresponsible behavior.

With social media and now AI, we are seeing a wave of ignorance, hatred and violence. With the stories on my feed, I now understand that Kirk was a man who fundamentally believed in the freedom of speech with responsibility, speaking at college campuses across America. He invited people into his tent, to challenge his ideas, because he knew the dangers that lurked, if we could not talk to each other.

He died in a quest for freedom of speech with responsibility. And now we are at a critical fork in the road. Do we continue down the path of, eye for an eye? If they kill ours, then we kill yours? Where violence is justified and accountability no longer exists? Or do we reassess the value that Kirk brought to our world, urging people to talk, instead of scream?

Is this a pivotal moment, or are you just in another polarized echo chamber, waiting for the next bullet to be fired with blind hatred and perfect aim?