A Dark Truth Lurking Beneath the Charlie Kirk Assassination

Politics is rotting our souls...

The news cycle is ablaze this week as countless people express outrage, disgust, and hatred following the assassination of Charlie Kirk, a pro-Trump commentator who founded the influential conservative student group Turning Point USA.

Many on the right are directing rage, loathing, and reactivity at the crazed left and the mainstream media outlets that have incessantly sown alarm and outrage over MAGA and Donald Trump. The popular right-wing Libs of TikTok page has declared "war." Trump unabashedly blamed the radical left and inflammatory rhetoric for the killing. The overall sentiment is against "them"—the left and their institutions, leaders, and voters.

Meanwhile, at least some on the left are smugly endorsing the violence as vengeance against Kirk and MAGA for their vile political beliefs. While this is a smaller portion of the left, it is not insignificant, at least on social media.

Whatever the dehumanizing view, one thing is clear: politics occupies far too much of the people's consciousness, hearts, and souls.

Politics is Strangling Our Humanity

Political polarization in America has reached a fever pitch. Significant portions of Republicans and Democrats believe not just that their political counterparts are wrong, but that they are evil. They engage in chronic dehumanization, reveling in the suffering of others. Right-wingers wish rape by illegal immigrants upon left-wing women. Some on the left mock natural disaster devastation in red states and declare they got what they deserved. They each gloat over the political failings of their perceived enemies while real human beings experience loss and tragedy in real time.

Of course, not all liberals, Democrats, conservatives, and Republicans are this depraved in their disdain for each other. But these extreme cases reflect a much deeper and more pervasive fracture in humanity, and it’s driven by the omnipresence of politics in our lives.

By and large, people live in terror and loathing of their fellow humans because of what those others might do to them through the force of government. Each fears and disdains the possibility of their political opposition lording power over them and destroying the country and our rights and liberties along with it.

Through the COVID years, many people (whether right-wing or independent) feared the heavy-handed tactics of lockdowns, vaccine mandates, crackdowns on speech, and surveillance. Through the Trump years, many people (whether left-wing or independent) feared and continue to fear the heavy-handed tactics of the US military policing the streets, crackdowns on speech, and surveillance.

All of these concerns are warranted. But rather than directing their skepticism at the fundamental authority of the State, which enables all of these abuses, most people direct it at their perceived enemies. Few are able to step back and recognize the common denominator: politics and political authority itself.

The coercive, involuntary nature of politics fuels the division that drives mounting political violence. If the “authorities” in government couldn't force people to comply—to give up their rights and livelihoods and comply with or fund programs they find abhorrent—there would be far less animosity and polarization. Without men with guns, badges, and uniforms carrying out the orders of politicians, there would be much less to fear.

With the growth of government (and its accompanying propagandized narratives from all partisan factions) has come the growth of its importance in people's minds. They aggressively identify with it as well as their opposition to their political enemies. This amounts to an intense distrust of humanity when it should really be a rejection of the ruling class that allows oppression and abuse to occur.

99 Problems, but Not All Are Caused by Government

However, it is unreasonable to blame everything on politics. We are human beings, and being human is an inherently difficult experience. We suffer traumas, hardships, and pain that have nothing to do with politics. This is its own spiritual, existential, and emotional problem, but it bleeds into the political world (I’d argue the political world also exacerbates our inner struggles in a toxic feedback loop). Our internal, unconscious conditioning and suffering are entangled with the outer world.

This has only gotten worse as political power, tribalism, and reactivity take up increasing space in our consciousness. Politics is often a crutch to avoid our deepest, most difficult feelings. Just as the culture encourages addictions— whether to "legal" drugs, social media, empty sex, or other harmful habits—it also encourages addiction to political outrage and fixation. This amounts to avoidance of ourselves by going outward and steeping ourselves in political chaos, stress, hyperactivation, and chronic stimulation when we would be better served by going within.

The people having full-on tantrums and meltdowns about politics almost certainly aren't just reacting to the outer world. Their reactivity, in my view, is rooted in something much deeper and more personal, which is then projected onto politics. Some people may be wishing death on Trump, Kirk, or anyone else they believe is dangerous. Others may be reveling that Trump is their "daddy" come home to put the house in order with the hammer of justice. Both views reflect real suffering from emotional issues that have deeper roots than Donald Trump or politics.

The outer world may be stressful and chaotic, but it seems apparent that— as least in part—this in itself is a reflection of our tattered, cross-wired inner worlds. This doesn’t only apply to “the masses.” Consider those who seek influence within and over the system—who seek external control over others. This is very likely a way of avoiding difficult inner experiences. It’s too hard to face themselves, so they aggress outwardly, controlling, bombing, beating, and otherwise exercsing power. As J.R.R. Tolkien said: “[T]he most improper job of any man, even saints (who at any rate were at least unwilling to take it on), is bossing other men. Not one in a million is fit for it, and least of all those who seek the opportunity.” [emphasis added]

Within Us, Without Us

The intersection of our personal pain with the political world and its increasingly central role in our identities and worldviews is creating a toxic, violent powder keg. The omnipotence of politics and authority in people's minds ensures the "solution" will be more authority and control.

Whatever the partisan belief, people are activated, and fear is pulsing through the collective consciousness. Despite the role of politics and its divisiveness, which stokes such terrifying events and incidents, millions of people are likely to condone granting more political authority to the ruling class. This is all but guaranteed to fuel further division, unrest, and instability.

As our inner worlds influence our outer worlds and vice versa, now is as critical a time as ever to start taking more responsibility for ourselves. This applies both emotionally and in the world. More awareness of and compassion toward our own suffering means less vomiting it out into the world, and it also allows us to empathize better with others (to clarify, I do not conflate empathy and compassion with submission to unjust laws, rules, ideologies, and policies). Additionally, taking more responsibility for our material lives and our communities lessens dependence on the systems that have caused so much horror and carnage. The belief that people in power are coming to save us from themselves keeps people trapped in helplessness and inaction.

I realize this is a tall order, and the world seems too far gone for such simplistic (and yet difficult) practices to make a difference. But I also believe that change occurs in the moment-to-moment and day-to-day choices we make. It can start with something as small as taking a breath before we reply to something that upsets us on social media. Is it helpful? Is it necessary (I ask this as much as I can and admittedly often fail, but I think I’ve gotten much better over the years). However challenging it is, we have the power to break free of our programming, whatever it may be.

My heart has been very heavy this week, and I am sending love to everyone—even those who disagree with my beliefs or anything I’ve said in this post. I hope you may do the same for me and others.