Member-only story
What Charlie Kirk’s Assassination Reveals About America’s Meanness
Is there any way back?
In the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, I’ve seen an ugly roiling pit of infighting online.
For example, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen comments quoting Charlie Kirk, “I think it’s worth 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. This is a prudent deal. It is rational.”
When a Democratic lawmaker and her husband were assassinated in June, I saw myriad comments from conservatives about how this was a few less libs to worry about, and sardonic two word responses, “Oh, shame.”
Not only did I see these comments often, they were usually the most upvoted comments in threads under articles, completely devoid of tact and empathy. And while I disagreed with most of Charlie’s views, I don’t for a second think he deserved the fate he met.
It feels like there’s been a sudden tilt towards mean and I’m not alone in that sentiment. A poll by Pew Research Center in March revealed that half of Americans believe people have become ruder since the COVID-19 pandemic.
How did we get here? And what can be done to change it?
