Charlie Kirk has never received a warm welcome in the pages of this magazine. It doesn’t matter now. The assassination of Kirk is a tragedy. Morally, it is unjustifiable. Politically, it is cause for serious alarm. A larger spiral into political violence would be a catastrophe for the Left.
In the short time since Kirk was slain, most on the Left have rightly condemned his murder. A not insignificant number, however, have reacted with an almost competitive lack of empathy. Not only is their anti-moral posturing likely to turn off ordinary Americans, who abhor political violence, but it is also politically misguided and strategically naive. There is nothing to celebrate here. Indeed, there is much to fear.
sit back and observe time
but fr:
If history is any guide, the Left faces serious dangers from this development. The theory that acts of individual political violence will somehow spark mass movements for justice (what used to be called “propaganda of the deed”) has been tested, in a variety of circumstances around the world, for centuries. It’s very consistently been a disaster, almost always leading to enhanced repression of the Left and attacks on democracy writ large. The aftermath of Kirk’s murder could easily follow this familiar, grim pattern. Whether or not the shooter even turns out to be left-wing, there are good reasons to worry that the assassination could be used as a pretext for new crackdowns against dissenting speech from an administration that’s already shown itself willing to engage in a degree of authoritarianism we haven’t seen in recent American history.
Kirk himself played a leading role in pushing Gen Z toward the Right, especially young men. If the killer hoped to snuff out his influence, their actions will almost certainly have the opposite effect. Kirk’s murder at age thirty-one will no doubt convince many of his millions of viewers and listeners to dedicate themselves to his cause, thus hastening the coherence of a militant right-wing political bloc that will be an obstacle to our own project for decades to come.
does jacobin have short guide for spain as related to political violence from anarchists?
as this is, it's got the potential for blowback on the left in the form of someone taking a shot at Hasan, Zohran, AOC, Ilhan, etc. as "vengeance." I recognize electoralism and discourse are not ends in themselves (only means to a total socialist revolution and victory), but especially since AmeriKKKa's working class is so disorganized, we need everyone we to radicalize and pipeline people (AOC probably doesn't "fit" this, and Zohran TBD, but Hasan and Ilhan both do good work as signposts if nothing else). The real concern isn't some broad crackdown yet, it's more adventurism/counterviolence from the "lone wolf Right" against either 1. public figures on the left or 2. symbolic targets of the "left" (and here, I don't want to speculate but needless to say this is far more grim).
No!! You're supposed to be sad when fascists get the pit! Feel bad! Feel bad! WE'RE BETTER THAN THIS!!