Matisyahu's Blog

Once again the ‘don’t politicise the shooting’ types are once again politicising the killing of Charlie Kirk – calling for violent retribution while speculating, based on no evidence at all, as to the politics of the accused killer. Why let facts get in the way of weaving a politically expedient narrative that allows you to claim the status of being persecuted for your political beliefs while you ignore that your fellow brethren control the entire government of the United States. These are not serious people, they treat politics like a game, an affiliation to a political party not based on policy and a philosophical worldview but a childish form of neotribalism where as long as their team is winning that is the only thing that matters – downstream consequences be damned.

Regarding who it could be and their motivations, he could be anyone – it could be a Q Anon crazy who is angry because Charlie Kirk said that Trump supporters should move on from the Jeffrey Epstein situation. There were white nationalists who didn’t like him because they viewed him as a sell out because he wouldn’t support their world view. Whatever their motivation maybe the scary part, at least for me, is how it was a 200 yard shot from an planned position, two people were organised as distractions – in other words we’re not talking about a crazy individual who suddenly snaps, grabs a gun then goes on a rampage but instead something that appears to have meticulously planned what took place which makes the situation more concerning.

The reason I find it concerning is that it indicates that such individuals aren’t just random lunatics who suddenly snap but rather a possible indication of groups that are organised and disciplined. The consequence of groups being organised and disciplined mean that their capacity to cause harm is a lot greater than the random lunatic but with that being said it is important not to downplay the actions of a random lunatic. One only needs to look at the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria by an anarchist who probably thought his actions wouldn’t amount to much but given how Europe was a powder keg waiting for a spark to blow everything up – the actions of that one person set the wheels in motion for WWI which then set the groundwork for WWII and all the horrors that came from that.

The question is whether all levels of society will wake up and realise that at this point history the outcome could go in one of two directions, the first direction being an FDR style ‘New Deal’ then followed by a grand bargain between capital and labour or the second direction that the country descends into a place of unimaginable darkness. Unfortunately there are too many people at every level of society that are convinced that they’ll be some of the few who will come out on top – the sort of people who watch Blade Runner and convince themselves that they’ll be head of The Tyrell Corporation or The Wallace Corporation when in reality the best case scenario they will be operating a noodle shop out of a makeshift caravan at the bottom of said corporate headquarters.

What will happen at the midterms? there are moments where there is an opportunity to change direction and the question is whether the American people turn out, get registered to vote, if they’re in a state that requires voter ID to organise getting that approved ID, and turning out to vote or whether, like previous elections, half the population sit it out and allow their country to descend even further. Are the Democrats perfect? far from it but voting is never about choosing the best most perfect option but about choosing the one that sucks the least, the one that you have the most in common with, the fact that problems aren’t going to be solved with a giant leap forward but persistently working at it. I’m not hopeful given that I’m a half glass empty kind of guy but I’m happy to be proven wrong. The reason I am not optimistic is because how easily Americans are convinced that minorities with no power, influence or social capital are the source of their problems, how easily Americans vote against their economic self interest because of made up culture wars centred on non-existent ‘threats to social order’.