It’s been a very sad few weeks, first with the tragic and senseless murder of Iryna Zarutska on a train in North Carolina on August 22, and now with the assassination of Charlie Kirk in Utah on September 10. These two killings have suddenly focused the attention of a lot of previously complacent people, and provided some very useful education about the kind of world we live in. But what are the lessons to take away?
One possible lesson is that the world is just irretrievably filled with anger and hate, to the extent that the best that sensible people can do is withdraw into their bunker, keep out of blue states and away from people who follow leftist and woke ideology, stick to a limited circle of family and friends, and avoid dealing with the broader world to the maximum extent possible.
I do not subscribe to that approach. Yes, there is a lot of anger and hate in the world, but also an equal or greater amount of goodness and beauty. And the thing that makes life worthwhile is participating in the fray, and trying to improve things. So here I am living in Manhattan, deep behind the enemy’s political lines, posting my contrarian positions publicly and participating in various ways, however fruitless in the short term, to move the political needle here at least a little. Hey, it’s fun.
Is this dangerous? Maybe a little, but not in any way that I can immediately perceive. I’ve certainly never received any death threats, or really any threats. Maybe that’s because I haven’t been particularly effective.
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