We Are Now at War.
The events of the past month have changed me forever. It's time for war.
Months ago I made a proclamation that I was no longer interested in pointing out the problems within our cultural institutions. “Anti-Woke” bitching has lost its luster, I asserted. It’s time to move beyond “The Left is Ruining Everything,” time to stay above the fray and leave the endless bickering about politics behind. Time to aim for higher ground.
And then Charlie Kirk was killed.
Some scoff at the notion of distancing oneself from a controversial public figure by offering the tepid “I didn’t agree with everything they said...but” disclaimer. Of course you don’t agree with everything a person thinks; who on earth is in 100% concord with anyone?
Yet here I will say forcefully:
As a pro-choice, pro-gay marriage atheist who as an artist feels bound to cling tightly to the “Old School Liberal” label—I was certainly not aligned ideologically with the late Mr. Kirk. But because I am not a bloodthirsty savage, I would never in a million years wish for him to meet his end, geyser of black blood shooting from exploded neck.
And I would certainly never revel in such violence, as sociopaths across America have seen fit to do. That is because, as a liberal, I believe in greeting disagreement with debate, as opposed to death.
But I now understand that it doesn’t matter.
No matter how conciliatory, no matter how principled one strives to be in their discourse, no matter how nuanced or gracious you or I try to be in hashing out our disagreements, none of it matters:
They think you deserve to be killed.
In the past month, people across America have become frightfully aware, likely for the first time in their lives, of the true scope and scale of the darkness, the evil, that lives among them. Friends, family, classmates, coworkers, intellectuals, celebrities—relishing terrorism, lying about its victim, covering for—even lionizing—the alleged killer.
The time for principled warnings against “becoming the monster you wish to slay” has passed. The time for mealy-mouthed “Both Sides” cant is over. It is unethical in the face of people willing to murder you and shit on your tombstone because they literally believe that words = violence and that certain words justify your execution.
Power is the new principle. You must flash fangs, you must brandish arms, you must smash the bully in the mouth so he knows never to fuck with you again. It is time to flex muscle. It is time for men of character and fortitude to relocate their balls and act.
So I will continue to focus on what makes classics classic and legends legendary in order to inspire others to unleash their inner genius. And I will express myself as I please, with force, because I now understand that it actually doesn’t matter what I say. It doesn’t matter anyone says:
There is a plurality in the United States of America who believe that a bullet to my neck is an appropriate response to the slightest divergence from their shitty secular religion.
But is raw aggression the answer? This is an “Arts and Culture” publication, after all.
The answer is to completely crush a depraved, deranged, deceitful, evil culture by supplanting it with one that is vastly superior to that which dominates the current status quo:
You are in a war, whether you like it or not. It’s time to act like it.
Thank you for your attention to this matter,
CD
Not only will they kill you and shit on your grave, but they will send your family a bill for the bullets they used.
Well said, Clifton. No one with the remotest sense of decency wants anyone to die. Nor do we want to murder anyone. But it’s time to stand up to these vile bullies. The Orcs from LOTR comes to mind when I think of some of them and their evil minds, but in my attempt at being decent I’m loath to name them that.
Very often these bullies are intellectually vapid, empty vessels, in other words Stupid. I use a capital for Stupid because they are a distinct category. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer pointed out before he was summarily executed by the Nazis:
“Stupidity is a more dangerous enemy of the good than malice. One may protest against evil; it can be exposed and, if need be, prevented by use of force. Evil always carries within itself the germ of its own subversion in that it leaves behind in human beings at least a sense of unease. Against stupidity we are defenseless. Neither protests nor the use of force accomplish anything here; reasons fall on deaf ears; facts that contradict one’s prejudgment simply need not be believed – in such moments the stupid person even becomes critical – and when facts are irrefutable they are just pushed aside as inconsequential, as incidental. In all this the stupid person, in contrast to the malicious one, is utterly self satisfied and, being easily irritated, becomes dangerous by going on the attack. For that reason, greater caution is called for when dealing with a stupid person than with a malicious one. Never again will we try to persuade the stupid person with reasons, for it is senseless and dangerous. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers from Prison (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7
I am non plussed by characters such as John McWhorter though. He’s not a Stupid man, so what in the world is his excuse for his inhumane attitudes, none that I can muster.