I’m not sure I have much to add to the disucssion on the assassination of Charlie Kirk. I was not a fan of his, but murder is wrong, and our society is based on the idea, not just of freedom of speech, but that we are all created equal and endowed with the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. This philosophhical liberalism is the bedrock that allows us to live peacably together and be one nation amidst the diversity of our differences. The nation’s motto is, after all, “E Pluribus Unum” (Out of Many, One). Political violence has plagued America in waves since the founding. America was founded in a violent war with Great Britain. There was a violent slave system, and a violent civil war that resulted. There was violence towards blacks and other minorities for decades, and political assassinations throughout. We’ve seen bombings and other instances as well. There’s no way to get rid of it, but every so often they cluster when there is a lot of societal turbulence.

Political violence strikes at the heart of the American project. It is no the case that we cannot make it through this, but how we make it through this period. Usually there is a period of turbulence before a new period of stability emerges. Political turbulence is inevitable as societies will go through changes over time. New problems emerge, old ideas stagnate, and people come along with new imaginations. Since the turn of the twenty-first century there has been the 9/11 attacks, the financial crisis followed by the Great Recession, a lengthy recovery culiminating in President Trump’s first term, a global pandemic, and then Trump’s second term after President Biden betrayed the public trust. There has also been increasing beligenerence from American rivals, Brexit, and two wars we engaged in that are largely seen as failures. Technology like AI and social media/smartphones have completely upended the communication world as we know it. Inflation for the first time in four decades ripped through the country. If this isn’t a period of turbulence, then I don’t know what is. It’s very hard to say where the dust will settle on the other side of this.

There is nothing inevitable about the continuence of the American experiment. History is contingent and there have been many moments where we were fortunate to have the right people come along to restore faith in the country and find our better angels. I’m not sure if that will happen this time or not, I feel fairly certain that the violence will continue and more lives will be lost. I hope that is not the case, but I fear it is so.

I close with the words from Lincoln’s first inaurgural address:

“I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.”

Unfortunately, after this there were four years of civil war and more lives were lost than in any other American conflict.