The shocking assassination of right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk on September 10 during a speaking engagement at Utah Valley University continues to send shockwaves throughout the United States, and is shaping up to be one of the most culturally significant acts of political violence in modern American history. Regardless of whether one agrees with Kirk’s views or not, September 10 must be remembered as one of the most tragic days in recent memory for freedom of speech, a cherished constitutional right and one of America’s founding principles. The ability of any political activist, regardless of ideology, to actively engage in discourse about contentious issues on a college campus has now been completely jeopardized, at least for the foreseeable future. The clear and sad irony is that this kind of discourse is exactly what the college campus was designed to foster. It is extremely difficult not to appreciate the impact Kirk made on American conservatism, particularly within Generation Z, as well as appreciate his ability to put principles into practice by doing the often arduous work of engaging in public political discourse with opinionated college students, who were always prepared for a confrontation. Not many others were engaging in this kind of work.
On the surface, it is reassuring to know that by now, most of America’s prominent political figures have condemned Kirk’s assassination, stating outright that political violence has absolutely no place in our society and that our disagreements must be resolved by words and at the ballot box, not by bullets. These politicians, on both the left and right, have called for unity, bipartisanship, and to lower the boiling temperature of our political discourse. However, another clear and sad irony is that these politicians are the onew who have contributed to creating the very atmosphere that breeds instances of political violence such as the events of September 10. Acts of political violence in the United States have become increasingly common over the past several years, from the attempted assassination of President Trump during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania to the arson attack on Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s home to the assassinations of two Minnesota state lawmakers in their homes. In the aftermath of such violence, the political establishment’s response has generally been the same, and it has taken no direct action to promote the unity or civility it routinely calls for. If politicians respond to subsequent acts of political violence the way they have been responding, our country risks normalizing this kind of behavior, which poses an existential threat to our character, core principles, and ability to exercise our fundamental constitutional rights.
In the aftermath of such violence, the political establishment’s response has generally been the same, and it has taken no direct action to promote the unity or civility it routinely calls for.
It is also disheartening to witness how some segments of the Internet have been reacting to Kirk’s assassination. Social media networks, including mainstream platforms and public forum sites such as Instagram, X, and Reddit, have always tended to amplify the worst and most extreme voices among us, and this situation is no exception. Some voices on the left have taken to social media to celebrate Kirk’s death, citing past quotes and video clips of Kirk that essentially attempt to justify his assassination. Conversely, some voices on the right have vowed to avenge Kirk’s death by launching a full-scale retaliation against the left. These reactions only breed anger, hatred, and (consequently) more violence, which is the last thing our country needs, and they create the false perception that the American electorate is much more polarized than it is. Additionally, cable news networks, which are designed to make profits by angering and dividing us, remain an inescapable and highly corrosive force in our political discourse and have contributed their fair share of extreme reactions in the aftermath of Kirk’s assassination. Sadly, these networks continue to be consumed by far too many people.
Considering all of this, it shouldn’t be unreasonable to say that the United States has been going through a funk for quite some time now. The morale of our country feels like it’s at an all-time low, and the future has never felt more anxiety-inducing for so many people. Kirk’s assassination, coupled with past instances of political violence, school shootings and the persistence of gun violence, a volatile unemployment rate, steady inflation, existential threats posed by climate change and exponentially improving artificial intelligence models, and two seemingly never-ending wars in Eastern Europe and the Middle East (trust me, the list goes on) have collectively created a sense of hopelessness, dread, and despair that permeates our present way of life. It can feel like not much in our country happens (if anything, at all) that deserves celebrating, and that there is nothing worth aspiring to achieve or feel any shred of optimism about. It can feel like our federal government has become so polarized and dysfunctional that it has barely any ability to effectively solve our most pressing issues. It can feel instinctive to examine the current state of our country and ultimately conclude that any effort to make it a better place or preserve our long-cherished values, rights, and principles in the face of threats from our adversaries is worth giving up on.
The morale of our country feels like it’s at an all-time low, and the future has never felt more anxiety-inducing for so many people.
These feelings are real, and they will likely be here for a while. It is important to acknowledge and process them. But as unprecedented as our national circumstance may feel, it is not. We have been through this before, and we are fully capable of getting through it again.
Exactly fifty years ago, in 1975, America was in a state that is (mostly) analogous to the state it’s in now. In the aftermath of an oil embargo that caused a major recession, the state of the economy was poor and sluggish, simultaneously experiencing high inflation and high unemployment (a phenomenon known as “stagflation”) as well as a rising national debt and a high dependence on foreign energy. It was also during this year that the last Americans were evacuated from Saigon, officially ending the highly unpopular Vietnam War that had rightfully dampened the faith of many Americans in the integrity of their government, and which cost the lives of nearly 60,000 American soldiers as well as many more Vietnamese, Cambodians, and Laotians. One year earlier, then-President Richard Nixon became the only president to resign from office in the wake of an unprecedented and highly publicized corruption scandal. The assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy (both in 1968), as well as the shootings at Kent State in 1970, were still recent events that hadn’t yet faded from the national conscience. Additionally, by 1975, the increasing presence of several social movements, such as the Black Power movement, the anti-Vietnam War movement, the environmental rights movement, the gay rights movement, and the emergence of second-wave feminism, temporarily added tension to and presented a major upheaval of American social and political life. These movements generally resulted in much-needed social progress, although there is still much more progress to be made.
In 1975, America was in a period of transition and uncertainty, a crossroads if there ever was one, that contributed to low morale and an exceptionally poor national mood. Many of these conditions led then-President Gerald Ford to famously declare in his address to Congress that year that the state of the union was “not good.” This poor national mood persisted through the rest of the 1970s, but as leaders came and went, economic conditions changed, and the world ebbed and flowed, our country ultimately persevered. Even if our national mood never returned to the level of optimism that characterized the period immediately following World War II, and despite the reality that low confidence in our government continues to be low, we were able to emerge from this sustained period of pessimism with a renewed sense of faith and determination. Our country had (and still has) an underlying strength that helps us weather tough periods just as much as it helps us thrive during prosperous ones, and this holds just as true today as it did in 1975. If our country fifty years ago was strong enough to get through its funk, considering everything it had been put through, we must have faith that we can (and will) eventually get ourselves out of the funk we’re experiencing now. Even though our country looks vastly different today than it did back then, these commonalities should provide us with a much-needed sense of reassurance during such uncertain times.
Despite the reality that low confidence in our government continues to be low, we were able to emerge from this sustained period of pessimism with a renewed sense of faith and determination.
Of course, getting ourselves out of this funk and bringing down the temperature our politicians correctly observe is steadily approaching a boiling point will be a collective effort. It will also be a long-term project. I will not attempt to offer long-term solutions to a problem I do not know how to definitively fix, and I will not pretend that this problem can be solved overnight. However, what I do know is that it will be incumbent upon all of us, regardless of ideology, to do some serious soul-searching and rethink our relationship with political discourse. A meaningful first step we can all take today is to begin the process of changing how we interact with cable news networks, social media platforms, and online forums. Disengaging with these mediums and taking the time to engage in political conversations with real people in real life will help us see through the noise and realize that we have more in common than we initially imagined. But above all, we must remember that a funk is only a funk, and that the light at the end of the tunnel, no matter how distant it may seem right now, is always getting closer.
Jack Samet ‘27 studies in the College of Arts & Sciences. He is a Staff Writer for the Washington University Political Review. He can be reached at jack.samet@wustl.edu.