I had heard of Charlie Kirk. I had never given him much thought. To me he was another interchangeable American right-wing talking head like Ben Shapiro, Steven Crowder, Tim Pool or Matt Walsh. I regulate my intake of news about the political scene in the United States for my own health’s sake, but when I do look in, I notice the influence these bros exert. To me, though, Kirk didn’t stand out from the pack.

The outpouring of reactions to his murder on Wednesday, September 10 was, as a result, surprising to me. Honestly my first reaction was, “This is going to make everything worse.” Like a Sith-version of Obi-Wan Kenobi, striking down Charlie Kirk shall only make him more powerful than we can possibly imagine. Now the “Make America Great Again” movement has its martyr – a flesh and blood emblem with which to confront its critics with the claim that they’ve suffered and they’ve been persecuted. (Stuff they yell on their multi-million dollar 24-hour news network that does public relations for their puppet president of the United States.)

That has been my primary concern about the murder. I didn’t know Charlie Kirk personally, and I barely knew who he was, and I liked it that way. I didn’t know he had recently sired offspring. (I can’t remember what sex the child is, and I don’t feel motivated to check.) So, when I heard he died, I didn’t grieve.

That may make me appear cold and heartless to you, and I’m fine with that. I suppose I have developed an inability to get emotional about the demise of individuals who had zero to negative impact on my life. It’s different when innocent civilians have their lives suddenly extinguished by warring armies, gangs, or psychotic gunmen. But I just can’t view Kirk as an innocent. Talking heads of his ilk have emitted tonnes of carbon dioxide to expand the political divide in United States. He undoubtedly played a part in raising the temperature over the last decade or so.

So, no tears shed by me. No thoughts or prayers from me.

But no glee either.

Yes, I feel people like Kirk, Walsh etc. are jerks who are escalating the current state of political discourse to dangerously toxic levels. But, to quote George Costanza, “We live in a society!” We don’t walk up on stage and slap people whose jokes we don’t like, let alone shoot people. It’s not allowed. It’s in the criminal code. I thought we all agreed on that.

So, I know more than a few people who seem happy that he’s gone. In a way, I can understand that. I don’t share in that, but I was never a big target for people like Charlie Kirk. I’m a large, heterosexual white male who speaks English. Yes, as someone who’s finds themselves to the left of centre on the political spectrum, the label of “radical left” is exhausting. Yes, as someone whose father immigrated to North America in 1956, xenophobic rhetoric can be triggering. But, it has to be exponentially more triggering for visible minorities, women who want access to safe abortions, people who find shelter in the 2SLGBTQ+ acronym. (I hate initialisms, not the people represented by the initialism. Can we not find a word to replace that thing?) Upon hearing Wednesday’s news, I can understand why these people would experience something resembling relief that there is one less reprobate projecting poisonous bile their way. I think these people are entitled to that moment.

As long as they realize that everything is now worse.

Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old man from Utah, has been arrested and charged with Kirk’s murder. Whether or not a jury finds him guilty, and without taking away anything from that fleeting moment of relief the targets of Kirk’s ravings have felt, Kirk’s new status as a martyr has only further emboldened his followers on the far right. Because Kirk has been struck down, they feel more entitled than ever to speak what resembles their minds. And because Kirk’s demise was so violent, the less informed members of the mushy middle may be inclined to think, “that guy must have been on to something,” and be distrustful of Kirk’s critics. You can bet that a shooting in response is all but guaranteed. The fact that this is happening in a country where guns outnumber people is horrifying, but this is the lifestyle for which Americans have repeatedly cast their ballots. My sympathy for the citizens of that country has its limits.

Nothing is going to get solved by American bullets. You don’t take down a Charlie Kirk by shooting him.

Since he was murdered, one thing I’ve seen Kirk get credit for is engaging in debate. I don’t think he deserves too much credit for that, since I feel he debated in bad faith. I think real debate requires both sides being willing to move. That involves listening to the other side and considering all the points being made. I think Kirk visited every university campus he visited with the goal of converting impressionable young minds to his way of thinking. Kirk wasn’t interested in learning new things, or even injecting nuance to his positions. This campus activity earned Kirk a lot of followers but also many detractors.

How do you take down someone like that?

By beating him at his own game. If I can give Kirk credit for anything, it’s his work ethic. I may have found his work insidious, but he put in the time and effort, and that’s why it’s paid off in the toxic way it has. Those opposed to him should have to shown up everywhere he did not to shoot him in the neck, but to puncture holes in all of his arguments. Don’t ban him from the campus. Disgrace him on the campus. And do the same to Steven Crowder, Ben Shapiro, Tim Pool and Matt Walsh.

It’s hard and punishing work, but it’s also work that hasn’t been getting done. Political discourse has never been as fraught in my lifetime than it is right now. More of us have to be willing to discuss vital issues without shutting down discussion with the tossing of a label. It’s a task for which many won’t have the stomach, and with the current temperature that’s understandable. But, if we really want to lower the flame, we have to begin discussions first where we agree, and go on from there to why we disagree. That’s how problems will actually get solved.

Someone who I think understands this is Irshad Manji. Her 2019 book Don’t Label Me is one I wish everyone would read. Please pick it up as a first step in helping us step away from this brink.