American Culture on the Edge, But I Have Hope

We may seem more divided and messy than ever, but I refuse to lose optimism

Photo taken by the author on September 11, 2025

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Yesterday was September 11th. It’s been 24 years since American planes were weaponized by Al-Qaeda to strike at the heart of American capitalism and democracy. Yet all of that was overshadowed by the assassination of Charlie Kirk the day before. Which itself overshadowed yet another school shooting.

We’ve had 357 mass shootings in America this year. The standard definition includes “a single outburst of violence in which four or more people are shot.”

Nothing about Charlie Kirk’s high profile and very public assassination changed anything. The online discourse, including on a video I posted about gun control, is still very pro gun.

You may be surprised that I still have hope for our American project, but I promise, I genuinely do.

As I noted in my newsletter yesterday, Kirk was debating mass shootings when he was shot. There’s a certain poetic irony and tragedy to that — someone who advocated for second amendment absolutism was justifying it until his final breath.

Although as I also emphasized yesterday, nobody deserves to die because of their political views. That should be especially true in America. We should be competing with our ideological opponents in the marketplace of ideas, not in the marketplace for cartridge boxes.

One of the few things I admired about Charlie Kirk was his willingness to debate anyone. While I don’t think he often debated in good faith, he was always willing to step into the ring. I expanded on this point and others in a video I posted yesterday to YouTube:

At The Political Prism, we’ve published some great pieces on Charlie Kirk and what this means for America. I highly recommend giving them a read if you’re looking for thoughtful dialogue, not hot takes.

• A Martyr for Democracy, Not Violence by Dick Dowdell

• Two Truths About Charlie Kirk by Bryan Driscoll

• Turning Ourselves Back from the Abyss by Brandon Warzybok

• Assassination Is Not Debate by Argumentative Penguin

One of the takes I disagreed with, but appreciated, was Ezra Klein’s in The New York Times. He had this to say about Kirk:

You can dislike much of what Kirk believed and the following statement is still true: Kirk was practicing politics in exactly the right way.

Nowhere in Klein’s piece did he discuss how Kirk often operated in bad faith. He focused solely on Kirk’s willingness to show up and debate. Which as I’ve noted, is commendable, but it’s not the whole story.

Charlie Kirk made a living cherry-picking facts to fit his agenda. Klein failed to address this point. He also neglected to describe how Kirk copied the sensationalized rhetorical flair of his idol, Rush Limbaugh. How he played a character on social media and in public. And how that character was often looking to generate outrage with extreme takes (like pardoning the police officer who killed George Floyd) or by dunking on random liberal college students who were unprepared.

One of Kirk’s favorite moves was to take clips of some random sociology student getting flustered from his torrent of lies, misdirections, and diversions and post them to “prove” to his audience how dumb liberals were in America.

So, no, Ezra, Charlie Kirk was not practicing politics “in exactly the right way.” Although as I have noted in videos and essays, I appreciated that Kirk was always willing to engage. He spoke to everyone, including those random sociology majors.

The business of outrage that Kirk specialized in is a big reason we’re in the mess we find ourselves in America today. Algorithms control our information consumption. Social media has rewired our brains.

Hate, anger, fear, and outrage generate clicks far more than messages of love, hope, and happiness.

Anyone who has been online in the last 48 hours has witnessed this reality.

So why then, John, do you have hope?

Because we have to. Because we have overcome worse in American history. Because I believe in our ability to find our better angels (eventually, after exhausting all other options, as Winston Churchill famously said).

It starts with talking to each other. Even if we disagree.

It also requires more of us who believe in critical thinking to promote thoughtful dialogue. Not rage bait or outrage.

You are not going to stop the fire hose of misinformation and disinformation that hits people every day. But you can play a small role in balancing the scales by putting honest and good faith takes out there.

That’s part of my mission here and over at The Political Prism — to put honest, good-faith dialogue into the world.

So if you’re not already subscribed, I hope you’ll join me. See you next week.